Music Is Medicine
Alessandro Di Rocco, MD, serves as director of Northwell Health‘s Movement Disorders Program and Professor of Neurology at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in Hempstead, N.Y. He has served as Founding Director of New York University Langone Medical Center's Marlene and Paolo Fresco Institute for Parkinson's and Movement Disorders. He is on the Board of Directors of the Parkinson's Foundation and is a Past President of the Melvin Yahr International Parkinson's Foundation. Dr. Di Rocco is also on the organizing committee of the World Congress of the International Association of Parkinsonism and Related Disorders and on the Editorial Board of Neurodegenerative Disease Management.
Rebecca Gilbert joined APDA in 2018, as Chief Scientific Officer. She is responsible for overseeing APDA’s research portfolio in conjunction with APDA’s Scientific Advisory Board, and also provides medical and clinical expertise to support APDA programming, print materials and web content.
Dr. Gilbert received her MD degree at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and PhD in Cell Biology and Genetics at the Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences. She then completed her Neurology Residency training as well as Movement Disorders Fellowship training at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. She continues to maintain a limited schedule of patients one day a week through Bellevue Hospital Center.
Prior to joining APDA, she was an Associate Professor of Neurology at the Fresco Institute for Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders, NYU Langone Medical Center where she saw Movement disorders patients at both NYU and Bellevue Hospital Center, initiated and directed the NYU Movement Disorders Fellowship, participated in clinical trials and other research initiatives for Parkinson disease and lectured widely on Parkinson’s disease.
John McDowell is a highly skilled composer and performer with a rich and varied background in film scoring, conducting, arranging, and piano performance. Known for composing film scores for major films, he is trained in Western classical music and in African percussion and composed original musical scores for chamber music groups and dance ensembles. John is also a highly gifted pianist, percussionist, producer, commissioned composer, and conductor. McDowell’s formal education and subsequent informal global training have made him a largely self-taught ethnomusicologist of a widely-ranging scale. After receiving music composition degrees from DePaul and Northwestern Universities, McDowell lived in Europe and Africa. His research took him to Senegal, Gambia, India, and to work with Native American drummers and singers. He is also a biodynamic farmer and has performed and toured in the U.S. and Canada with the chamber music project Music for Farms.
Matvey (Mordechai) Fridman We create powerful Drum Circle experiences that unite teams and communities through rhythm. Interactive, engaging, and accessible for all levels. Perfect for corporate, schools, and group events.
As the Founder and Facilitator of GoDoPaTa Team Circles, I've combined my passion for music and my belief in the power of teamwork. With over a decade of experience in the corporate wellness industry, I've successfully facilitated rhythm-based drumming events that inspire unity and collaboration. I believe in hands-on, interactive learning experiences that build teams and foster personal development.
supported by a grant from the American Parkinson Disease Association
