Blending Music and Medicine to Transform Patient Care
Dr. Carolyn Phillips is an emerging leader in integrating the arts into clinical practice. A nurse scientist, educator, and accomplished musician, Dr. Phillips is redefining how emotional healing and resilience are supported among patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.
With more than two decades of experience in oncology nursing, advanced postdoctoral training at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Phillips has built a career at the intersection of science and creativity. Her work centers on developing innovative, evidence-based interventions that use music and storytelling to strengthen emotional communication and psychological well-being.
This work reflects Dr. Phillips’s longstanding mission: to deepen understanding of patients’ emotional lives—what she often describes as their “emotional bandwidth.” By translating personal narratives into music and through her non-profit, Song for the Soul, Dr. Phillips creates a space where patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals can explore and express complex emotions that are often difficult to capture through traditional clinical dialogue.
Her integration of expressive arts into research and practice underscores a central theme in her career: emotional understanding is fundamental to effective, compassionate care.
We’re honored to share her Influencer Interview with you here: https://vimeo.com/cdfoundation/iicp.
For additional information, please contact:
Susan Gold
Communications Director
Cunniff-Dixon Foundation
Email: susan@cunniffdixon.org