Susan Magsamen is the founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab), Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics, a groundbreaking neuroaesthetics initiative at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her work focuses on how the arts and aesthetic experiences measurably change the brain, body, and behavior, and how this knowledge can be translated to inform health, wellbeing, and learning programs in medicine, public health, and education.
In addition to her academic and research leadership, Susan is a successful entrepreneur who has founded award-winning arts education companies—including Curiosity Kits and Curiosityville—that have received over 600 awards for innovation and impact. She is also the author of seven books on the arts for children, families, and educators.
She developed Impact Thinking, an interdisciplinary translational research model designed to enhance human potential through the use of arts and aesthetics. This generative framework applies a new scientific method to arts and aesthetics research, with a focus on how findings can be scaled, disseminated, and evaluated for real-world impact.
Susan also serves as co-director of the NeuroArts Blueprint project, a joint initiative with the Aspen Institute that seeks to establish the field of Neuroarts, where arts and aesthetics are fully integrated into medicine and public health.
She is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us, written for the general public.
The McGovern Award Lectureship was established by Duke alumnus and philanthropist John McGovern, MD to recognize, stimulate and encourage those whose life and work epitomize the humane and healing dimensions of medicine. Past recipients have included Iain McGilchrist, Kimberly Manning, Dorothy Roberts, and Paul Starr.