Marc Moss, MD
Marc Moss is the Roger S. Mitchell Professor of Medicine and former Head of the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr. Moss has a longstanding interest in critical care-related research and he has held continuous NIH funding as a Principal Investigator for over 19 consecutive years. More specifically, Dr. Moss’s research interests include identifying new treatment modalities for patients with the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), exploring the diagnosis and treatment of neuromuscular dysfunction in critically ill patients who require mechanical ventilation, and studying burnout syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and wellness in critical care healthcare professionals, specifically ICU nurses. Dr. Moss’ research on wellness is funded by the NIH and he recently received funding from the National Endowment of the Arts. Dr. Moss is the principal investigator for the Colorado center in the NHLBI sponsored Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL) network. Based on his expertise in clinical/translational research and mentoring, Dr. Moss served as the Program Director for the Education, Training, and Career Development Core of the Colorado Clinical Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI) from 2008-2016. More recently, he served as the President of the American Thoracic Society from 2017-2018.
Jeri Forster, PhD
Jeri Forster, PhD, is the Director of the Data and Statistical Core at the VA Rocky Mountain Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC) for Suicide Prevention and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She obtained her PhD in Biostatistics in 2006. Dr. Forster is involved in grants and projects related to suicidality, traumatic brain injury, and post-traumatic stress disorder in Veterans, as well as physical function in older adults and rehabilitation in pediatric patients. Her statistical research interests include longitudinal data analysis, varying-coefficient models and methods to handle non-ignorable dropout in clinical trials and longitudinal observational studies.
Rafaela Mantelli, MD - Program Manager
Based in the department of Pulmonary Sciences & Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Rafaela oversees the daily aspects of our creative arts therapy study and related research initiatives. By drawing insight from her background in emergency medicine and experience with patient care, she brings a diverse set of skills to our team’s health promotion efforts.
Katherine Reed, LPC, Art Therapist & Manager of Ponzio Creative Arts Therapy Program, Children’s Hospital Colorado
Katherine earned her Masters in Art Therapy at the Art Institute of Chicago, with a focus on art therapy as social action. Her 2+ years as a Peace Corps Health Education Volunteer in Burkina Faso, West Africa, and 9 years of teaching art in Colorado public schools, nourished her drive to empower individual expression as a means of connecting to ourselves and to others. Katherine’s current role allows her to integrate her passions at CHCO: building a comprehensive team of creative arts therapists developing creative opportunities for youth mental health services, creating resilience strategies for medical and psychiatric providers, and using the arts as vehicles for healing, building, and empowering community.
Hillary Sinn, LPC, R-DMT
Hillary graduated from Naropa University with a Master’s in Somatic Counseling Psychology receiving specialized training in Dance/Movement Therapy. She studied dance and theatre throughout her childhood ultimately taking her to New York where she studied modern dance and theatre at Sarah Lawrence College, initially pursuing a career in stage performance. Following 9/11 she became interested in politics, psychology, and concepts of service and justice. Hillary has performed on stages up and down the East Coast, through parts of the Midwest, and here locally in Colorado. She currently works as a Dance/Movement Therapist and clinical supervisor in the Ponzio Creative Arts Therapy Program at Children’s Hospital Colorado working with children and teenagers in the Pediatric Mental Health Institute. She is a member of the American Dance Therapy Association, the American Counseling Association, and CORAL, the Colorado Resiliency Arts Lab.
Tony Edelblute, LPC, MT-BC
Tony has worked as a music therapist at Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHCO) in Denver since 2003. As a member of the Ponzio Creative Arts Therapies Program, he has worked with children with psychiatric and medical diagnoses in units throughout the hospital. From 2013-19, he co-led the CHCO mental health Youth Action Board, guiding Denver-area teens through the creation of advocacy projects related to de-stigmatizing mental health issues. He was the lead author of CHCO’s Expressive Approaches to Social-Emotional Wellness: A Toolkit for Youth-Serving Professionals.
Michael Henry, MFA
Michael Henry is co-founder and Executive Director of Lighthouse Writers Workshop, one of the largest independent literary centers in the country. He has an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College an undergraduate degree in English from University of Rochester, and is the author of three books of poetry. A recipient of fellowships from the Colorado Council on the Arts and PlatteForum, he was recently awarded a Livingston Fellowship from the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, as well as the Judy Anderson Founder’s Award.
Aliza Anderson
Aliza is new to University of Colorado, but she is no stranger to the state! Born and raised in Colorado Springs, she is glad to be back home. After receiving her Bachelor’s in Anthropology from Colby College, she worked a year as a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Ophthalmology Department at the University of Vermont Medical Center. She then went on to be a Mental Health Social Practitioner in NYC, serving individuals with Serious Mental Illnesses at Fountain House. With lots of adventures in-between, she is grateful to now be engaging with the more psych-based studies of the PSCCM. As a clinical research science professional, she specifically supports CORAL, and the NIH-funded Registered Clinical Trial known as Blueprint, which is an app-based intervention to develop coping mechanisms for cardiorespiratory survivors who were recently discharged from the ICU. Working with Principal Investigator, Dr. Marc Moss, and Program Manager, Dr. Rafaela Mantelli, she focuses on research engagement, adherence, and marketing to continue developing and expanding the reach of our study findings.