Oncology and Strings

28/11/2025

Neglected local soundscapes in music therapy: cultural equity in research, policy, and practice in integrative oncology

While meta-analyses on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have established the role of music therapy (MT) in cancer care, the field remains dominated by Western music traditions and research conducted in Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic countries. The paucity of RCTs on local...

09/11/2025

Keynote address at the 3rd East African Public Health Palliative Care Scientific Congress (EAPCON; October 9, 2025)
Venue: University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Delivered a keynote address titled “Music in Medicine: Researching the Role of Local Music in Tanzania’s Health Care Practices.” The talk emphasized the importance of generating evidence on the potential of local Tanzanian music and translating this evidence into policy and clinical practice. The address advocated for the establishment of National Medical Commission–accredited music therapy programs and the licensing of qualified music therapists in Tanzania. It further highlighted the goal of developing evidence-based, locally grounded music therapy training programs and conducting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on music-based interventions within the Tanzanian healthcare system.

08/11/2025

Official photos from UN Tanzania. 'Saraswati Veena' recital and talk at UN House, UN Tanzania
Talk title: Music for Mental Health & Wellbeing: Understanding Its Role and Impact
Presented at United Nations Duty of Care -UNDOC
Date: 8th October 2025, Wednesday
Occasion: World Mental Health Awareness Day Program, United Nations, Tanzania
Venue: UN House, Sam Nujoma Road, Kinondoni, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Time: 2-3.30PM

I had the honor and privilege to speak at the United Nations, Tanzania 🇹🇿 on 'Music for Mental Health and Wellbeing: Understanding its role and Impact', and perform a South Indian classical ‘Saraswati Veena’ recital at the World Mental Health Awareness Day program. The talk covered the psychoneuroendocrinology of music, the component-wise interpretation of music in the brain, , and its relevance to music, current research in music and clinical medicine, WHO's report '67 (2019), and some suggestions for musical engagement at the workplace. I was so delighted to see everyone doing so well in the classical Indian music-based musical activity in Raga Amritavarshini. Truly, music has no borders. I am also pleased to perform on the 'Saraswati Veena', and the piece I chose was again, 'Raga Amritavarshini' (Composition: Sudhamayi Sudhanidhe, Composer: Harikeshanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar, Tala: Rupaka). Grateful to the UN House Tanzania! Thanks very much for the cute Maasai bead bracelet in Tanzanian flag colors, the UN tote bag, the pouch, and the book with Tanzanian prints! Ahsante Sana!

08/05/2025

https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/pubmed/fdaf048/8126303?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR4nbZEt-gilvD2uXwfLV1JcG9kB2g4lG5oe6EjNANHi1lUZDRmE70CDqyCJUg_aem_M_jUkC83mH7GCTvgf7u41g&login=false

19/10/2024

at Pallium India, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, had over 500 attendees: patients, caregivers, volunteers, physicians, and staff.

19/06/2024

ONE QUESTION

"Developing training programs, establishing accreditation/licensing processes, and instituting music therapists in hospitals may take a few years; meanwhile, can we ask our patients a small question? Can we note the patient’s favorite musical pieces? Listening to favorite music during an uncomfortable procedure, alone, away from loved ones, and encircled by unfamiliar faces, may help bring a sense of comfort and calmness. In intensive care units or isolation care, the gift of music may offer warm company amid the beeps or silences. All it takes is one question."

Read full article here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38269446/
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One question

19/06/2024

Music therapy in cancer care: unravelling the complexities in LMICs
" In most lower and middle-income countries (LMICs), there is a complete absence of a professional body for music therapy, accredited training programs, and board-certified providers, as well as a lack of personalization in evidence-based approaches. The other critical challenge is the paucity of high-quality peer-reviewed randomized controlled trials evaluating indigenous music interventions. Developing high-quality, unbiased, blinded, randomized controlled trials using indigenous musical genres-based interventions is the best way by which we can find out the impact and potential of music in providing supportive care to cancer patients."

Read the Full article here:

The past decades have seen the field of oncology becoming far more receptive to integrative oncology. Music therapy has been used to mitigate symptoms and address psychosocial needs in people with cancer as an adjunct to the primary treatment. Providing patients access to sources of aesthetic suppor...

19/06/2024

https://youtu.be/WZBLbHG9Vj0?si=8x1GmSS65gJVaDrV
Invited talk at the 31st Annual International Conference of the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPCON 2024), 11 February 2024 Sunday, Gujarat Cancer Research Institute (GCRI), Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Powerpoint can be downloaded from here: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/music-therapys-impact-in-palliative-care-iapcon2024-dr-tara-rajendran/267212079

Invited talk at the 31st Annual International Conference of the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPCON 2024), 11 February 2024 Sunday, Gujarat Cancer ...

17/12/2023

02/09/2023

Preorder your copy: https://procedure.press/

15/07/2023

Thanks so much, Emily F. Peters, Procedure Press, Claudia Gutierrez-Smith, Amber Cooley, and Uncommon Bold! Thank you for featuring me in ‘Artists Remaking Medicine’ alongside Laura J. Tafe, MD, Yoko and Avery Sen, Sydelle Ross MD, MD, D.ABA, Anna Engstrom, Rana Awdish MD, FCCP, Marina Tsaplina, Syed T. Hoda, MD, Kathleen Sheffer, Jonathon S. Feit, MBA, MA, James Lee Chiahan, Sandeep Jauhar and Sade Musa— the brilliant people who inspire us with their impactful work!
Pre-order the book, here: https://itascabooks.com/products/artists-remaking-medicine-the-practice-of-imagination-and-the-power-to-create-a-better-healthcare-future
Procedure Press: https://procedure.press/

14/07/2023

Thanks so much, Emily F. Peters, Procedure Press, Claudia Gutierrez-Smith, Amber Cooley, and Uncommon Bold! Thank you for featuring me in 'Artists Remaking Medicine' alongside Laura J. Tafe, MD, Yoko and Avery Sen, Sydelle Ross, MD, D.ABA, Anna Engstrom, Rana Awdish, MD, FCCP, Marina Tsaplina, Syed T. Hoda, MD, Kathleen Sheffer, Jonathon S. Feit, MBA, MA, James Lee Chiahan, and Sade Musa-- the brilliant people who inspire us with their impactful work!
Pre-order the book, here: https://itascabooks.com/products/artists-remaking-medicine-the-practice-of-imagination-and-the-power-to-create-a-better-healthcare-future
Procedure Press: https://procedure.press/

In this powerful anthology on the intersection of art and medicine, acclaimed author Emily F. Peters teams with 25 artist changemakers to explore the history, practice, and future of radical creativity in healthcare. Curious, colorful, and optimistic: Artists Remaking Medicine is a bold chronicle of...