In this Q & A with Society for Neuroscience, Julia Tom, a former cellist and current doctoral student in Associate Professor Joyce Chen's TEMPO lab at the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, discusses her unique background in music and science, and how it informs her research into empowering performers to achieve their full potential.
Tom recently won the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance Agility Project Award, which will fund her postdoctoral research at Stanford University with professor of neurosurgery Peter Tass, himself a former cellist, on a tactile glove to treat a neurological disorder called musicians’ dystonia.
Julia Tom is a former cellist with Amsterdam's Concertgebouw Orchestra turned neuroscientist, now bridging elite performance and fundamental science in her work. Her research aims to understand and enhance elite motor performance, particularly focusing on the tactile sensory system that conventional musical training often overlooks.
At the University of Toronto, Julia held a unique dual position, teaching at the Faculty of Music while conducting research at the Faculty of Kinesiology. Her research recently won the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance Agility Award, funding Stanford postdoctoral research with Dr. Peter Tass on a tactile glove to treat musicians’ dystonia, a crippling neurological disorder affecting 1-5% of professional musicians.
Through her research, teaching, and mentorship, Julia looks to inject science-backed approaches into the field of musical performance, empowering performers to achieve their full potential.
READ Q & A WITH JULIA TOM ON THE SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE WEBPAGE.