Dr. Jacek Pinski
Executive Clinical Director, I_AM
Dr. Jacek Pinski is a tenured Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles, CA. In addition to his involvement with many clinical trials exploring novel anti-cancer medications to improve treatment outcomes in patients, he feels strongly that attending to the psychological aspect of cancer care is of equal importance. Raised in a family where different forms of arts entered critically into his upbringing, he believes these modalities have the potential to reduce the sense of isolation, anxiety and depression negatively impacting patient morale and self-esteem. His mother’s stories about being a teenager in the Bedzin Ghetto, where she offered comfort in the form of poetry, music, and film to her friends, all of whom later perished in Auschwitz, steeled his resolve to carry on the tradition of uplifting people during times of immense suffering and uncertainty through a creative means.
Today, Jacek has converged the worlds of medicine and art, realizing a lifelong ambition and childhood aim to bring healing and joy to those in darkness, through serving as I_AM’s Clinical Director.
Dr. Terry Church
Administrative Director, I_AM
Dr. Terry Church is an Assistant Professor in Regulatory and Quality Sciences at the University of Southern California. He lectures in the undergraduate program, Pharmacology and Drug Development (PDD); and graduate program, Regulatory Science. Prof. Church’s academic focus is on interdisciplinary applications of pharmaceutical regulation in relation to patterns of addiction to affect broad areas of learning and training. His areas interest and expertise include biorepository regulation and ethics; drug addiction and regulation of controlled substances; regulatory practices for continuity and disaster planning; and policies and ethics of academic research. Dr. Church is an avid supporter of creative arts therapies and has helped in the initial set up of the Institute for Arts in Medicine at USC.
Dr. Church holds a Doctor of Science and Master of Science in Regulatory Science from the University of Southern California, a Master of Arts in Cultural Anthropology from Temple University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh.
In his spare time, Dr. Church is a cyclist, amateur painter, and part-time crafter.
Valerie Narumi
Director of Music as Medicine
Valerie Narumi is currently a graduate student at the University of Southern California, pursuing a Masters of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine from the Keck School of Medicine as well as a Masters of Music in Piano Performance from the Thornton School of Music. She has been volunteering for Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center since 2017, when she founded her own student organization, Medicinal Music Makers (m^3) at USC. m^3 was established with the aim to provide music to patients, their families and staff at the hospital, during challenging times. Through her volunteering with m^3, she was connected to I_AM, and has been working with them since 2019 to provide a more positive experience to those affected by cancer.
Valerie currently serves as I_AM’s Director of Music as Medicine division and works as Lead Composer in Residence for the Music Infusion program.
Mars Robles
Director of Technology as Medicine
Mars Robles first joined the I_AM team in 2021 as a Music Infusion patient. After feeling the impact of how this program had helped him, he decided to give back to the community that had given him so much.
Mars works to bridge a better understanding between patients (cancer survivors) and the leaders facilitating cancer support programs by voicing his perspective on the cancer experience. His values align with the I_AM philosophy that “Art is Healing” and he aims to help others heal through the “art of having fun” using emerging and innovative technologies.
Mars was first introduced to his love for video games at the age of 7, when his father bought him Duckhunt. Expanding on this passion, he volunteered for I_AM, working to develop its virtual reality (VR) research and clinical programs, before being later hired for his efforts and dedication. Combining his attributes of integrity, fairness and analytical thought processes, along with curiosity, he serves as I_AM’s Director of Technology as Medicine division.
Savannah Mohacsi
Director of I_AM Painting Health
Savannah Mohacsi has always been an ardent supporter of the intersection between art, medicine and science. Having fully immersed herself in these disciplines at Stanford University, she graduated in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Human Biology and minor in Arts Practice. Her interest focuses on the capacity of art to foster empathetic interactions with others and its use as a platform for the sharing of narratives relating to health and illness. She has explored this passion in her University awarded honors art thesis, The Body as Canvas, where she employed the artistic practice of body painting to simulate the patient-doctor relationship through anatomical images painted directly onto the skin.
In 2021, Savannah brought her talents to I_AM and offers body painting to cancer patients of Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. As Director of I_AM Painting Health, Savannah is pioneering a body painting program that is the first of its kind. Additionally, she serves as a study coordinator for various I_AM research aims, including a Virtual Reality (VR) study, assessing the utility of VR for patients undergoing painful procedures, during which they are made to remain conscious, such as lumbar puncture or bone marrow biopsy. Her previous work on television productions as a Covid Compliance Coordinator and Supervisor in the entertainment industry, has informed her of appropriate health and safety protocols. She is also a licensed EMT and works for a private ambulance company, transporting chronically ill patients to the hospital. Given her creative passions and aptitude for the sciences, Savannah Mohacsi strives to push the envelope on how the arts can be integrated into healthcare, with the intention to one day leave her mark on the medical field as a future healthcare provider, equal parts physician, scientist, and artist.
Solomon Smart
Interdisciplinary Projects Producer
Solomon Smart first joined the I_AM team in 2021 as a volunteer. His background in Special Education, teaching students with severe and multiple disabilities, allowed him to explore a variety of creative and healing modalities in the classroom. Gardening, music therapy, pet therapy, sound healing, color therapy, yoga and incorporation of an individualized, needs-based sensory diet are some examples of the ways in which he optimized learning for his students. His heart aligns naturally to the cause and innovative methods of I_AM to bring healing to patients. He is also passionate about language and technology, is himself a poet and rapper, and has experience recording and producing tracks. Solomon delivers his talents and leadership skills to the team by serving as I_AM’s Interdisciplinary Projects Producer.
David Webster
Songwriter and Music Producer,
David Webster officially joined I_AM in March of 2022 but has been sharing his passion, creativity, and music with patients and staff of Keck Medicine since 2015, where he also worked as a registered nurse. He has a passion for the healing arts and believes that direct patient care is as much an art as it is a science. Also a songwriter with a background in musical production, he began chronicling much of his experience with patients in a music and poetry project called “Nurses Verses.” It was during one of these projects writing a song through a patient’s perspective when he first crossed paths with the I_AM leadership, who spotted him on campus in his scrubs, guitar strung over his shoulder.
David now serves I_AM as a Songwriter and Music Producer, where his experience and assessment skills as a registered nurse allow him to connect with patients on a truly wholistic level.
Vili Fualaau
Lead Artist in Residence
Vili Fualaau began drawing and making art at the age of three and has since explored, developed, and refined these skills in his portraiture and storytelling. His imaginative eye seeks to reach those whose perspectives deserve to be translated into meaningful and captivating contexts.
Having lost the mother of his children and partner to cancer, Vili seeks to share his passion for artistic expression as a healing practice for patients and caregivers in his role as I_AM’s Lead Artist in Residence.