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Jacelyn Biondo, PhD, MPH, MA, BC-DMT, LPC

Assistant Professor

Contact Information

biondo

130 South 9th Street
Room 960T
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Email Jacelyn Biondo

Assistant Professor

Education

MPH, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA - 2023
PhD, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA - 2019
MA, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA - 2010
BFA, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA - 2004

Fellowships

Jefferson Institute of Smart and Healthy Cities Fellowship, Philadelphia, PA - 2024
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Thomas Jefferson University, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Philadelphia, PA - 2024
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Drexel University, Department of Creative Arts Therapy, Philadelphia, PA - 2022

Publications

Biondo, J., & Johnson, N. (Under Review). The process and significance of convening a community advisory board with individuals with severe mental illness. Journal of Participatory Research Methods.

Biondo, J., & Gerber, N. (Under Review). “No tears or brain words”: A case report on single session dance/movement therapy for individuals with schizophrenia. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies.

Gerber, N., Biffi, E., Biondo, J., Carriera, L., Hannes, K., Gemignani, M., & Siegesmund, R. (2024). Sustaining life on Earth: An arts-based research exploration of collective lived experiences of COVID-19. Methods in Psychology, 100162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metip.2024.100162

View Scopus Profile

Certifications

  • Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist
  • Licensed Professional Counselor

Awards

  • Abundance Award, American Dance Therapy Association, 2022
  • Research Award, American Dance Therapy Association, 2021
  • Award for Clinical Excellence, Drexel University, 2010

Research & Clinical Interests

Dr. Jacelyn Biondo (she/her) is a researcher, educator, and scholar who prioritizes a collaborative rehumanization process of individuals who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. She completed two Postdoctoral Research Fellowships and has taught master’s and doctoral level students nationally and internationally. Dr. Biondo has worked clinically as a dance therapist and psychotherapist for over a decade primarily in an inpatient psychiatric hospital. Informed by this clinical practice, her research focuses on developing and facilitating equitable, embodied practices to inform holistic treatment options for people who are often societally dehumanized. Her research interests include the concepts of embodiment, community, intimacy, and belonging particularly as they relate to communities that have been historically excluded, specifically, people experiencing schizophrenia.  

Dr. Biondo’s research is community-driven and inclusive of the knowledge and wisdom of individuals with schizophrenia from conception to dissemination. The precise details of the research, including the particularities of the research question, are informed by people with lived experience and focus on the creation of spaces of belonging and actions of seeing as research advocacy. Dr. Biondo conducts research rooted in improving health equity for people with schizophrenia through the implementation of embodied, trauma- and community-informed research with the goal of fostering rehumanization of individuals living with schizophrenia. 

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