The Jefferson Center of Immersive Arts for Health

The Jefferson Center of Immersive Arts for Health (JCIAH) is a collaborative platform that combines design, science, technology, and healthcare to explore the effects of immersive art on healing and neurodiversity. Students, researchers, and clinicians from various fields collaborate to address healthcare challenges through a cross-disciplinary approach to education and research.

JCIAH focuses on research that examines how immersive experiences—like virtual reality and interactive art—can improve patient outcomes by enhancing emotional well-being and reducing anxiety. Unlike traditional static art, immersive art engages multiple senses and allows patients to choose their level of interaction, fostering a sense of control over their environment.

Located between the Jefferson Center City medical campus and the East Falls design campus, JCIAH thrives on collaboration across disciplines. By partnering with art, science, and healthcare experts, the center aims to utilize innovative technology and creative approaches to significantly enhance health experiences.

Why focus on Immersive Arts?

Research shows that art can positively impact human health, specifically in healthcare environments. Most research focuses on static art (paintings, prints, or sculptures). More recently, distraction therapy using virtual reality has shown promising benefits in pain management and lowered anxiety through the creation of an immersive experience.

An immersive experience is defined by its multi-sensory, interactive involvement that transports participants into an intensified or alternative reality. We are testing how outcomes could be achieved with dynamic or interactive art that can “immerse” the patient in such a way as to improve the overall healthcare experience, resulting in an enhanced physiological and psychological impact. By making the artwork dynamic, it becomes more immersive. The potential impact could reach more visitors across multiple platforms by removing the need for a VR headset.

[Team members are from Thomas Jefferson Univserity, unless otherwise specified.]

Leadership

Lyn Godley, MFA
Professor, Department of Industrial Design, Kanbar
Director, Jefferson Center of Immersive Arts for Health
Multi-Media Artist and Owner, Lyn Godley Studio

Research Team

Lyn Godley, MFA
Professor, Department of Industrial Design, Kanbar
Director, Jefferson Center of Immersive Arts for Health
Multi-Media Artist and Owner, Lyn Godley Studio

Wendy Ross, MD, FFAAP
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, SKMC
Director, Jefferson Center for Autism and Neurodiversity, Jefferson Health

Rosie Frasso, PhD, MSc, MSc, CPH
Professor & Program Director, Public Health Masters Program, JCPH

Virginia O’Hayer, PhD
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, SKMC
Director of Jefferson’s Center City Clinic for Behavioral Medicine, Jefferson Health

Academic Team

Lyn Godley, MFA
Wendy Ross, MD, FFAAP

Academic & Research Partners

George C. Brainard, PhD
Professor, Department of Neurology, SKMC
Director, Jefferson Light Research Program

John P. Hanifin, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, SKMC
Director, Jefferson Light Research Program

Adam Dicker, MD, PhD, FASTRO, FASCO
Enterprise Sr. VP, Jefferson Health
Chair & Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, SKMC
Director, Jefferson Center for Digital Health
Professor, Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics

Tom Igoe, MPS 
Arts Professor, Interactive Telecommunications Program
ITP Area Head for Physical Computing Courses, New York University, New York, NY

Yael Erel, MArch
Assistant Professor, Co-Chair SoA ARCH Program, School of Architecture, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Ute Besenecker, PhD
Associate Professor, Division of Lighting Design, Department of Architecture, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

Georgios Triantafyllidis, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark

Glenn Shrumm, IALD
Associate Professor of Lighting Design and Interdisciplinary Practice, Parsons the New School, New York, NY

Joseph McCleery, PhD (and Sophia Borello)
Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology, Executive Director of Academic Programs for the Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA