Amy Smith, Ph.D., Children’s Mercy Kansas City
By Frontiers , Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Aug 30, 2024
Amy Smith, Ph.D., Children’s Mercy Kansas City
The Impact of a Music Enrichment Program on Health and Developmental Outcomes During Early Childhood
Amy Smith, Ph.D. from Children’s Mercy Kansas City, particpated as a scholar in the TL1 Postdoctoral program. Her research project titled "The Impact of a Music Enrichment Program on Health and Developmental Outcomes During Early Childhood" was conducted in the Health Services and Outcomes Research Department under the guidance of Kai Ling Kong, Ph.D. This project commenced on July 1, 2023, and ended on June 30, 2024.
During her time in the TL1 program, she expanded her research skills through intensive training and collaboration, including a two-day grant writing workshop and an in-depth responsible conduct of research course. Smith completed multiple research projects, including a qualitative study on parents' views of music enrichment, a narrative review on music programs' role in early language development, and a study on the long-term impact of music enrichment on language outcomes, with manuscripts under review or accepted for publication. Additionally, she coordinated a randomized controlled intervention study, collaborated on a funded grant proposal for the Sound Health Initiative, presented her research at conferences, and secured a research position at Vanderbilt University's Music Cognition Lab, prompting her to leave the TL1 fellowship early to pursue this opportunity.