Eva Bojner Horwitz

Eva Bojner Horwitz is employed as a Professor of Music and Health at KMH, conducting research in a broad, interdisciplinary field that combines social medicine, music psychology, and health sciences, with a focus on social sustainability in education and healthcare systems.

About the researcher

Eva is a Professor of Music and Health and an affiliated researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences, and Society at Karolinska Institutet (KI). She holds a PhD and a docent degree in social medicine and is a cultural health researcher specializing in psychosomatic medicine and creative arts.

She supervises doctoral students and is a co-founder of the Centre for Social Sustainability (CSS) at Karolinska Institutet. Additionally, she serves as Chair of KMH’s Sustainability Council, Chair of the Scientific Council of the Dance in School Foundation, and a board member of Culture and Life Health. For several years, she was Vice Chair of KMH’s Education and Research Committee.

Research description

Music and health is an interdisciplinary field that includes music psychology, music education, health sciences, neuroscience, social medicine, philosophy, and music therapy. The research integrates both artistic and scientific perspectives. Eva’s work focuses on neurodiversity, young adults, public health, and enriched learning environments.

With today’s advanced measurement tools, researchers can study how singing and music affect the body and well-being, both for performers and audiences. This research contributes to the integration of music into schools and healthcare. Her findings are published in books such as The Cultural Health Box, Culture for Your Health, Feel Better with Music, and Culture and Public Health, as well as in book chapters from Oxford University Press, Routledge, and Springer.

Currently, she is leading The Orchestral Body project, which maps the body's warning signals related to stress and illness. Another ongoing project, A Singing Generation, provides young people with opportunities to sing in choirs and build social connections, aiming to enhance mental and physical well-being and prevent health issues.

Research projects

See related links below.

Education

Eva holds a PhD and a docent degree in social medicine and earned her doctorate in 2004 at Uppsala University.