Science Café : The Creative Side of Medicine: Arts and Science

Please join us on Tuesday, June 2nd from 6:00–8:00 PM at the Alliance Française de Houston for a special Scientific Café:

The Creative Side of Medicine & the Future of Human-Centered Care:

An evening with American and French scientists exploring how the visual and performing arts may help push the frontiers of medicine and patient-centered care. Through a live piano performance integrating real-time brain-computer interface (BCI) data capture and visualization using live EEG data, and reflections on neuroscience, AI, and creativity, the audience will be invited to envision novel pathways associated with healing, mental health, and peak human experience.

Dr. Mei Rui is Director of Music-in-Medicine and Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center. A pioneer in the field of Music Medicine, she is the principal investigator of several large-scale, multimodal clinical trials designed to quantitatively capture and assess the neurophysiological impact of music-based interventions and live performances on brain health, surgical performance, stress, and wellness. A Yale-trained molecular biochemist and an internationally award-winning concert pianist, Dr. Rui was a Medalist at the 2015 World Piano Competition. Rui has performed at prestigious concert venues around the globe, including a season-opening recital at the Louvre Auditorium in Paris and the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. A sought-after speaker, Dr. Rui has been invited to present plenary sessions at the 2025 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, American Society of Neuroradiology Annual Meeting, Summit Baja, and Eudemonia Summit. Last month, she was invited by Princess Girona Foundation to present a groundbreaking concert-experiment integrating real-time brain-computer interface mapping for King Philip VI of Spain in Madrid. Upcoming engagements include a presentation and performance with Chaka Khan at the Museum of Natural Science (May 2026) and a plenary talk at the Healing Arts Congress in Berlin (June 2026).

Dr. Marie Deschamps, PhD, is an artist, art therapist, and researcher currently serving as Visiting Scholar at The New School University (NY) and North America Regional Director for the International Association for Creative Arts in Education and Therapy (IACAET). She developed Icanfeel, an art-based software platform currently in clinical trial at MD Anderson Cancer Center exploring how creative expression may support symptom communication, pain management, and distress detection in oncological care. An international speaker, she has presented at the EU4Health Conference (2025), the Latin American Pediatric Oncology Conference (2024), the Collective Soul Symposium at MD Anderson Cancer Center (2025, 2026).Working at the intersection of art, medicine, and technology, her work explores how creativity, AI, and multimodal patient data may contribute to a new paradigm in human-centered healthcare and precision medicine.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Office for Science & Technology of the Embassy of France