Blythe A. Corbett, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is the Director of the Social Emotional NeuroScience Endocrinology (SENSE) lab, a translational research program focused on better understanding and treating social competence and stress in children, adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
One of her most notable contributions has been the development of SENSE Theatre®, a peer-mediated, theatre-based intervention, which has contributed to significant improvement in reciprocal social communication in children with ASD. To date, Dr. Corbett has published over 80 original peer-reviewed articles in leading academic journals. Her research has been consistently funded by the National Institute of Mental Health since 2005, which includes a current multisite clinical trial with youth with ASD and a new study of adults with ASD both examining the impact of SENSE Theatre®.
Rachael Muscatello, Ph.D. is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Muscatello has been with the SENSE Lab translational research program since 2015, when she started her doctoral studies in Neuroscience at Vanderbilt University. Her primary research interests are focused on measuring stress (heart rate and cortisol) responses during social interactions and their unique relation with internalizing symptoms in youth with ASD.
Dr. Muscatello has been an active member of the SENSE Theatre® research program since she first joined the lab. Despite having no previous background in theatre, she enjoys the opportunity to work with children and adults in a unique, creative way and just have fun!
Mark E. Klemencic, B.S. is a Clinical/Translational Research Coordinator in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. After graduating in 2018 from The Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology (concentrations in neuroscience and biology), Mark moved to Nashville to join the SENSE Lab team. While Mark has been involved in three of Dr. Corbett’s NIMH-funded research projects, his primary role as study coordinator includes managing two of these studies, both Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), which focus on the implementation of the SENSE Theatre® model to investigate and enhance social competence in children, adolescents, and adults with ASD.
Mark believes in the transformative “power of performance” and has himself been deeply involved in the theatrical and performing arts for over 15 years. With repertoire spanning local and professional avenues, such as appearing in the Pittsburgh Opera’s 2007 production of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd and competing with the National Speech & Debate Association, Mark has had, through theatre and performance, the tremendous opportunity to consider life through others’ points-of-view. Mark hopes to pursue a doctorate in clinical psychology to continue to study ASD and ways in which theatre can be an efficacious treatment modality.
Artistic Collaborators
Tammy Vice. Tammy has been involved with SENSE Theatre for over a decade, cowriting many the songs with Dr. Blythe Corbett. She has also participated in training the camp peers, along with her daughter Morgan, who is on the autism spectrum.
Originally from Mobile, Alabama, Tammy Vice has performed at events from New York to the Gulf Coast. As a recording artist for GodsChild Records, she recorded four projects; “Love Can Grow”, “Miracles & Memories”, “Breaking The Chains”, and “More Than Just Getting By”. She has had four #1 songs on indie Christian & Country charts. Tammy was the Country Music Hall of Fame’s 2009 Nominee for the Mary Catherine Strobel Award, and was awarded Borderless Arts TN 2015 Artist of the Year for her work with individuals with disabilities.
Tammy has hosted the “Songwriters for Autism Awareness” Benefit, as a part of the Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival, from 2013 to present. She is the producer/host of the Annual “Breaking the Chains” Autism Benefit, held at the Bluebird Café. April 2019 marked the events 18th year. She has become a strong parent advocate since her daughter was diagnosed with autism at age 3. Morgan is now 27 years old.
The purpose of Know The Hope, Inc. is two-fold. Her family’s company is dedicated to helping communities see Ability, and helping parents see Possibility. They offer advocacy and education through the Arts.
“As the mother of a young adult on the autism spectrum, I’ve had the privilege to know, and work with, other children and young adults who have disabilities. Through this experience, I have found that every individual has something significant to offer. Love, patience, and a little creativity, unwraps some sweet gifts.”
To learn more, visit: https://knowthehope.com
Ed Bazel. Ed Bazel is an award-winning solo pianist and composer known for his emotive sense of melody and soothing interpretation make him a popular artist for listeners who want to relax, meditate, and unwind. https://www.edbazel.com/
As an established pianist, Ed has performed and spread his passion for music from Los Angeles to China and many places in between. Along the way, he has received many awards to include Miller Piano Specialists Hall of Fame Award in the Instrumentalist category (2017), Entertainer of the Year (2018) and a Lifetime Achievement Award. As President of The Bazel Group, Ed has been a music business executive producing countless corporate events for Fortune 500 companies.
In 2015, Ed became the founder of The River of Calm – Music to Sooth Your Soul™ an online radio network founded on the belief that music can heal, soothe, and inspire others around the world. Currently, the music is streamed in over 168 countries. Recently, Ed launched the River of Calm Headphones, a partnership with Alive Inside – the visionary movement that uses music to relieve pain and improve connection with elders and youth. The Headphones provide streaming hours of specially curated music from artists on the River of Calm to cancer patients undergoing the discomforts of chemotherapy. Currently, patients at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center have the opportunity to listen to donated headphones during their treatments. https://www.theriverofcalm.com/page/the-river-of-calm-headphones-for-the-holidays-project-21
Since 2009, Ed has been a longstanding friend and collaborator of the SENSE Theatre intervention research program. Indeed, Ed has co-written several of the upbeat, catchy, and memorable songs featured in the SENSE Theatre program aimed at enhancing social competence in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.
Drew Basham. Drew Basham is an individual on the autism spectrum that was diagnosed at 2 ½ years old. He was nonverbal until the age of 4. He has always had a passion for music and picked out the song “Three Blind Mice” on a toy baby grand piano at 5 years old but only played every once and a while. At the age of 9, he began teaching himself to play piano by ear with the first of many songs he’d learn being Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy and this is when his parents realized he had a gift for music. In 2012 when Drew was 13, he played publicly as a guest performer for Borderless Arts TN Young Soloist Competition. In 2014, he was accepted into the precollege program at Vanderbilt Blair School of Music, after a recommendation from his then music teacher John Pennell and an audition. He attended Blair School of Music through 2017. Drew continued to work on his piano skills and would go on to compete in the Borderless Arts TN Young Soloist Competitions and took 2nd place in 2016 & 2017 and won 1st place in 2018 & 2022. He has also played in a worship band at Compassion Church on an as needed basis from 2017-2020. At the age of 19, in 2018, he wrote his first song and then wrote an instrumental later that year. In 2019, after a recommendation from Tammy Vice, he became the first accompanist on the autism spectrum for SENSE Theatre. Drew has been a valuable member of the SENSE Theatre team ever since, serving as the accompanist in multiple productions over the past four years. He also played piano on the song “Waiting For” on the CD “Keep On Walkin by Julie and John Pennell. Drew continues to work on his musicianship and is currently taking classes through Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education. Drew has performed at the The Nashville Symphony’s Free Day Music, The Bluebird Café, The Grand Ole Opry stage, Cheekwood, Green Beans Coffee Company @ BNA Nashville International Airport, and most recently at The Caverns as a special guest performer for the 2023 Young Soloist Awards.