Our Governing Board
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Our MMM Team
John Kander
Executive Director
Throughout my media career, including as chief creative executive for the #1
Broadcast Network’s on-air marketing division, as a senior television and film
production executive, and as a writer and producer of entertainment, advocacy,
and informational programming, my collaborative work has often had the good
fortune to influence the national conversation while earning the industry’s most
prestigious creative and humanitarian awards.
I’ve also been both lucky and driven to share my time and support with several vital
common good organizations, including nearly two decades as Chairman of Claremont
McKenna College’s Gould Center for the Humanities whose scholarly and cultural
contributions to CMC’s future leaders have earned national recognition,
including the Pulitzer Prize, five years as a Board + member of People For The
American Way identifying and nurturing future progressive leaders, and more than a
decade as a board member, team leader and senior volunteer for Care Harbor, the
nation’s largest free medical, dental, vision and mental health clinic.
MMM Student Assistants
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Angela Yang is a third-year Neuroscience major at UCLA and an Administrative Assistant for Music Mends Minds. She is an undergraduate research assistant in the Wilke Lab and helps to study prefrontal circuitry and the role of its dopaminergic projections in effort-based decision making - a mechanism that is often disrupted in neuropsychiatric disorders such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and dementia. Moreover, growing up closely with her grandparents has shaped her interest in gerontology, geriatrics, and mental well-being for the diverse older adult population. On campus, Angela is a member of the Neuroscience Undergraduate Society, the UCLA Figure Skating Club, and an Emergency Medicine Research Associate (EMRA).
Anubhav Chandla, a fourth-year UCLA undergraduate studying Human Biology and Societies, serves as Treasurer on the Music Mends Minds (MMM) Board of Directors and works as an Administrative Assistant. Over four years with MMM, he has focused on expanding its global reach and financial stability to support its public health mission. Anubhav conducts neurosurgery research under Dr. Isaac Yang, studying genomic characteristics and clinical outcomes of brain neoplasms like glioblastoma and exploring non-invasive treatments. At UCLA, he participates in H.A.N.D., leading efforts to develop a wearable haptic device to reduce Parkinson’s tremors.
Anubhav is also an Indian-classically trained percussionist, performing nationwide and teaching K-12 students.
Kayla Arellano is a fourth-year Neuroscience major at UCLA. She is currently involved in Dr. Xia Yang’s integrative multiomics and systems biology research lab on campus, where one of their projects targeted key genes potentially amenable to therapeutics post-traumatic brain injury. At UCLA, Kayla is the Professional Development Chair for Neuroscience Undergraduate Society, Patient Transport volunteer at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and member of Interaxon to teach younger students in underfunded schools about the brain. She shares a love for the arts and serves as the choreographer for Resonance a cappella group, National Anthem singer for UCLA athletics, competitive dancer for 10 years, and Miss Anaheim’s Outstanding Teen for 2 years.
Mi Nguyen is a second-year biochemistry major at UCLA, a website and software design intern, and an administrative assistant for Music Mends Minds. She is an undergraduate pedagogical head learning assistant in the Life Science Mathematics department and a volunteer in the Child Life Zone at UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital. Before coming to UCLA, Mi, inspired by the 50+ weddings and funerals she played for across the U.S., established a free music program in the Bay Area to teach underserved middle school students about the basics of music in the hopes of spreading the gift of music to others. She continues her goal by being an active co-keyboardist for the 5th Dementia Band and pianist for the UCLA UCC choir.
Johnny Bhaskar is a fourth year Computational Biology and Music Education major at UCLA and a software intern with Music Mends Minds. He plays guitar and bass for several student formed bands as well as the 5th Dementia every Thursday! Johnny also performs with ensembles in the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and offers guitar, bass, and drum lessons to students of all ages. He works in the Jacobs lab researching evolutionary biology doing statistical analysis of developmental genes in moon jellyfish.
Olivia Geronimo is a second-year Psychobiology major at UCLA and an Administrative Assistant for Music Mends Minds. In addition to MMM’s club at UCLA, she is a member of Brain Exercise Initiative (BEI) and Pilipinos for Community Health (PCH). With these organizations, she regularly volunteers at senior living homes. Additionally, she is part of BEI’s content committee, for which she creates weekly presentations for seniors intended to exercise and improve cognitive function. During the school year she loves to volunteer with MMM’s 5th Dementia Band–singing and dancing along with patients, caregivers, and families. Beginning in the Fall ‘24 Quarter, she will be researching under Dr. Zhefeng Guo, studying the structural biology of amyloid-related neurodegenerative diseases.
Aisha Randhawa is a second-year Physiological Science major and Comparative Literature minor at UCLA. She serves as an Administrative Assistant for Music Mends Minds, the Executive Outreach Director for MMM's club at UCLA, and loves connecting with seniors, caregivers, and families. She enjoys playing the piano at MMM's music groups and in senior living homes throughout her hometown in the Inland Empire. Her passion lies in understanding the neuroscience behind how music aids healing and enhances cognitive function in seniors with neurodegenerative conditions. In addition, Aisha is an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant to Chemistry Professor Dr. Laurence Lavelle and a Care Extender at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Ambassadors
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Our Advisory Board
Ph.D. Professor of Neurology at Harvard University, Vice-Chair of Neurology, Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit, and Co-Director of the Henry and Allison McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital
MD, Chief Geriatric Medicine Director UCLA Multicampus Program in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology Professor Department of Medicine
J.D. Malpractice Attorney
MD, Ph.D. Professor Molecular Toxicology, Neurology Member Brain Research Institute, Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Studies, Neuroengineering Training Program
Founding Patron Services Manager, Los Angeles Philharmonic
Professor Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Professor in Residence, The Semel Institute Member
Brain Research Institute, Neuroscience GPB Home Area
MD, Ph. D. Chair, and Distinguished Professor Neurobiology Professor, Neurology Member
Brain Research Institute, CTSI, Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Studies, Neuroengineering Training Program, Neuroscience GPB Home Area
Artist and Psychotherapist
MD, CMD
Chief Medical Officer, Signify Healthcare
Founder, Dementia Spring Foundation
MD Ph.D. Director
The Institute for Music & Brain Science,
Co-Director, University of California Multi-Campus Music Research Initiative, Associate Clinical Professor Neurology UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Adjunct Ethnomusicology Professor
UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
JD. Attorney at Law Buchalter Nemer
Professor and Researcher
NYU School of Medicine Columbia School of Public Health
Ph.D. Professor, University of Toronto
Department of Music
Director, University of Toronto Music and Health Sciences Research Collaboratory and Graduate Programs
Founding & Guiding Teacher at InsightLA
MD, MPH, FACP
Director, Cedars-Sinai Health System / Memory and Aging Program
Medical Director, Jona Goldrich Center for Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders
Carmen & Louis Warschaw Endowed Chair in Neurology
Professor of Neurology and Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center