Sam Rodgers-Melnick, MPH, MT-BC (he/him)
Sam Rodgers-Melnick, MPH, MT-BC is a music therapist and Integrative Health Research & Data Specialist focused on investigating the effectiveness of integrative therapies at University Hospitals Connor Whole Health. Sam received his Bachelor of Science in Music Therapy from Duquesne University and his Master of Public Health degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He is currently a Doctoral Student in the Clinical Translational Science Program at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine and was awarded a two-year F31 Predoctoral Fellowship Award from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), a Division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
As a music therapist at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, Sam developed several interventions directed at improving pain management outcomes for adults with sickle cell disease (SCD). Sam served as PI for two consecutive research grants from the Kulas Foundation (Cleveland, OH) that funded music therapy research studies in SCD. These studies included (1) a mixed-methods RCT investigating the effects of music therapy on acute pain in patients with SCD receiving care in an outpatient infusion center; (2) a study investigating the effects of the BEATS (Build Educate Advance Transition in Sickle cell disease) music therapy program on self-efficacy, trust, knowledge, and adherence among young adults with SCD; (3) a survey of music use among 100 adults with SCD; and (4) a mixed-methods RCT investigating the effects of a multi-session intervention on health-related quality of life and chronic pain among individuals with SCD.
Sam recently served as a co-investigator for Effectiveness of Medical Music Therapy Practice: Integrative Research using the Electronic Health Record (EMMPIRE). This work resulted in four publications demonstrating (1) how music therapy can be integrated throughout a large health system; (2) the clinically meaningful impact of a single music therapy session for addressing pain, stress, anxiety, and fatigue among patients receiving care at an academic cancer center and patients with moderate-to-severe symptoms receiving treatment at eight UH community hospitals; and (3) a quality improvement initiative to increase patient-reported outcome collection among a medical music therapy team.
Sam’s research has been published in journals including International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, Journal of Music Therapy, Journal of Pain Research, Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine, PAIN Reports, Integrative Cancer Therapies, and JMIR Human Factors. A full listing of Sam’s research in PubMed can be found here. Sam has also presented at numerous regional, national, and international conferences.
Sam and his wife, Kim, are also avid cyclists and participate in the annual Pan Ohio Hope Ride to support the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge program.