Born with many talents for both artistry and scientific invention, Joe Musacchia is making an impact in neuroscience research and jazz music communities through publication and innovative musical composition.

As the son of an engineer and graphic artist, Joe Musacchia’s diverse talents have been cultivated from the beginning.  Growing up in Lexington, MA afforded Musacchia the opportunity to receive an excellent education under the direction of respected music educator Jeff Leonard and the advanced science curriculum of Lexington High School (LHS).  During his high school career, Musacchia also studied privately with Steve Langone, and iconic member of the Boston music scene.  At LHS, he was an active member of the music community and the science olympiad team, winning an award for leadership and a scholarship to pursue higher education.

In 2006, Musacchia moved to Boston where he enrolled at Northeastern University to study behavioral neuroscience.  Northeastern provided a phenomenal experiential education, allowing him to form relationships with several laboratories through co-ops during his undergraduate years.  Even further, Musacchia received the Matz Fellowship and Provost Undergraduate Research Grants to pursue research of his own design.  In addition, Northeastern’s prime location in the heart of downtown Boston allowed Musacchia to network and establish himself as a respected member of the Boston music community.  To maintain his music education, Musacchia studied with the highly respected drummer and educator Bob Gullotti who continued to help Musacchia develop his individual voice on drums.

After graduating from college in 2011, Joe Musacchia pursued a graduate diploma at the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC). While at NEC, Musacchia had the fortunate opportunity to study with notable teachers such as Miguel Zenón, Dave Holland, Jerry Bergonzi, Cecil McBee, Frank Carlberg, Jerry Leake, Ran Blake, Bob Moses, and Billy Hart. During his graduate education in music, Musacchia made significant contri- butions to the research of the Optics Division of the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) under the mentorship of David Boas and Sava Sakadzic. His time at NEC and the Optics Division helped Musacchia define and innovate a multi-path career in both science and music.

At this present time, Joe Musacchia holds a position at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at MGH where he is developing of a novel technology used for transduction of light energy to stimulate neuronal and muscle tissue under the direction of world famous inventor and dermatologist Rox Anderson. Musacchia also co-authored a paper recently published in the journal Nature Communications, which has a significant impact in the field of brain metabolism (see Publications). In addition to his scientific exploits, Joe Musacchia is actively composing new music for his first record to be recorded in 2015. He has recently shared the stage and recorded with Ben Eunson, Malcolm Campbell, Raviv Markovitz, Nick Brust, James Merenda, Josiah Reibstein, and many more.