The Art of Musical Healing: Music-in-Medicine with Dr. Mei Rui

Dr. Mei Rui is a Yale-trained molecular biochemist and internationally acclaimed concert pianist, Dr. Mei Rui is Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and the Founder and Director Music-in-Medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, USA. Bronze medalist of the 2025 World Piano Competition, Rui was praised by the Boston Globe as a “riveting” virtuoso, by the Cincinnati Enquirer as a “brilliant pianist with a satiny touch,” and by Boston Musical Intelligencer as an artist with “deeply felt and intense musicality.” New York Classical Review writes of her Grammy-nominated recording “Three by Three” by Eric Nathan (Albany Records): “Rui was amazing at what seemed to be impossible; an excellent pianist with extreme virtuosity.” 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. She has collaborated with eminent artists, including Emanuel Ax, Robert Trevino, Roger Tapping, and Itzhak Perlman. Rui has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in festivals including Ravinia, Perlman Music Program, Yellowbarn, Norfolk and Music Academy of the West. Concerto appearances include all Rachmaninoff Concerti with Cincinnati Symphony, TMCO, and WDO, and Beethoven Concerto No.3 and No. 5 with Beijing and Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestras. Her influential teachers and mentors include Claude Frank, Gil Kalish, Peter Frankl, Philip Kawin, and Robert McDonald. As a principal investigator, Dr. Rui leads several large-scale, multi-modal clinical trials designed to quantitatively assess the neurophysiological impact of music-based interventions and immersive live performances on cancer and dementia patients, healthcare providers, and professional musicians. Her research harnesses evidence-based, reproducible, and scalable music-selection frameworks to modulate intraoperative stress, pain, anxiety, sedative and analgesic needs in surgical patients. Her investigations also aim to optimize brain health and enhance wellness in surgeons and professional musicians.  A pioneer in the field of Music Medicine and a sought-after speaker, Dr. Rui has been invited to present her innovative research and captivating performances integrating real-time EEG and Brain-computer interface (BCI) mapping at numerous internationally and national conferences, including plenary and keynote sessions at the 2025 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, American Society of Neuroradiology Annual Meeting, Summit Baja, and Eudemonia Summit. Dr. Rui was previously Assistant Professor of Music Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and in the Department of Surgery at Houston Methodist. Additionally, Dr. Rui has taught at the Sophie Davis Biomedical School at the City University of New York, Yale University, and Yale School of Music.