Principal Investigators and
Leadership Team
Lisa Gonzales, MFA, Associate Professor, Columbia College Chicago
Lisa Gonzales is an improviser, educator, collaborator, choreographer and co-principal investigator of the Dance For Health Research Study. She is a tenured faculty member and served as the Chair of the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago (2018-2024). She teaches courses in choreography, improvisation, contemporary technique, creative process, and experiential anatomy. She has been described as a performer of “stunning power and nuance” by the New York Times and remains professionally devoted to the practices of performing, improvising, choreographing and teaching.
Susan D. Imus, MA, LCPC, BC-DMT, GL-CMA, Professor Emerita, Columbia College Chicago
Susan Imus, LCPC, BC-DMT, GL-CMA, is Professor Emerita at Columbia College Chicago and Co-Principal Investigator of the Dance For Health Research Study. She chaired the department of Creative Arts Therapy for 19 years which included co-founding six programs. Susan served on the Committee on Approval and the Education Committee for the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) assuming chair positions in each. In 2006 she earned the first annual Excellence in Education Award from the ADTA. Susan currently works with Rush University Medical College and Rush Generations Center for Excellence in Aging leading Arts in Health initiatives. She is an international consultant and educator to institutions throughout Asia and Europe and is widely published in journals and book chapters in the creative arts therapies.
Jinal Patel, MD, Internist, Rush University Medical Center
Jinal Patel is an internal medicine resident at RUSH University Medical Center and is Co-Principal Investigator on the Dance for Health study in partnership between RUSH University Medical Center and Columbia College Chicago. She is excited to see what new insight this study will reveal as she truly believes the arts can help improve a person's physical health. A fun fact about her is that she has been dancing since she was four years old!
Roell Schmidt, Producing Director of the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago And
NEA Grant project manager
Roell Schmidt is the Producing Director of Columbia College Chicago’s Dance Presenting Series (DPS). She is an arts administrator, producer, educator, and maker who seeks to contribute to a creative ecosystem that is fair, compassionate, generative, and risk-taking. She has believed in dance for health since she was a sick child and her doctor prescribed dance to improve her health outcomes. Prior to DPS, she co-produced with artists on new works and site-specific performances and with scientists and artists to develop games for a quantum casino. She directed Chicago’s dance and performance incubator Links Hall from 2009 to 2019, a decade that included establishing its venue partnership with Mike Reed and Constellation, the first season in Links’ history led by artists who identify as BIPOC, and receiving the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.
Meredith Sutton, Artistic Director of the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago
Meredith Sutton is the Artistic Director of Columbia College Chicago’s Dance Presenting Series (DPS). Prior to joining the DPS team, she was an Associate Professor of Dance at the University of Southern Mississippi. Sutton has held faculty positions in the dance programs housed at Tulane University, and University of Virginia and has guest taught at Belhaven University, Stephen F. Austin University, Sarah Lawrence College, University of Rochester, and SUNY Brockport. Additionally, she served as the New Orleans Ballet Association’s Resident Artist. Sutton has performed the works of noted choreographers including Robert Battle, Ulysses Dove, Ohad Naharin, and Blondell Cummings. As a dance maker, Sutton’s work explores the duality and deconstruction of full-bodied athleticism and intricate pedestrian gestures. Her creative body of work has been presented at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, The Kennedy Center, and three American College Dance Association Gala Concerts.
