Olivia Yinger, the Lucille Caudill Little Professor and chair of music therapy in the University of Kentucky College of Fine Arts, has been honored as a 2024-25 University Research Professor.

Yinger is a board-certified music therapist with nearly 20 years of clinical experience in healthcare, educational and community settings. Their research focuses on improving health and well-being for children and families through music therapy and music education. Specifically, they study how music therapy can help children and parents cope with medical procedures, trauma-informed music therapy for those with adverse childhood experiences and family-centered music therapy in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This background work led to their current research on perspectives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) families of infants in the NICU.

Olivia Yinger spoke with UKNow about their latest honor as a University Research Professor in this Q&A.

UKNow: What does it mean to you to be recognized as a University Research Professor?

Yinger: I am incredibly honored to be recognized as a University Research Professor. I am excited to have the opportunity to share my research with other members of the UK community and inspired to take bold steps in moving my research forward.

UKNow: How will the professorships program advance your research?

Yinger:  The University Research Professorship program will allow me to focus on the next phase of the Neonatal Intensive Care for Queer (NICQu) Families study, in which my collaborators and I plan to provide resources for LGBTQ+ parents of infants and healthcare providers in the NICU seeking to offer affirming family-centered care to LGBTQ+ parents. The program will also allow me to further my research on family-centered music therapy in the NICU through a new community-engaged research project I am developing.

UKNow: How does your research address challenges facing Kentucky?

Yinger: In 2022, 1 in 9 babies in Kentucky were born preterm, and many preterm infants spend time in the NICU. My research is helping center the voices of parents whose infants have been in the NICU to find out what providers can do to decrease stress during this critical time so that parents and their infants can have the best outcomes possible.

UKNow: What impact will your research have on Kentucky?

Yinger:  I am hopeful that LGBTQ+ parents and their infants, in Kentucky and beyond, will have better health outcomes because of my research, and that healthcare providers, including music therapists working in the NICU, will have a better understanding of ways they can support all parents in the NICU.

About the University Research Professors
Each year, the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees approves a cohort of faculty as University Research Professors. The distinction recognizes excellence in work that addresses scientific, social, cultural and economic challenges in Kentucky and the world.

College leadership developed criteria for excellence within their area of expertise and then nominated faculty who excelled at these criteria. Each University Research Professor receives a one-year award of $10,000 and participates in other events planned around the program.