Abbey Dvorak
Abbey L. Dvorak, PhD, MT-BC is Associate Professor and Program Director of Music Therapy at the University of Iowa. She received her PHD and MA in music therapy at the University of Iowa, and BA in music education at Briar Cliff University. Prior to becoming a faculty member at Iowa, Dvorak held positions as associate professor at The University of Kansas and assistant professor at Shenandoah University. She worked as a clinician at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, providing music therapy services to individuals and groups of all ages in both mental health and adult oncology settings. Currently, Dvorak facilitates Tremble Clefs-Iowa, a therapeutic singing group for individuals with Parkinson’s disease and their caregivers.
Dvorak is a 2025 Williams-Cannon Faculty Fellow in the Iowa Neuroscience Institute and a University of Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar for 2024-2027. She has received the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) Arthur Flagler Fultz Research Award and the AMTA Midwestern Region Research Award. Dvorak serves on the editorial boards of Music Therapy Perspectives and Journal of Music Therapy and has published over 30 journal articles and book chapters. She is a member of The AUMI Editorial Collective for the book Improvising Across Abilities: Pauline Oliveros and the Adaptive Use Musical Instrument published by the University of Michigan Press. Dvorak has also received several research grants and has regularly presented her research at international, national, and regional conferences.
- Music therapy
