Faculty Supervisor
Music Therapist
Dr. Deforia Lane served as Associate Director of the Seidman Cancer Center, & Director of Art & Music Therapy at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. With early intentions of pursuing a singing career, she completed her Bachelor Degree in Vocal Performance at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and began graduate studies at the Curtis Institute of Music. She attended Cleveland State University for her Master’s Degree and earned her PhD in Music Education/Music Therapy from Case Western Reserve University. She holds board certification as a Music Therapist and is certified by the American Music Therapy Association for Faculty Authorization.
Dr. Lane has designed and implemented music therapy programs for such diverse populations including those with physical and mental disabilities, abused children, geriatric clients, patients with behavioral and psychiatric disorders, adult and pediatric oncology, hospice and palliative care patients. Among the institutions that she has served as consultant and/or presenter are the National Institutes of Health Sound Health Initiative, the National Endowment for the Arts, National Department on Aging, and Sesame Street (Children’s Television Workshop)Ohio Department of Mental Health, Mayo Clinic, Beth Israel Hospital, and Ohio Hospice Organization.
Dr. Lane is a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society for which she composed and recorded the song “We Can Cope”. Public notice of her work extends from recognition in publications such as Reader’s Digest and Coping Magazine to forums such as National Public Radio, Cable News Network, CBS This Morning, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal TV and ABC World News with Peter Jennings. Some of her many awards include the first grant from the American Cancer Society to investigate the “Therapeutic Effects of Music on Oncology Patients”, the Oncology Nursing Society’s Mara Mogensen Flaherty Lectureship Award, and the Cleveland Negro Business & Professional Women Award. In 1994 Dr. Lane received honorary membership into the Oncology Nursing Society, the highest honor they confer.
Dr. Lane is distinguished by her ability to empathize with her patients because of her personal struggle with cancer. She is married to Cleveland architect, Ernest Luther Lane, and they have two sons, Curtis and Martin, both engineers.
Dr. Lane is a frequent national and international speaker, author of Music as Medicine (Zondervan Press), a consultant with hospitals, universities and healthcare organizations, and enjoys mentoring music therapists and those interested in the profession. She is a member of the PNC Banks Grow Up Great Advisory Board, the Board of Trustees at the Cleveland City Mission, and at Cedarville University.
On a personal note, Dr. Lane states she is the queen of thrift shopping, and is still learning to sing her life’s song.