Project Grant R37CA296338

Grant Award Summary

The National Cancer Institute awarded Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research $743,809 under the Cancer Treatment Research program (CFDA 93.395) on June 12, 2026, to support the VIRTUOSO (Virtual AI-Assisted Music Therapy for Anxiety Symptoms in People with Advanced Cancer) project through May 31, 2031. The project delivers an innovative, non-pharmacological intervention combining artificial intelligence (AI)-powered collaborative songwriting with music therapy to reduce anxiety in patients with advanced cancer. The intervention, termed ARTIST (AI-assisted collaborative songwriting), guides patients through eight weekly virtual sessions designed to provide long-term anxiety reduction through active music engagement, social connection, and emotional processing—outcomes not sustained by traditional receptive music listening approaches. Preliminary pilot trial data demonstrated clinically meaningful, durable anxiety reduction in ARTIST participants at week 16, along with objectively measured higher engagement through AI-powered facial expression analysis.

This research addresses a significant clinical gap in supportive care, as anxiety affects approximately 50% of advanced cancer patients and remains undertreated in 40% of this population despite existing therapeutic options. By leveraging advances in AI-powered music creation platforms to democratize songwriting access, the project aims to rigorously evaluate collaborative songwriting as a scalable, accessible supportive care intervention within a clinical trial setting. The project builds on emerging evidence from non-cancer populations while filling methodological gaps in prior songwriting studies to establish the specific efficacy of this innovative therapeutic approach for an underserved patient population.