News & Events
07/22/26: Aspire to Inspire continues making progress in expanding public awareness of neurodivergence
Aspire to Inspire has finished uploading clips from Dr. Lerman’s interview, including four short clips in Instagram and four long clips in YouTube. This has successfully reached an audience of hundreds across the YouTube and Instagram social media platforms, aligning with A2I’s goal of expanding public awareness.
Congratulations to Selin and Amy for uploading music videos with descriptions! Both videos and analyses are under the Inspiring Arts section of A2I’s website.
We have also recently posted a brief introduction onto the Summit STEM Fellowship’s EdDiscussion alumni forum.
07/11/26: Aspire to Inspire has successfully held an interview session with Dr. Sam
The first interview session has been successfully held with Dr. Sam on the intersection between music, psychology, and neurodivergence! We are extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from Dr. Sam about her knowledge and experiences in this niche field.
A2I is working on editing the interview video into sharable clips, which will be posted on social media shortly to enable public access. Please stay tuned. Let’s work together to spread awareness!
06/28/26: The June meeting of Aspire to Inspire has been held, and interview sessions with Sam announced
Aspire to Inspire has confirmed two interview sessions about music/psychology and neurodivergence with Sam, a postdoctoral fellow at USC with a PhD in psychology. She has researched the impact of music on the brain and has worked with neurotypical individuals.
The interview is a part of the Brain Unlocked series. We have designed a list of interview questions and cannot wait to delve deeper into this intersectional field with Sam! We plan to host another interview session in the future to cover all related questions. The interview will be directed towards the general public, aiming to spread awareness of the niche with music and neuroscience.
A2I chapters in other locations have also been moving forward. The North Carolina chapter has submitted the form to create a club to school, while the Illinois chapter has reached out to church and confirmed availability for holding an event. The San Diego chapter has reached out to an old care center as well.
07/2/26: Aspire to Inspire starts hosting music workshops with neurodivergent students at San Diego
Over the summer in 2026, the A2I San Diego Chapter has held workshops working with neurodivergent students to explore music, in particular singing and piano.
As a starting point, Amy has held regular workshop sessions with Grace, a neurotypical classmate.
They discuss about music and sing songs together with piano accompaniment. Grace has even tried to play a bit of piano! She especially enjoys experimenting with the different sounds it produces with different pedals pressed. It has been great to delve into music as another way to communicate and create deep connections.
Thanks to Grace for her passion in music and willingness to try new things!
05/24/26: Aspire to Inspire hosts a Memorial Day event at San Diego
In the spirit of Memorial Day, the A2I San Diego Chapter collaborated with Together in Motion and held a special event at a nursing home in Carmel Valley. (Check out the instagram post for more event pictures.)
Amy accompanied the residents’ dance movements with Star Spangled Banner, a piece celebrating those who have served the United States. It was always joyful to bring music and art to people and create deep connections! Thanks to Ava and her friend for creating the dance choreography.
04/25/26: The April meeting of Aspire to Inspire has been held, and interview posting plans discussed
Aspire to Inspire has named our interview series as Brain Unlocked! We locked down details about posting Dr. Lerman’s interview series onto social media. Please stay tuned for the coming Instagram posts and YouTube videos! Also, we are looking forward to hosting another interview session in the Summer with a different guest speaker.
Progress has been made in the San Diego chapter. Amy and Gloria are planning to start A2I chapters in their high schools, respectively. Amy started bringing music into the curriculum for neurodivergent students at her school while Gloria reached out to a local old care center for future performances. Yusra and Christina are planning on introducing Aspire to Inspire to North Carolina soon as well. Looking forward to exciting news from our local chapters!
03/19/26: Amy won First Award at the 72nd GSDSEF!
Congratulations to Amy for winning the First Award in the Senior Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the 72nd GSDSEF (Greater San Diego Science & Engineering Fair)!
Amy’s project was “An AI-Based Analysis of Music for Improving Mental Health in Adolescence“, which confirmed that music has large potential to aid in boosting adolescent mental health through regulation of negative emotions.
03/01/26: The first interview session of Aspire to Inspire has been successfully held with Dr. Lerman!
The first interview session on the basics of neuroscience and neurology has been successfully held with Dr. Lerman! We are extremely grateful to have had the honor of learning from Dr. Lerman about his extensive knowledge and experiences in the field of neurology.
A2I is currently working on editing the interview into a series of short clips, which will be posted on social media to enable public access. Let’s work together to spread awareness!
02/21/26: The February meeting of Aspire to Inspire has been held, and interview sessions announced
Aspire to Inspire has confirmed two interview sessions about neuroscience/neurology and mental health with Dr. Lerman, an esteemed professor at UCSD and the Founder & CEO of InflammaSense. We have designed a list of interview questions and had a good discussion about the interview process. We cannot wait to delve deeper into neuroscience and neurology with Dr. Lerman!
We also discussed the plan to extend our interview sessions into a series, targeted towards the general public and aiming to spread the awareness of neurology and neurodiversity.
We look forward to hearing from Maggie, Yusra, and Selin about further progress in their local chapters!
02/18/26: Aspire to Inspire welcomes a new member and continues making progress
Aspire to Inspire would like to extend a warm welcome to Christina, a new member joining from North Carolina!
A2I has recently uploaded several new posts from members, including an art piece by Rithika, a contemporary music piece by Amy, and a research analysis by Maggie. A2I members continue preparing more uploads and are planning future events with guest speakers. We look forward to making more progress with Christina being part of the team!
02/05/26: Aspire to Inspire is highlighted by the Summit STEM Fellowship!
Aspire to Inspire has been highlighted by the Summit STEM Fellowship on Instagram!
The Summit STEM Fellowship has spread A2I’s mission and work to a larger audience. We appreciate the opportunities for expanding and partnering with other organizations!
01/01/26: A recap of Aspire to Inspire’s 2025
As we step into 2026, Aspire to Inspire would like to take a moment to reflect upon the achievements and progress in the past year of 2025.
A2I was launched in just July of 2025; with shared interests and aspirations, our members gathered together across the country and the world. While the A2I website was being actively built, we began uploading art pieces and research articles connected to neurology. We also started posting regularly on social media (Instagram), which attracted new members interested in joining us. Near the end of 2025, the San Diego Chapter began hosting its first events, with a few more Chapters planning out events at their locations. It has truly been an eventful year!
A big thank you to all members, for their dedication to growing A2I and for simply being a part of the team. It has been such a great experience working together! Looking forward to a year of speedy growth and many meaningful moments in 2026!
12/21/25: Aspire to Inspire hosts a holiday event at San Diego
In the spirit of holidays, A2I San Diego Chapter collaborated with Together in Motion and held a Christmas event at a nursing home in Carmel Valley! (Check out the instagram post for more event pictures.)
Thanks to Ava and her friend for creating a dance choreography with colorful fabrics. Amy accompanied the residents’ dance movements with Jingle Bells, a festive piece celebrating Winter holidays. When the event drew close to the end, Amy performed Silent Night, a flowing and calm Christmas classic, while the residents read their Christmas cards. It was so touching to witness the joy that art brings to people during special occasions!
12/20/25: The December meeting of Aspire to Inspire has been held, wrapping up the year of 2025
We have made great progress on social media in the past few weeks. It was truly a team effort to push out the first couple of posts on Instagram! We drafted a plan for future social media posts, which was discussed in the meeting and shared with all members for sign-ups.
We also had an effective discussion centered around how to connect with external neurodivergent organizations and how to initialize local chapter activities. We look forward to hearing from Maggie, Yusra, and Selin about progress in their local chapters!
A2I received a few membership applications. One new member will be onboarding soon!
Thanks to ALL A2I members for the great contributions over the past few months; A2I would never be here without every member’s commitment!
11/30/25: Aspire to Inspire hosts its very first event at San Diego!
In collaboration with Together in Motion, A2I San Diego Chapter successfully held its very first event at a nursing home in Carmel Valley! (Check out the instagram post for a video of the event.)
While Ava led a group of residents to warm up for dance movements, Amy performed Chopin Nocturne Op. 27 No. 2, a beautiful yet peaceful piece of music. The two A2I members thoughtfully selected My Way by Frank Sinatra to be the main piece for the event. As the familiar melody flowed from the piano, it brought joy to the residents and accompanied their dance movements. It was such a great experience to connect people with music familiar in their memory!
11/05/25: Aspire to Inspire‘s introductory post has gone live on Instagram!
The introductory post describing Aspire to Inspire‘s mission, arts, research, and contacts, has been posted on Instagram!
Kudos to Selin, Ava, Amy, Maggie, and Gloria for their contributions to our very first post!
We look forward to welcoming new members and continuing to progress.
10/25/25: The third meeting of Aspire to Inspire has been held, and positions announced
Official positions for members have been decided, and are now updated on the “Our Team” page of the website!
We set up our service-hour spreadsheet tracker, as well as the verification process. We have drafted a cold email template and proposals for outreach. The drafts were discussed and will be refined further. We also discussed how to collaborate to push out A2I‘s introductory post on Instagram.
Ava and Amy initialized the San Diego chapter with events planned at an old care center, together with Gloria. Looking forward to hearing back from them soon!
09/16/25: Aspire to Inspire’s Logo has been finalized!
Aspire to Inspire now has her very own logo! Our logo encompasses Aspire to Inspire‘s core components, including music, art, and neuroscience. The symbols of music and art resemble the word “To” inside a human brain, connecting the words “Aspire” and “Inspire”. The design emphasizes our passion to connect music and visual arts with neurodivergent needs.
Thanks to Amy and Maggie for their hard work and creative design!
09/13/25: The second meeting for Aspire to Inspire is successfully held
Welcome new members to the team: Rithika and Gloria! Official positions are now open to applications.
We have been moving fast in the past month: The Aspire to Inspire website has been improved greatly while the logo was just finalized; Ava published her beautiful art work with interpretations on our website; Our organizational logistics has been gradually built up.
We discussed about bookkeeping service hours, reaching out to organizations related to neurodivergence, and initializing several chapters.
Aspire to Inspire looks forward to posting at Instagram and cross linking with other organizations!
08/02/25: The first meeting for Aspire to Inspire is successfully held
We introduced ourselves to each other, reviewed our missions, discussed website improvements and social media exposure, and brainstormed initializing chapters across the USA and internationally.
Aspire to Inspire looks forward to finalizing all of the action items planned and opening official positions soon!
07/09/25: Launch on the Summit STEM Fellowship!
Aspire to Inspire is first introduced to others through the International Summit STEM Fellowship, with many shared interests around neurology and science.