Marija Pranjić, MA, MMus, is a board-certified music therapist and a Ph.D. candidate in Music and Health Sciences with a specialization in neuroscience at the University of Toronto. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Master’s degree in Piano Performance from the
Academy of Music in Zagreb, Croatia, and later received a Master’s degree in Music Therapy from the Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Prior to her Ph.D. studies,
Marija worked as a research fellow at the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System, in New York City where she obtained rich clinical and research experience.

As a pianist, Marija has collaborated on international award-winning film projects and performed in Croatia and abroad, most notably at Carnegie Hall in December 2011. Over the past decade, she has taught students in Croatia, the U.K., the U.S., and Canada. In her teaching, Marija aims to create authentic inclusive learning environments that remove barriers to learning, allow space for curiosity, and view diversity as an asset.
Currently, Marija is a doctoral researcher in the PRISM Lab at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Situated at the crossroads of music therapy, neuroscience, and education, her doctoral research applies neuroimaging and behavioural methods to examine the role of auditory perception and music education in the development of motor skills in children with dyspraxia and ADHD.