Concetta Tomaino (born July 30, 1954), is the executive director and co-founder of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function (IMNF).

[3] She delved deeper into the neurological underpinnings as it became clear that music therapy had more to offer patients than a mere diversion from their everyday existence.

The author of a breakthrough book called Awakenings (later made into a movieI), Tomaino found a valuable ally in Sacks when it came to championing the benefits of music therapy.

In addition to her contributions with Sacks (including his 1995 volume An Anthropologist on Mars), Tomaino’s work has been featured in such other books as A Matter of Dignity by Andrew Potok, The Mozart Effect by Don Campbell, Sounds of Healing by Mitchell Gaynor, M.D.

[5] In February 2008 America.gov, the website of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs, listed Tomaino as one of the innovators that help reshape reality.