Dr. Ilya Vidrin is Assistant Professor of Creative Practice Research and Core Faculty at the Institute for Experiential Robotics at Northeastern University. Born into a refugee family, Ilya grew up navigating the nuances of cultural expectations, language barriers, and diverging political ideologies. This experience of code-switching fuels his research and artistic practice to interrogate ethical dimensions of human interaction, including the embodiment of empathy, cultural competence, and social responsibility. He pursued undergraduate studies in Cognitive Psychology, Neuroscience, and Rhetorical Theory at Northeastern University, before joining the Neurology Department at Beth Israel Medical Deaconess Center as a Clinical Research Student. For three years, he worked on non-pharmacological interventions and therapies for cognitive and neurodegenerative disorders. He went on to graduate school at Harvard University, earning a Master’s Degree with a focus on Human Development and Psychology, and a Practice-Based PhD from the Centre for Dance Research in the United Kingdom. 

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Ilya's passion for listening and empathy stems from his background in music and dance. He began his formal music training on piano at the age of five, and formal dance training at the Boston Ballet School at the age of nine. He has invested time in the study of musicology and choreology, and holds teaching certifications in experiential anatomy based on proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation with Irene Dowd, Mat Pilates, and Restorative (Yin) Yoga.