Despite her busy schedule researching Swedish national registry data on mental health and suicide risk, Alicia Nevriana still makes time to play the viola. For this alumna of the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) Universitas Indonesia (UI), music is more than just a hobby—it is part of the way she understands life, health, and science.
Now serving as an Assistant Professor at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, Alicia is recognized as an epidemiologist whose research focuses on vulnerable populations: children with parents experiencing mental illness, healthcare workers at risk of suicide, and employees exposed to high psychosocial stress. Yet the connection between science and music in her life has been woven together since her undergraduate years at FPH UI.
A Thesis on Music: A Longstanding Passion
While pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Public Health with a concentration in Biostatistics at FPH UI, Alicia chose an unconventional research topic. She examined the relationship between lifelong musical activities and cognitive function among older adults.
Her study, later published in Kesmas: National Public Health Journal under the title “Lifetime Musical Activities and Cognitive Function of the Elderly,” involved 53 elderly participants from three nursing homes in East Jakarta. Using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), she evaluated whether involvement in musical activities—such as playing instruments and singing—was associated with cognitive function.
The findings showed that older adults who had not engaged in musical activities throughout their lives were approximately twice as likely to experience cognitive impairment compared to those who had remained musically active, after controlling for age and sex. Although it was an early-stage cross-sectional study with methodological limitations, the findings suggested the long-term cognitive benefits of musical engagement.
For Alicia, the study was more than simply a final academic requirement. She herself was—and remains—an active musician who continues to play the viola. Her personal passion for music inspired her scientific curiosity: could harmony and rhythm practiced since youth leave biological traces in the aging process?
“Music trains multiple functions at once—motor skills, cognition, and emotions. There is a fascinating complexity there that deserves scientific exploration,” she once shared.
From Depok to Stockholm: Epidemiology with a Humanistic Perspective
The strong foundation in biostatistics she gained at FPH UI led her to continue her Master’s and Doctoral studies at Karolinska Institutet. Her dissertation, titled “Children and Adolescents with Parental Mental Illness (CAPRI),” explored the prevalence and impacts of physical and social health outcomes among children whose parents experience mental illness.
Several of her publications have appeared in internationally reputable journals, including BMJ, Pediatrics, and The Lancet Public Health (collaborative works). Her research demonstrated that children exposed to parental mental illness face higher risks of injuries, certain health problems, and social vulnerability.
In recent years, her focus has expanded to the mental health of healthcare workers. A population-based cohort study she led, published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica (2025), found increased risks of suicide and suicide attempts among healthcare workers in Sweden. The study received broad attention from both national and international media.
Through large-scale registry-based epidemiological approaches, Alicia strives to generate strong evidence to support preventive policies in child protection, occupational health, and women’s mental health.
Science and Music: Two Worlds That Strengthen Each Other
Although her academic career continues to flourish on the global stage, her love for music remains alive. Playing the viola serves as both a space for reflection and a balance amid the pressures of academic research.
Interestingly, the very topics she explored as an undergraduate student—brain plasticity, cognitive stimulation, and musical activity—have now become part of her own lifestyle. Scientific literature has shown that musical activity involves sensorimotor coordination, auditory processing, memory, and emotional regulation. These themes align closely with her broader interests in mental health and brain function throughout the life course.
Alicia’s journey demonstrates that personal passions do not need to be abandoned when entering the serious and competitive world of academia. In her case, music became the gateway to broader scientific questions about aging, mental health, and quality of life.
FPH UI Diaspora on the Global Stage
Today, as an Assistant Professor specializing in mental health epidemiology and occupational health, Alicia is also actively involved in supervising students, reviewing manuscripts for international journals such as The Lancet Psychiatry and JAMA Network Open, and participating in European research networks.
Yet behind the impressive list of publications and research grants, one principle has remained constant since her student days in Depok: the belief that health is not merely about disease, but also about how people live, create, and find meaning—including through music.
Alicia Nevriana’s story reflects the spirit of the FPH UI diaspora, bringing together science, empathy, and creativity on the global stage. From an undergraduate thesis about musical activities in nursing homes in East Jakarta to registry-based research involving millions of people in Sweden, she has proven that harmony between passion and profession is entirely possible.
And perhaps, amid endless rows of data and statistical analyses, it is the sound of the viola that continues to remind her: behind every number, there is always a human story worth understanding. (wrk)