Dr. Malcolm Jones is ready to draw on his creative ethos as USC Iovine and Young Academy’s new postdoctoral scholar, research associate. With a PhD from the Clinical Exercise Research Center within the Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy at USC and a passion for art, wellness, and sports science, Jones’ research focuses on new models of collaborative health and wellness innovation. Overseeing the Health Innovation minor at IYA, Jones is eager to develop research projects and industry partnerships that will not only enhance the learning experience, they’ll connect students to their communities as well as their inner innovators. As both an artist and a scientist, Jones knows the importance of intersectional thinking – especially when it comes to innovation. 

A health justice advocate and industry physiologist, Jones has been entrenched in academia nearly his entire life. After receiving a BA at Emory (and an Innovative Health Student of the Year award), he pursued his Master’s at USC. He graduated with his PhD this year, and in between the lines of his impressive collegiate achievements reads a recurring motif of artistic and inventive inspiration that rounds out his professional story. Recently, Jones’ dissertation centered on how virtual reality and gaming can be used as a solution for cognitive decline issues, such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. At USC, he also taught therapeutic exercise techniques and the physiology of physical therapy to doctoral physical therapy students, and he’s done research on rehabilitation for injuries for professional sports teams. 

Originally on track to become a physician, Jones has carved out a multifaceted path that allows him to infuse creativity and original thinking into everything he does. Now he can bring that perspective to IYA. 

“I get really excited about intertwining fields that are inherently engaging to people – that entertain people – with the sciences,” he shares. 

As an undergrad working on a thesis in biology and visual arts, Jones straddled the line between art and science. Instead of just writing about research and concepts, he painted them. Recognizing the power of illustrating ideas from multiple angles emboldened him to think outside his designated academic – and ultimately career – box. 

“Everything I did for biology, my perspective papers, I could always do a painting I could present in my visual arts department. Actually, the things I painted always received more attention than the things I just wrote about… It was my interpretation of scientific theorems,” he explains. 

After contemplating the life of an orthopedic surgeon (he even shadowed for a stint), he knew the strictly medical  job wouldn’t fulfill him. But when he moved to LA from Atlanta to work in artist relations for the Jordan Brand, his enduring science side followed him. 

“Almost everything requires science,” he realized. 

Suddenly he was able to mesh his worlds and make a difference. That’s where he created and directed the Flight Lab, a gold standard human performance lab with a mission to make sports science more accessible. From there, he’s worked on projects like the environmental justice solutions nonprofit Better Watts, and other organizations that benefit local communities. 

You can’t solve a problem without getting involved. That’s why he’s resolute on progressing challenge-based-learning experiences for IYA students so they can’t tap into their productive potential. “Health-related research is inherently challenge based. We can only go after something if it’s something plaguing people in the world,” he says, noting that operating in a silo isn’t the answer.

“You have communities who are experts in knowing what’s wrong, what we actually need. You have industries who have all these resources and all day they have think tanks about, what can we do for our consumer? But they don’t actually have access to the community … Now you have academia. And if we leave our silo of teaching students in this environment and taking them to those environments, we have the ability to be the bridge of all the resources the industry has to offer and all of the solutions the community is looking to solve,” Jones says. 

“I’m super excited for the health innovation [minor] because we’re also going to be helping our students on how they can use these tools – both knowledge and contacts and resources that they get in academia – to actually solve problems in the communities they’re from or that they’re around,” he adds. 

When Jones found out about IYA, he admits he was saddened that he wasn’t able to experience life as a student here. 

“I thought I always had to do my art separate from the science work I did, and if I had come here, I wouldn’t have had to do that!” he exclaims with a laugh, revealing that the IYA attendees he’s worked with feel more like his seasoned colleagues than students. 

Thankfully, he presently has the opportunity to bring his expertise and point-of-view to a place that inspires him in turn. In his eyes, the future of healthcare innovation is not only bright, it’s filled with cutting-edge possibilities. 

“When you think about health, you don’t necessarily think about a creative. You think about someone in a pristine white coat. When you think about an artist you think about creativity. You might see chaos, you see an apron that has paint all over it…  So, in the future I would love no distinction between an artist and a scientist. I think that’s what we’re creating.” 

Jones is eager to develop research projects and industry partnerships that will not only enhance the learning experience, they’ll connect students to their communities as well as their inner innovators. As both an artist and a scientist, Jones knows the importance of intersectional thinking – especially when it comes to innovation. 

Dr. Malcolm Jones Innovates for Health and Wellness (and Brings His Creative Spirit With Him)

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