February 18, 2026
1 min watch
Key takeaways:
- The ReMissions, Moffitt Cancer Center’s house band, released “Speros: Sounds of Hope” in January.
- The album aims to spread a message of healing while reflecting members’ mission to deliver lifesaving cures.
Six musicians. Ten songs. One message.
The ReMissions, Moffitt Cancer Center’s house band, has released a new album centered around the theme of hope.
The ReMissions, Moffitt Cancer Center’s house band, released an album titled “Speros: Sounds of Hope.” It includes a mix of original songs and uplifting covers. Photo courtesy of The ReMissions/Moffitt Cancer Center
The mix of original tracks and uplifting covers conveys the promise of healing and reflects the commitment of band members and their colleagues to deliver the best possible care to their patients.
“We have a shared passion for music, but we also have a shared mission to prevent and cure cancer,” Dana Ataya, MD, a breast radiologist at Moffitt and member of The ReMissions since its founding, told Healio. “You cannot contribute to that mission without centering hope. It is a critical component of my own practice as a physician, researcher and educator, and it is essential for our patients. This album is a reflection of that value-action alignment, as well as how hope is threaded through the way we provide care.”
Expanding connections
Patrick Hwu, MD, a renowned tumor immunologist, joined Moffitt Cancer Center as president and CEO in summer 2020. Soon after he arrived in Tampa, Hwu — who had played in bands for more than 30 years — began recruiting members of the institution’s staff to form their own.
The ReMissions began to rock by the middle of the following year.
Hwu plays keyboard, piano, guitar and trumpet.
Ataya — who has written more than 100 songs, including one released in 2024 to encourage women to get screened for breast cancer — is the band’s lead vocalist.
Other members include bass player Jeff Leighton, RN, CCRN, a registered nurse in the ICU; guitarist James Mulé, PhD, a researcher and associate center director of translational science; drummer Ron Zalva, a member of Moffitt’s security staff; and Mark Robertson-Tessi, PhD, a mathematical oncology researcher who plays mandolin and guitar.
“We’re always collaborating with our colleagues and it’s very serious work,” Robertson-Tessi said in an interview. “When we go to rehearsal, or when we perform at events and our other colleagues come to listen, there’s a different rapport. I have found it very valuable to spend time with them in that setting and get to know them in different ways. It’s a great opportunity to expand connections and make new ones.”
Music reflects community
The band released its first album — “Happy Holidays With The ReMissions” — in 2024. The group’s new album, “Speros: Sounds of Hope,” came out in January.
The title’s first word — which pays homage to Moffitt’s new 775-acre Speros outpatient treatment and research campus in Pasco County, Florida — is derived from the Latin word sperare, which means “to hope.”
The album’s 10 tracks — recorded inside cancer center conference rooms — revolve around that theme.
Original songs carry inspiring titles like “The Cure” and “Goodnight is not Goodbye,” while covers include Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun.”
“The patients I talk to tell me they are blown away by how nice and supportive everyone at Moffitt is, from the custodian they see in the hall to the nurse who takes their blood pressure to the physician they see,” Ataya said. “The people, culture and community here are remarkable. Our team members are united around the theme of hope. This album is an extension of that, and it is very meaningful to see that reflected in the music.”
The ReMissions rehearse about three times per month, typically in the atrium of the cancer center’s Vincent A. Stabile Research Building. The group performs regularly at Moffitt events, as well as at a local brewery and other venues.
The band provides members with an escape from work stresses, but there are similarities between music and their day jobs.
“There is creativity involved in research,” Robertson-Tessi said. “The particularly cutting-edge work we do often requires improvisational skill, which is another important part of music, so there is definitely overlap.”
Ataya pointed to similar parallels.
“Innovation in the research space takes spontaneity and improvisation,” she said. “You’re constantly taking in new data, then pivoting. Playing music with a band is a similar process.”
Active listening is essential in both pursuits, she added.
“As a member of a band, you have to listen to what everyone is doing so you move together fluidly,” she said. “Science and medicine functions very similarly. We have to listen to our patients and our team members for it to be effective and meaningful.”
‘Language of connection’
It took about 6 months for “Speros: Sounds of Hope” to evolve from concept to distribution.
Barely a month has passed since its release, but it won’t be long before The ReMissions are ready to record again.
The band is planning a third album, with the goal of releasing it toward the end of this year to coincide with Moffitt Cancer Center’s 40th anniversary.
Members are in the early stages of thinking about material, but the album likely will have a “look back” theme, Robertson-Tessi said.
Ataya already started writing a song called “1986” in honor of the year Moffitt opened.
The ReMissions are not the only musical group in the oncology world.
The CheckPoints, the house band for Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, include members who are recognized worldwide for their contributions to cancer treatment and immunotherapy research. Hwu also plays keyboard in that group, sharing the stage at society events with luminaries like Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD, and Nobel Prize recipient James P. Allison, PhD.
However, Ataya and Robertson-Tessi said they are unaware of another cancer center with its own band.
If clinicians, researchers or staff members at other institutions share a passion for music, Ataya “wholeheartedly” encourages them to consider the idea.
They can also look for inspiration from #DocsWhoRock, the social media hashtag a growing number of health care professionals use when posting videos to showcase their musical talents.
“This community exists for good reason,” Ataya said. “Physicians, scientists and other health care workers recognize that music is an outlet and a way to process the stresses ad weighty issues that we encounter in the work we do. Music is therapy. It is healing. It is a language of connection.”
Editor’s note: The ReMissions’ music can be found on major streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, iHeart, Pandora and YouTube. Previews of the songs on “Speros: Sounds of Hope” are available at https://www.moffitt.org/about-moffitt/the-remissions/.
For more information:
Dana Ataya, MD, can be reached at dana.ataya@moffitt.org
Mark Robertson-Tessi, PhD, can be reached at mark.robertsontessi@moffitt.org.
Sources/Disclosures
Source:
Healio Interviews
Disclosures:
Ataya and Robertson-Tessi report no relevant financial disclosures.
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