Research Scholars Archives

Preparing the TEDMED Stage Program is a year-long process, which begins the moment the first Speaker nominations come in. Each submission requires thorough research and careful consideration for how it might fit into the larger program. For help identifying the individuals and topics that will take the stage at our annual TEDMED event, we turn to the TEDMED Community—specifically our Editorial Advisory Board Members and Research Scholars—for their insight and expertise.

As a first step in the process, we rely on our Editorial Advisory Board members to suggest timely topics and themes that should be featured on stage and to provide their feedback on which Speaker nominations most embody the important work these topics and themes represent. Having completed four Editorial Advisory Board meetings and countless discussions following each meeting, the 2018 Stage Program curation process is well underway. While there is still work to do, we’re excited about how the program is shaping up.

Now comes the point in the process where we begin vetting the science and potential impact of each nomination. This is where TEDMED’s Research Scholars play a crucial role. The Research Scholars, a carefully selected group of passionate and objective individuals whose expertise spans the biomedical, public health, and emerging technology spectrums, help us to properly evaluate each nomination.

This year, we have selected 45 Research Scholars with specialties ranging from neuroscience to bioethics, digital health to nursing, and oncology to public health. We’re confident that the 2018 Research Scholars have the diverse backgrounds and breadth of knowledge that will allow us to take a deep dive into the complexities of this year’s Speaker nominations and to evaluate their suitability for this year’s program.

Our 2018 Research Scholars represent organizations and institutions including the Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins University, the YMCA of the USA, Skoll Global Threats Fund, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Loeb Center for Alzheimer’s Disease, GE Healthcare, the The University of Pittsburgh, the American Medical Association, and more.

Additionally, we’re excited to announce that we’re trying something new this year. We’ve partnered with Massive, a digital science media publication that brings together scientists and the science-curious public, and tapped into their pool of first-rate researchers to help us evaluate this year’s nominations. The TEDMED-Massive Scholars are members of TEDMED’s 2018 Research Scholars Program, and they are denoted by an asterisk in the list below. We’re excited about the TEDMED-Massive partnership, and we’re looking forward to sharing more over the coming months about how we’ll work together.

We are honored to announce this year’s TEDMED Research Scholars, and we thank them for their invaluable contributions.

A kash Chandawarkar, MD
Plastic Surgery, Medical Technology Innovation

*Anastasia Gorelova, PhD Candidate
Molecular Pharmacology, Cardiovascular Biology

Anna Pimenova, PhD
Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration

*Aparna Shah, PhD
Neuroscience, Pharmacology, Psychiatric Disorders

Beth Ann Swan, PhD, CRNP, FAAN
Healthy Communities, Health Care Delivery

Beth Taylor Mack, PhD
Health and Wellness Innovation

Boluwaji Ogunyemi, MD
Epidemiology, Dermatology, Medical Humanities, Health Advocacy

Bryon Petersen, PhD
Bioengineering, Stem Cell Biology

Camilla Engblom, PhD
Cancer Immunology

Christina Schweitzer, MPhil (Cantab), BSc, MD student
Medical Education

*Dan Samorodnitsky, PhD
Molecular Biology

Daniel Bu, BA, MD/MSCR Candidate
Health Care Delivery, Science and Technology

Danny Jomaa, MSc Candidate
Cancer Biology, Neuroscience

Diana Chen, MA, MD/MBA Candidate
Global Health, Healthcare Delivery, Marketing

Dilip Thomas, PhD
Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine

Elisa L Priest, DrPH
Healthcare Quality, Epidemiology, Population Health

Elizabeth Rochin, PhD, RN, NE-BC
Maternal Health, Population Health, Patient Engagement

Emal Lesha, MD Candidate
Bioengineering, Biotechnology, Health Care

Emilie Grasset, PhD
Immunology

*Gabriela Serrato Marks, PhD Candidate
Climate Change, Science Communication

Gyan Kapur
Healthcare Technology, Genomics

*Irene Park, MS
Genetics, Science Communication

Jeffrey L. Blackman, MBA
Corporate Innovation, Entrepreneurship

Jennifer Olsen, DrPH
Public Health, Data Utilization

*Josh Peters, PhD C andidate
Quantitative Biology, Genomics, Infectious Disease

Joshua Brown, PharmD, PhD
Health Economics and Outcomes Research

Kaylynn Purdy, H BHSc, MD Candidate
Medical Education, Health Advocacy, Neuroscience

Kelly Jamieson Thomas, PhD
Cancer Prevention, Wellness Education

*Laetitia Meyrueix, PhD Candidate
Nutrition, Epigenetics, Public Health

Maria Papageorgiou, MSc, MBA
Market Access, HTA, Health Economics, Marketing

Meg Barron, MBA
Digital Health, Healthcare Innovation

*Melanie Silvis, PhD Candidate
Microbiology, Genetics, Genome Engineering, Antibiotic Discovery

Nicole Stone, PhD
Cardiac Reprogramming, Epigenomics

Paul Lindberg, JD
Public Health, Healthy Communities

Pierre Elias, MD
Cardiology, Data Science

Pramod Pinnamaneni, MD
Oncology, Healthcare Innovation, Cost and Utilization

Raja R Narayan, MD MPH
General Surgery, Medical Device Innovation

Regina Wysocki, MS, RN-BC
Nursing Informatics, Healthcare Information Technology

Shaahin Dadjoo, DMD Candidate
Dental Medicine, Craniofacial Development, Mindfulness

Steven Randazzo
Open Innovation, User-Centered Design

Tabitha Moses, MS
Bioethics, Medicine, Neuroscience, Public Health

Tanmay Gokhale, MD PhD Candidate
Biomedical Engineering, Computational Modeling, Cardiology, Entrepreneurship

*Yewande Pearse, PhD
Neuroscience, Gene Therapy, Stem Cell Therapy

Zuber Memon
Affordable Healthcare Technologies, Open Innovation

*Massive-TEDMED Scholar. Learn more about Massive at massivesci.com.

Each year, TEDMED relies on a carefully selected group of passionate, objective experts spanning the biomedical spectrum from across the globe, including faculty, post docs, graduate students, medical students, public health professionals, entrepreneurs, innovators and science journalists. These experts help assess the credibility of the science upon which TEDMED’s editorial priorities are based.

We deeply appreciate the time and energy our 2016 Research Scholars devote to enriching the quality of our curation process. We asked them to share more about their attraction to the program and their experience so far — here is what a few of them had to say:

“I’ve loved seeing the diversity of nominations, and the challenge of whittling down the array of fascinating people to those who will make a great TEDMED program,” says Layla McCay. “Having had the experience of being in the TEDMED audience myself, I know I want to encounter ideas I can trust, be thrilled by game changers, find synergies across disciplines, and start thinking differently about how things are done – and could be done. I’ve found the experience of reviewing nominations to be rather like a being a judge at The Moth storytelling show: how engaging are the nominees’ stories? Inspiring? True? How compellingly can nominees present their ideas to a discerning TEDMED audience? But it’s made even more interesting because I also have to ask: what’s the evidence behind nominees’ ideas, why are they the right people to speak on the topic, and how might these ideas have an genuine, meaningful impact on people’s health?”

“TEDMED makes a communication impact without oversimplifying research in science and health. This is my goal too. I wanted to learn with those who reach and inspire people across cultures from all walks of life,” observes Amy Price. “Reviewing nominations has opened my eyes to the value and power of hard work clothed in elegant simplicity.”

Maya Das wanted to be a Research Scholar in order to “contribute to a forum that brings together people who are seeking innovative solutions to tackle the complexities of health and medicine.” Her experience reviewing nominations has allowed her “to devote time to exploring current issues in health and medicine, to consider broader public policy questions related to clinical research, and to systematically examine what makes someone a credible and engaging ‘expert.’”

With great pride, we recognize the dedication of the 2016 class of TEDMED Research Scholars:

Ron Alfa, MA – Neuroscience, Medicine

Bhagwan Aggarwal, PhD, MBA – Healthcare Industry

Aimee Arnoldussen, PhD – Neuroscience, Medical Devices

Benjamin Bearnot, MD – Medicine

Christos Bergeles, PhD – Medical Imaging & Robotics

Alexander Blum, MS – Telecommunications, International Development

Edward Cliff, BMedSci (Hons) – Medicine

Maya Das, MD, JD – Clinical Research, Health Informatics

Lisa Fitzpatrick, MD, MPH – Medicine, Public Health

Jonathan Fritz, JD, MS – Healthcare IT

Mary Joy Garcia-Dia, DNP, MA, RN – Nursing, Healthcare IT