In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Student Activity Center Auditorium
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, New York, 11794
United States

Angelo Lambroschino

Angelo Lambroschino is a die-hard, red-hot, alumnus of Stony Brook University (’15). He graduated with a BA in Psychology and minors in Media Arts, Health and Wellness, and Women and Gender Studies. During his time at SBU, he was highly involved as a recognized student leader; contributing to Student Media, Student Orientation, Peer Education, and more. Angelo is investigating the effects of media and their impact on ourselves and on our culture. He has recently published his senior thesis in Women and Gender Studies titled, Mobile Mothers: Sex Education through the “Third Parent”. Additionally, the annual SSK Student Arts Festival recognized him with the Graduating Senior Award.Angelo is breaking ground in the field of Media Psychology. He currently works as an Assistant to the President for the Institute of Digital Media and Child Development in East Setauket, NY and resides in his home state of New Jersey.

Anna Lubitz

Anna Lubitz graduated Stony Brook University (Class of 2014) with a BS in Biology and minored in Music (Vocal Performance). Anna is pursuing a career in Pediatric and Animal Dentistry and a dual degree: MBA in Healthcare Management and Masters in Public Health (Community Health) at SBU. She served as the Undergraduate Student Government President (2012-2013), was President of the Pre-Vet Society, JFEW Scholar/Intern and member of the SBU Marching Band. She served on the SUNY Student Assembly Executive Committee as an Undergrad University Rep (2013) and VP for the 2013-2014 year. Anna is the Co-Founder of the Elect Her Initiative at SBU, and served as the Student Liaison from 2011-2014. She currently serves on the SUNY SA as the Graduate Rep for SBU, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, SUNY Optometry and University at Albany, and is the current President of the MBA Association at SBU, and VP of OPHSA for the Program in Public Health.

Brooke Ellison

Brooke Ellison is an Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University, and Director of Education and Ethics at the Stony Brook Stem Cell Facility. Brooke’s research focuses on the ethics and social justice questions of science and medicine. As a faculty member at Stony Brook University, Brooke cofounded the organization, VENTure Think Tank, to provide policy and technological solutions for ventilator users, and the Center for Community Engagement and Leadership Development, to empower underserved communities.At 11, Brooke was left paralyzed and dependent on a ventilator. Despite this, Brooke received her undergraduate and masters degrees from Harvard University, and PhD from Stony Brook University. In 2002, Brooke published a memoir, Miracles Happen, which was made into a movie, The Brooke Ellison Story, directed by Christopher Reeve. In 2014, Brooke was selected by the World Economic Forum to be a Young Global Leader, to solve help make create a better world.

Christine A. Garcia

Christine A. Garcia, MD, MPH is a third year resident physician and rising chief resident in internal medicine at Stony Brook University Hospital. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Integrative Physiology and English Literature, and a Masters of Public Health from the University of Illinois. Christine worked as a community health program specialist in San Diego prior to obtaining her medical degree from St. George’s University. She manages numerous research projects and participates in several resident-driven patient safety and quality improvement initiatives. Outside of her clinical responsibilities, she regularly volunteers at the Patchogue INN soup kitchen, travels abroad for medical mission trips, and is a freelance writer who has been featured in Medscape. Christine also plays an active role in teaching clinical skills to medical students and was recently selected for membership to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) National Medical Honor society.

Debra Sabatini Dwyer

Debra Sabatini Dwyer, an economist, policy analyst and teacher, has spoken on research topics related to the well-being of older workers and adolescents at risk. Her policy work assesses markets for public goods. What is common to her research, her teaching, and her way of thinking is economic thought as a philosophy. And what underlies this is rational decision-making.Dwyer is a professor of Technology and Society with interdisciplinary ties throughout Stony Brook University. She has overcome challenges associated with crossing disciplines consistent with a goal to maximize the production of knowledge for the betterment of society. This involves not only bringing together the information but also processing it into knowledge and ultimately wisdom. While she is the author of over a dozen peer-review articles as well as several book chapters, she focuses on the students as a vehicle for positive change. She is a “servant-leader” who facilitates excellence through others.

Emily Nocito

Emily Nocito will be entering her final year as an undergraduate at Stony Brook University. She is working towards her Bachelors of Science in Coastal Environmental Studies, with a minor in Ecosystems and Human Impact. She is active on her campus and is involved in the Environmental Club and Marine Science Club, as well as serving as President of SBU Chapter of Friends of Fire Island National Seashore. As a C2C Fellow through Bard College, she has attended workshops on sustainable businesses. She is serving as a Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women Scholar (JFEW), a two-year program focused on international relations and global policy. Through JFEW, she will spend the summer of 2015 as an intern at Global Partnership Forum’s Oceans Sanctuary Alliance. Emily also served as a research assistant and intern in the Sustainability Studies Program’s Earthworm Ecotoxicology lab.

Irene Virag

Irene Virag is a Pulitzer Prize winner who left the newsroom for the garden path. In her almost-30-year career, she shared the Pulitzer for local reporting as a member of a Newsday team and was a Pulitzer finalist for feature writing and explanatory journalism. She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard and her work has been honored by The Newswomen’s Club of New York, The American Horticultural Society and The Garden Writers Association. One of her stories about her battle with breast cancer was included in the American Society of Newspaper Editors “Best Newspaper Writing of 1998.” She received a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a master’s from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She is the author of two books, “We’re All in This Together – Families Facing Breast Cancer” and “Gardening on Long Island with Irene Virag.” She teaches narrative journalism in the School of Journalism at Stony Brook University.

Lily Cushenbery

Dr. Lily Cushenbery is an Assistant Professor of Management at Stony Brook University and the director of the Leadership & Creativity Research Lab. Her work in leadership, innovation, and conflict applies science-based approaches to practical organizational problems. Her research focuses on 1) the process by which leaders overcome failures and 2) the dynamics of innovative teams. Her primary research examines the consequences of leader mistakes and mistake recovery on leader-follower relationships. Her innovation research includes constructs such as team member influence, team climate, and malevolence. Dr. Cushenbery’s consulting clients include the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Del Monte Foods, PNC Bank, and both US and UK government defense agencies. She holds a Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Penn State University and a B.A. in Psychology from California State University, Fresno. For more information, please visit www.theLCLab.com

Zebulon Miletsky

Dr. Zebulon Miletsky teaches African-American History at Stony Brook University where he is an Assistant Professor of Africana Studies. He is the author of numerous articles, essays and most recently a book chapter that appeared in the anthology “Obama and the Biracial Factor: The Battle for a New American Majority” which traces the contested meanings throughout history of terminology for multiracial people and the role that this historical legacy of “naming” plays into how President Obama is read as African American, but still asserts a strategic biracial identity through the use of language, symbols, and interactions with the media. Miletsky who is half-Jewish (white) and African-American/Afro-Caribbean, has done a great deal of genealogical research for a book manuscript in progress and is in the process of researching his own family tree. He lives in Brooklyn.