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).

Qualcomm Institute
9500 Gilman Dr
University of california, San Diego
La Jolla, California, 92093
United States

Lillian Rose and Jennifer Friedman

UC San Diego student

Lillian Rose, 17, was born and raised in San Diego, California. She was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at 7 years old, and since then has developed an interest in neuroscience. She underwent treatment for her Tourette's when she was 15 in a therapy called Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Tics, or CBIT. CBIT helped her develop skills to feel more in control of her tics and has given her a more positive outlook on life. Dr. Friedman serves as Clinical Professor of Neurosciences and Pediatrics at University of California San Diego. Outside of Rady/UCSD, Dr Friedman in partnership with the Del Mar Heights Elementary School, developed the Understanding Differences program to improve understanding of and tolerance toward those with disabilities.

The Moderns

UCSD Hawaii Club

The UCSD Hawaii Club are a social and cultural dance organization that practice many different styles of dance from a collection of different polynesian islands. It welcomes all kinds of members as it aims to share the cullutre of the islands with everyone.

Ashely Alker

Resident in emergency medicine

Ashley Alker is a resident physician in Emergency Medicine at UC San Diego. After attending UCSB, she became interested in healthcare as a venue for the advancement of international relations. She attended George Washington Medical School, specializing in global health. From there, she worked in Tanzania, France, Spain, Morocco, and Cyprus, adopting the best components of each medical system into her own ideals. Through these cultures, she found one of the most interesting concepts was both pervasive and elusive: death. No community was particularly thrilled on the topic, but each community had a different threshold for discussing death. She learned that through the choices we make in life may determine how we die, and we have the power to make our dying wishes clear.

Daniel Kao

Computer science student

Daniel grew up under a computer table cause they couldn't get him in a playpen. At UCSD, he is a 4th year Computer Science major. In 2015, he worked for the US department of Education under the Office of Educational Technology. There, he helped with key initiatives including the National Education Technology Plan, policies around Open Educational Resources, and organized the White House Computer Science Tech Jam for Computer Science Education Week. Currently, he is the director of technology and digital strategy for a nation-wide nonprofit organization called Student Voice, a student run nonprofit helping students have a bigger voice in the education. In 2014, he helped start an inquiry-based charter school in San Francisco focusing on addressing issues of equity in the city. Besides education, he is interested in startups and technology, news media, politics, and theoretical physics. In his free time, he reads voraciously, plays the drums, and pretends to be a coffee connoisseur.

Jennifer Friedman

Clinical Professor of Neurosciences and Pediatrics

Kai Miller

Neurosurgical resident

Kai Miller is a native Californian who attended UC San Diego, where he played on the intercollegiate tennis team. He later attended the University of Washington for graduate school, obtaining a PhD in Physics, an MD, and a second PhD in Neuroscience. Kai is now a neurosurgical resident at Stanford University. His neurosurgical emphases are deep brain stimulation, eloquent cortex brain tumors, and epilepsy. While recording from implanted electrodes in neurosurgery patients, Kai’s research has yielded new insight into the function of brain rhythms, mechanisms of visual perception, brain-computer interfacing, and how the brain organizes actual and imagined movements. He plans to combine electrical recording with stimulation of the brain to treat diseases of neural dynamics and also to help the brain reorganize after injury. Kai enjoys tennis, surfing, travel, reading sci-fi & classical literature, and spending time with his wife Dora and sons Max & Otto.

Laura Tenenbaum

NASA communicator

Laura Faye Tenenbaum is an innovator in science communication. As the Senior Science Editor for the Webby Award winning website NASA’s Global Climate Change, a member of the Earth Science Communications Team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the author of the Earth Right Now blog, she develops interactive new media products to engage the public in climate and Earth science. She has also held a faculty position in the Physical Science Department at Glendale Community College for 13 years. Her goal is to bring science, multimedia and education together to attract a highly motivated and enthusiastic new generation that will be ready to take on the huge environmental challenges we face.

Mathias Schmidt

VP Biological Sciences, Takeda

Mathias obtained his master in Biotechnology from the University of Stuttgart. He gained his PhD in oncology from the Tumor Biology Center of the University of Freiburg, where he developed a Her-2 specific immunotoxin that was subsequently brought to the clinic. After working for several years at various cancer hospitals in Germany and the U.S. he joined the pharmaceutical industry in 1999. He developed a great passion for drug discovery and development, especially for protein therapeutics. In 2011 he was awarded the venia legendi in pharmacology from the University of Konstanz. Mathias joined Takeda California in 2012 as Vice President of Biological Sciences and has been in various positions with the Takeda legacy since 2001.

Noah Whinston

CEO Immortals

Noah is a former Northwestern University student who dropped out of college in order to pursue and develop the e-sports industry. After having the chance to pitch his idea to a group of investors, his team, Immortals, LCC, is the first e-sports franchise funded by venture capital and angel investment. Investors to his team include Steve Kaplan — a co-owner of the Memphis Grizzlies — and alternative-rock band Linkin Park. Previously, Noah founded MTG Card Market, an ecommerce site for Magic: The Gathering, managed a competitive Magic Team, and sponsored live streams of players. Immortals currently have a League of Legends competitive team, and they finished 1st place in the League of Legends Championship Series and 3rd place in the playoffs.

Quinta Brunson

Video Producer

Quinta Brunson is a video producer and Development Partner at Buzzfeed Motion Pictures. The Philadelphia native joined Buzzfeed in early 2015 and within a year, she was the first BFMP producer to be signed uner contract to write, direct, star, and produce her own projects within the media company’s studio division. Quinta recently wrapped shooting on her own series “Broke,” a show shw wrote and starred in about three friends who move to Los Angeles with big dreams and empty wallets. Prior to joining Buzzfeed, Quinta released her first viral project in 2014 with “The Girl Who’s Never Been on a Nice Date.” The series went viral on both Youtube and Instagram and was one of the first of its kind to gain a huge, viral fan base across social platforms. Quinta is a Second City Chicago alum and currently lives in Los Angeles.

Robert Kiyosaki

Businessman

Best known as the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki has challenged and changed the way tens of millions of people around the world think about money. He is an entrepreneur, educator, and investor who believes the world needs more entrepreneurs.With perspectives on money and investing that often contradict conventional wisdom, Robert has earned an international reputation for straight talk, irreverence, and courage and has become a passionate and outspoken advocate for financial education.

Schea Cotton

Former professional basketball player

Schea Cotton was an American former professional basketball player. He played basketball professionally for 10 years, playing in 7 countries and numerous U.S leagues. His career tok him overseas to France, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Mexico. After retiring, he became a basketball trainer with his own academy

Uma Jayaram

Co-Founder of Voke

Dr. Uma Jayaram is co-founder and COO of VOKE Inc., a Silicon Valley-based live-event virtual reality company. She has deep expertise and global recognition in virtual reality and engineering applications. In addition to having been active in academia as a faculty member and associate director of the Virtual Reality Lab at Washington State University, Uma is an entrepreneur and has been on the founding team of three technology companies. One of the first women to receive an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, Dr. Jayaram has also been inducted as a Fellow of ASME for her contributions to virtual reality and engineering as well as honored with a “Lifetime Achievement” award by ISAM. As the chief operating officer at VOKE, Dr. Jayaram focuses on the corporate operations and strategy behind creating immersive fan experiences for sports, music and entertainment events.

Veerabhadran Ramanathan

Professor of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences

DR. Ramanathan is a distinguished professor of Atmospheric and climate sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. He currently chairs an international science team from Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the Atmospheric Brown Clouds Program sponsored by the United Nations Enviromental Programme.