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).

Brandeis University
Schwartz Hall
Waltham, Massachusetts, 02453
United States

Herlyne Das

Herlyne Das graduated from Brandeis University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and HSSP: Health Science Society Policy with a minor in Chemistry. She has a Master of Science in Biomedical Science from Tufts University School of Medicine and is in her second year of medical school at St. George’s University School of Medicine. Herlyne remains involved in her community and sits on the Board of Directors of a nonprofit called Prospect Hill Community Foundation, an organization that provides free educational enrichment services to youth in low-income areas. She is the owner and creator of “DasMedicine” a mentorship program for youth in medicine. She is also the co-founder of “Those Determined To Help,” a foundation that fundraises money to cover medical expenses and donates medical supplies to hospitals in underserved communities.

Jeffrey Arnold

Jeffrey is a husband, father of three little girls, a scholar, and a soldier. Jeff joined the United States Army in September of 2015 and has attended courses at the Defense Language Institute and the Joint Special Operations University. He is also a certified Tactical Information Operations Planner. Jeff has deployed to Syria in support of Operation Inherent Resolve as a Human Intelligence Collector. Jeff has earned his Associate’s Degree in Tagalog Studies from the Defense Language Institute, Bachelor of Science in Political Science at Liberty University, and is currently a Master of Public Policy student at Brandeis’ Heller School. Upon graduation, Jeff will become an Officer in the United States Army.

Jeremy Huey

Jeremy Huey is a composer, conductor, music instructor, pianist, data curator, and language specialist. Related to his undergraduate studies in Film Scoring at Berklee College of Music, he is most interested in the process by which we make meaning from what we hear in music. After graduating, he worked as a conductor and found much joy in the collaborative aspect of interpreting music with an orchestra. Later, Jeremy worked in computational language processing and found that music and language worked in related, logical ways. Now, at Brandeis in the Master’s in Computer Science program, he is attempting to use technology and deep learning to approach the issues of how to know more about artistic phenomena.

Thabang Matona

Thabang Matona is a South African rising junior at Brandeis University. He is intending on majoring in HSSP (Health Science Society Policy) and Business. A Wien international student scholar, he is also a graduate of the African Leadership Academy. While there, he worked on the Build in a Box program and helped organize entrepreneurial leadership development camps in over 30 countries. If not in school, he works as a program facilitator with various youth development organizations.

Xu Simon

Dr. Xu Simon earned her Ph.D. from MIT in 2008 and completed postdoctoral studies in structural biology at Brandeis University, in the laboratory of Greg Petsko and Dagmar Ringe. After serving for two years as a Triple-A-S Science and Technology Policy Fellow, she obtained her MBA from Bentley University and has since worked her way from technical to high-level executive positions in two startup companies, while serving as an adjunct professor at Brandeis and at Bentley University. She currently serves as Chief Technology Officer at Enozo Technologies in Andover, MA and speaks and consults in STEM-based industries. Xu has been married for seventeen years and has two toddlers.