TEDMED at CUMC

On April 19, 2013, a group of 10 first-year students from the P&S Innovative Medicine Interest Group presented the first-ever TEDMED Day CUMC, a satellite conference to the national TEDMED conference that is championed as “a gathering of thought leaders from all sectors of society [who] come together to celebrate innovation, imagination, and inspiration and their passion for a better future in health and medicine.” (www.TEDMED.com)

As a designated TEDMED flagship affiliate, TEDMED Day CUMC 2013 was a one-day conference that brought together more than 550 students, faculty, administrators, and community members from across disciplines to explore innovation at CUMC. It showcased an exciting integration of talks broadcast from the national 2013 TEDMED conference in Washington, D.C., alongside speakers from the Columbia University community: Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH (“​​Is it all about me? Does context matter in an era of personalised medicine?”); Wendy Chung, MD, PhD (“Is GATTACA soon to become a reality?”); Herbert Chase, MD, (“Will a machine be my new doctor?”); Olajide Williams, MD (​“Can 5th graders teach their parents about stroke? The role of hip hop music.​​​”); Craig Blinderman, MD (“What can medicine learn from the Buddha?”); Jeremiah Johnson, Mailman student (“Fear- and Shame-Based Approaches in HIV Treatment and Prevention: Do the Ends Justify the Means?”); Robert Fullilove, EdD (“Did mass incarceration cause the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S.?”); and Joy Hirsch, PhD (“Why is language so hard for autistic children?”)

 Class of 2016 students who planned the 2013 TEDMED day were ​​​​​Madeleine Drusin, Jennifer Harrington-Knopf, Katie Hatch, Elizabeth Landzberg, Beth Leopold, Nadine Pardee, Sarah Schechter, Bryant Shannon, Benjamin Stix, and Michael Thomashow. A steering committee of Class of 2017 students has begun to plan TEDMED Day CUMC 2014.

Videos and photographs of the event, as well as additional information, can be found at the program’s website, www.TEDMEDCUMC.org. 

— Jennifer Harrington-Knopf’16