TEDMED Day 1: Opening Session
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With the barrage of information these days, it’s not often that I encounter something that leaves me completely awestruck. Well, one of those moments took place this afternoon. I have the distinct pleasure of attending TEDMED in San Diego this week and the opening session truly set the stage for what’s to come over the next few days. 26-year-old Charity Tilleman-Dick kicked things off with an operatic aria that took me by surprise. Being a red-blooded, football loving Texan, I’m not usually inclined to admit my amazement by such things. However, not only was her talent incredible but her story was even more amazing given that today marked the one year anniversary of Charity’s bilateral lung transplant as a result of idiopathic pulmonary hypertension.
Charity was followed by the likes of Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, a thoracic surgeon pioneering new ways to repair organs for transplantation. Dr. Keshavjee brought a live pig lung on stage connected to essentially a respirator, to help demonstrate how his research in tissue regeneration is reframing the approach to transplant surgery. And, Dr. Nathan Wolfe who is the Director of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative that coordinates activities of over 100 scientist around the globe to monitors pandemic early warning systems. It’s was very interesting to see how these leaders are leveraging community platforms and technologies such as Facebook post, google.org search data, and mobile GPS tracking to monitor the potential for virus outbreaks.
As I listened to Charity’s heart inspirational story of what she has overcome, I couldn’t help but think about all of the great minds that have come here with a singular purpose of finding better ways to improve health & wellness through new forms of innovative research, technology, and collaboration. In our industry, we tend to focus on marketing the miracles and less on the miracles themselves. But to me, one of the most inspiring thoughts is that marketing can help make stories like Charity’s not simply more widely known, but possible in the first place. The more effective we are as brands, companies and organizations, the more meaningful and profound impact we can have in the world.
I’m looking forward to a lively Day 2 at TEDMED as I’m sure there will be many awe inspiring moments, so check back with me later for more updates!
