Spring 2010 Conference
March of 2010 saw the inaugural TEDx Nashville event. The sold-out conference took place at Montgomery Bell Academy and was a rousing success. Here is a list of the speakers from that program. Thanks again to everyone who participated!
SPEAKERS IN ORDER OF PRESENTATION
Mark Montgomery, Entrepreneur – Emcee
Mark is an Internet entrepreneur who strives to live his life on a few principles: dream big, fear nothing and enjoy the ride. He is well versed in the world of TED and has very successfully navigated the ups and downs of the technology revolution over the last 15 years, most recently with his former company, echo. He is currently an Entrepreneur in Residence at Claritas Capital, a Nashville venture capital firm, and serves as a board member for several technology companies in the area.
Jeffrey Balser, M.D., Ph.D. – Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Title: Personalization and the Future of Health
Dr. Balser will provide insights on how personalizing medicine will drive innovation and reshape healthcare for the future.
Jason Dinger – CEO, Dispensary of Hope
Title: Hope…Freedom…and Medicine
Jason will take us on a journey of what’s possible when you reinvent the pharmaceutical supply chain. Since its inception two years ago, the Dispensary of Hope has grown to provide more than 100,000 prescriptions annually utilizing more than 50 dispensing sites throughout the country. The solution provides medicine at 1/10th the cost and saves hospitals tens of millions in bad debt. While initially servicing the United States, the Dispensary built its model to eventually serve low-income countries throughout the world.
Greg Barz, Ph.D. – Musical Ethnomusicologist
Title: Singing for Life: HIV/AIDS and Music in Uganda
A Grammy Award-nominated medical ethnomusicologist, Dr. Barz explores the use of music, dance and drama as a grassroots innovative medical intervention in the fight against AIDS by communities in Uganda, East Africa.
Melvin Johnson, Ph.D. – President, Tennessee State University
Title: The Art and Science of Community Engagement
Dr. Johnson will weave a story of his own personal journey and leadership in healthcare initiatives with world-changing implications.
Maureen Gannon, Ph.D. – Associate Professor of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Title: Beyond insulin: The future of cell-based therapies to treat diabetes
Currently, insulin replacement, in the form of multiple daily injections or via a programmable pump, is the only form of treatment available to Type 1 diabetes patients. While insulin replacement is clearly a lifesaver for these individuals, they must rigorously monitor their own blood sugar levels to ensure appropriate insulin dosing…something the cells in the pancreas normally do on their own. Thus, replacement of fully functional insulin-producing cells would be a more ideal form of treatment and even a cure for patients with Type 1 diabetes. Dr. Gannon will discuss the current strategies in diabetes research including: 1. improving islet transplantation methods, 2. generating insulin-producing cells in a Petri dish for use in transplantation, 3. making insulin-producing cells from other types of cells, and 4. regenerating an individual’s own insulin-producing cells.
Donna Glassford – Executive Director of Cultural Enrichment, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Title: Hey Florence!
Donna commissioned a musical about nurses that was ultimately cast and performed with working nurses from various units at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Donna will speak about the value and importance of art in health care settings and original cast members Susan Hernandez and Demtryis Savage will perform two numbers from the musical.
Jill Sobule – Musician
Title: Songs in the Spirit of TED
Jill is a regular attendee at the national TED conferences. She will perform songs from her latest, 100% fan-funded record, California Years.
Major Scott Harrington – Physician, 101st Airborne
Title: The Other Side of the War in Afghanistan (How We Are Winning)
An ARMY doctor for the 101st Airborne Division demonstrates how U.S. Military doctors bring hope to a war-torn people and are a catalyst for peace in Afghanistan.
Youth Speaks Nashville
Title: The Spoken WordYouth Speaks Nashville is building a community of youth writers and a culture of literacy through spoken word residencies, workshops, open mics, shows, and slams. We believe that through words all youth can claim the power and hope to determine their future. For more information, go to www.youthspeaksnashville.org.
Molly Secours – Writer, Filmmaker, Speaker, Activist
Title: The Upside of Cancer
Molly will share insights gained while battling stage IV uterine cancer and the physical, emotional and spiritual transformation that occurred unexpectedly as a result.
Suzi Peel – Executive Director, Simple Public Health & Environment Resources for Education (SPHERE)
Title: Health Communication for the Least Literate Among Us
Suzi will speak on how low literacy rates manifest in poverty and poor health outcomes and the new communication tools being developed to share life-saving information with those populations.
Eddie George – Health and Fitness Guru
Title: Transformation from Football Legend to Health and Fitness Guru
Eddie will speak about his own life story and his current mission to give people the knowledge, tools and inspiration to empower positive, lasting change in their approach to healthy living.
Minton Sparks – Spoken Word Artist
Title: The Emotional Landscape of the Southern Family
“Imagine, if you will, Flannery O’Connor and the ghost of Hank Williams having an affair that results in the birth of an illegitimate child . . . . I have seen Minton Sparks. And if she’s not the ghost child of the woman who wrote Wise Blood and the man who sang ‘I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive,’ then cotton doesn’t grow in a cotton field.” – singer/songwriter Marshall Chapman
Fusing music, poetry, and her intoxicating gift for storytelling, wildly original spoken-word artist Minton Sparks continues to be in a category all her own.
James Hildreth, M.D., Ph.D. – Researcher, Meharry Medical College
Title: A Journey of Faith and Hope, A Passion for Stopping AIDS
From rural Arkansas to Harvard, Oxford and Johns Hopkins—now Nashville’s Meharry Medical College–Dr. Hildreth will speak about the path that has taken him to the edge of a discovery that could save the lives of millions all over the world. He will tell us about his new approach to developing a contraceptive cream that holds the promise of killing the HIV virus.
Big Kenny – Musician, Philanthropist
Title: Love Everybody
“My mission is to highlight the good, inspire greatness and encourage mutual responsibility for the betterment of humankind,” says Big Kenny, “and although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” Big Kenny will perform and speak about how his personal philosophy and unique experiences drive his efforts to promote health-related projects all over the world.
