Nassim Assefi

After a 2009 TEDGlobal Fellowship, physician, novelist, and activist Nassim Assefi became a diehard TEDster, actively engaged in many aspects of the TED conferences. Four years later, she found herself leading the speaker and artist selection process as TEDMED's Director of Stage Content. A second generation Iranian-American, global nomad and self-proclaimed thrillionaire, Nassim sings and speaks in five languages and has traveled to more than 50 countries. As an internist specializing in women’s health (residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard), her public health focus has been on global reproductive rights and decreasing maternal mortality, especially in low-income and post-conflict countries (most recently Afghanistan).  She is the author of Aria and another forthcoming novel, Say I am You, about the shadow side of humanitarianism.