TEDMED Team

Shirley Bergin

Chief Operating Officer; Executive Director and Producer

Shirley Bergin is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Marketing Officer of TEDMED. She oversees all aspects of the TEDMED organization, from chairing the Editorial Advisory Board to leading the curation of TEDMED’s annual stage program and startup showcase (aka “The Hive”), to building long-term strategic relationships with industry and academic leaders, the venture community, and startup organizations. And when it comes to TEDMED’s annual event, she serves as its Executive Director and Producer. Shirley is fiercely passionate about putting TEDMED’s brand, platform, and community to work in shaping a healthier world.

Lucy Crawford

Senior Program Manager, Partnerships

Lucy manages TEDMED's partnerships. Her experience promoting the right to health in developing countries sparked her passion for public health and development. Lucy has spent much of her career designing ways to support and lift the voices of individuals poised to create significant social change. Prior to joining TEDMED, Lucy worked at The Aspen Institute’s Global Health and Development program, working with ministries of health to build stronger health systems and address community health challenges in the hardest to serve populations. She has also worked as a researcher at The Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University where she assessed Middle East and North African Region countries’ compliance with the International Health Regulations. Lucy earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a Master of Public Health from Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health.

Melanie Howley

Head of Community Development & Event Registration

Melanie manages TEDMED's Community Development by overseeing the application vetting process to ensure a multidisciplinary community of Delegates and Scholars are in attendance at TEDMED's annual event. She is fully committed to making TEDMED a positive and rewarding experience for the delegation and community, at large. In addition, Melanie supports the TEDMED event as the Operations Director for event registration, and manages volunteer recruitment & training. Always looking for opportunities to stay active, Melanie is a dedicated runner and swimmer, with a passion for a healthful lifestyle. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree with a Double Major in Economics & Communications.

Courtney Marshall

Marketing and Communications Manager

Courtney is responsible for ensuring a unified, active and provocative voice across all of TEDMED’s marketing and social media networks and outbound communications. Prior to joining TEDMED, Courtney worked to optimize marketing and communications in both nonprofit and private organizations. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree as a double major in Politics and Philosophy from Salve Regina University, a Master of Public Administration from the University of Connecticut and a certificate in Marketing Strategy from Cornell University. Courtney has a passion for health and wellness and is an avid yogi.

Ana-Maria manages various content, communications, and editorial-based projects, working closely with TEDMED’s research scholars and speakers and providing support to the Editorial Advisory Board. Ana-Maria has over 5 years of experience in project management, strategic thinking and development, research and analysis, and team collaboration and leadership working in high profile global public health programs. Her work experience includes infectious disease control in the United States (national and state governments) and in low and middle-income countries. With a globally pointed perspective and a zeal for people and processes, Ana-Maria is passionate about TEDMED’s mission to creatively bridge the gap between science and the public. Ana-Maria holds a Master of Public Health from Emory University.

Lindsey Walker

Executive Program Manager; Board, Secretary

Lindsey serves as the Foundation’s Executive Program Manager, where she researches and develops new initiatives for TEDMED. Her background is centered around education, where she focused on redesigning/designing educational opportunities and programming for persons with disabilities within the public school system. She recently pivoted to the world of health and medicine to apply her program design and development skills to new challenges. Lindsey holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University and a Masters in Special Education from George Mason University. In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in the Charna's Kids Club Sibling Program.

Marcus Webb is Chief Storytelling Officer for TEDMED, LLC and ApiJect Systems Corp. Marcus works closely with TEDMED chairman Jay Walker on his speeches and other presentations. He also assists TEDMED speakers in developing and refining their talks, and serves as liaison between presenters and the TEDMED Speakers Coaching Network. His responsibilities range from speechwriting to creation of marketing collateral including brochures, booklets, decks, video scripts, website copy, press releases, research documents, white papers, correspondence, etc. As an integral member of the TEDMED and ApiJect Systems Corp teams, Marcus participates in business management and invention sessions, contributing ideas and tactics for strategy and execution of a wide variety of projects and ventures.

Jing Xie is the Staff Accountant for TEDMED, LLC. Her major responsibilities include preparing, maintaining and examining account books and monthly financial statements; tracking actual costs to ensure conformance with budgets; monitoring risk and fraud; and reporting to the COO and CFO. Jing earned her MBA degree with a specialization in Accounting and Finance and a second master’s degree in Technology Management from the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Additionally, she received a Bachelor of Food Science & Engineering from Jinan University, China.

Ellen Tuckett

Director Digital Operations

Ellen Tuckett is part of TEDMED’s marketing team managing TEDMED’s digital projects including website development and mobile app development. Ellen’s background prior to joining TEDMED was working for Philips, GE and ConEdison. Ellen has two Masters Degrees from Sacred Heart University, one in Digital Marketing and one in Information Technology. When not working Ellen enjoys teaching Zumba classes in Stamford and Norwalk.

Dorothy and her late husband, Ralph, were very early supporters of TEDMED and its mission. A long-time believer in creating a healthier world, Dorothy believes in giving a platform and encouragement to inspire the researchers and medical professionals of today and tomorrow. She is Chair of Masterworks Development and a strong supporter of the arts and conservation efforts.

Karen Romaine is the Chief Financial Officer for Walker Digital and serves as the finance liaison for other companies founded by Jay Walker. Walker Digital is a privately held research and development lab led by internationally recognized inventor and entrepreneur Jay Walker. In this position, Karen is responsible for the overall financial strategy and direction at Walker Digital, as well as human resources. Within finance, she guides the shareholder relations, accounting and tax functions to pursue the company’s growth strategy and meet its investors’ expectations.

Karen serves as the Treasurer for the TEDMED Foundation. In this position, Karen administrates fiscal matters of the Foundation and ensures development and board review of financial policies and procedures.

Ms. Romaine also serves on the Finance Committee for the Bergen Family Center, a nonprofit organization that strengthens communities by providing services to individuals, families, and children that enhance their ability to function independently, manage challenges and improve the quality of their lives.

Eileen works with organizations focused on education and public health through the lens of an organizational behaviorist. Using her experience and skills from her formal education and professional experience at IBM, she works with not for profit organizations in board or leadership roles to advance their missions. Not for profit boards and councils she serves include, The Harvey School (board chair), RVNA (healthcare, board chair), and WCHS Research Institute Council (medicine) as well as a number of advisory councils.

Eileen serves Cornell as an emeritus member of the Cornell Board of Trustees and is a Cornell Presidential Councillor. Eileen is the co-chair of eCornell, Cornell’s distance learning subsidiary and is a member of the Administrative Board of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Active in the field of medicine since 2012, Jay Walker serves as the Director of TEDMED. A serial entrepreneur, Jay has founded three companies that have gone from launch to 50 million customers each. Jay Walker is the Chairman of ApiJect Systems Corp., the developer of an innovative new compact, prefilled, single-use syringe that delivers medicine or vaccine for the lowest cost per dose on the global market, while meeting the highest safety standards. He is also Chairman of Upside, a travel and technology company that serves the unmanaged business traveler. A passionate student and practitioner of imagination, Jay founded and curates the Library of the History of Human Imagination, which Wired magazine called “the most amazing private library in the world." Jay is the world’s 10th most patented living inventor, with more than 750 issued U.S. patents in technology-related fields.

See Jay's Full Bio