Sharon Terry is a MacArthur Fellow and a leader in patient advocacy and “citizen science” who, after her children were diagnosed with a rare disorder, co-founded PXE International, helped discover the gene for PXE, and serves as the CEO of Genetic Alliance while leading efforts like the passage of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).
Dr. Sheila Nirenberg is a leading neuroscientist and inventor, best known for cracking the neural code of the retina to found Bionic Sight LLC, a company developing innovative visual prostheses that use this code to restore sight to the blind.
Kaitlyn Hova is a professional violinist, neuroscientist, and technologist who uses her synesthesia—the ability to see sound as color—to inspire her work, notably by co-founding the Synesthesia Network and co-creating the Hovalin, an open-source, 3D-printable violin that promotes STEM education.
Charles Chiu is pioneering the use of next-generation sequencing to rapidly identify and track a wide range of infectious agents, including new viruses and variants, to prepare for and fight outbreaks.
Ted Meyer is a well-known artist, curator, and patient advocate who uses his personal experience with Gaucher disease to create the powerful project “Scarred for Life,” a series of detailed prints of human scars that highlights the emotional courage and resilience of patients while teaching empathy to future doctors.
Larissa MacFarquhar is known for her deeply researched profiles and for her book, Strangers Drowning, which uses the stories of extreme altruists to explore why their drastic kindness often makes us uncomfortable and challenges our ideas of goodness.
Kristin Neidlinger is a designer, inventor and founder of Sensoree, a leader in wearable technology by creating futuristic, light- and color-changing clothing that uses smart fabrics and electronics to express the wearer’s emotions to the outside world—a concept she calls “extimacy”—to help people communicate and understand their feelings.
Ketki Karanam is a biologist and technology entrepreneur who uses her scientific background in systems biology to lead the development of digital therapeutics that employ the power of music to treat neurological diseases and injuries.
Johannes Haushofer is an economist and professor who conducts real-world experiments—often involving randomized controlled trials—to study how the psychological stress of poverty directly impacts a person’s mindset, behavior, and decision-making.
World-renowned scholar and professor, David R. Williams focuses on health disparities and is the creator of the Everyday Discrimination Scale which measures the clear link between racism and poorer health outcomes.