It all begins with an idea

Photography, sisterhood, and play as healing
TEDxChicago, awe agency Featured Dustin Huibregtse TEDxChicago, awe agency Featured Dustin Huibregtse

Photography, sisterhood, and play as healing

How do we heal? Through an intimate exploration of trauma and healing, photographer Scheherazade Tillet shares how documenting her sister's recovery from sexual assault transformed both their lives while also inspiring her to work with similarly Black girls and young women. Two decades later, Tillet reveals that she discovered how photography and play can become powerful tools for healing intergenerational trauma.

Read More
Is the cure for cancer already inside us? (Copy)

Is the cure for cancer already inside us? (Copy)

Dr. Shana Kelley leads a team of human cell hunters, and they developed a unique and highly sensitive cell processor that can pull incredibly rare, disease-fighting cells out of blood. Recently, they used the device to search for immune cells that can fight cancer, and uncovered surprising and exciting results that may have immense impact on the future of cancer. Join Dr. Shana Kelley as she brings you on a journey through discovery, learn a little bit about immunotherapy, and get excited about what the next era of cancer treatments may look like. A talk to find hope from, and to share and view with those in your life affected by cancer.

Read More
How undiscovered light will be seen by Quantum Eyes
TEDxChicago Dustin Huibregtse TEDxChicago Dustin Huibregtse

How undiscovered light will be seen by Quantum Eyes

Nature consisting of atoms and molecules is already a marvel. But even more marvelous is the use of the atoms and molecules and the laws of the quantum world to create artificial structures that can generate and detect light, which is invisible. And this is what Dr. Manijeh Razeghi has been working on with her students and coworkers as a scientist. Her talk explores what she has dedicated her life to: exploring the frontiers of unseeable light in hopes of changing our everyday lives.

Read More
Want Better Health and Better Lives? Think Life Sciences.
TEDxChicago Dustin Huibregtse TEDxChicago Dustin Huibregtse

Want Better Health and Better Lives? Think Life Sciences.

We often hear stories about Chicago’s south and west side lacking resources that most of us take for granted and many feel as though there is no hope. A product of Chicago's south and west side, Dr. Suzet McKinney's work has taken her around the world, advising mayors, governors, federal officials and international governments. She shares her idea about the power of life science innovation hubs and how they could create sustainable economic development, minimize health disparities, and empower communities.

Read More
Make anything, anywhere with just-add-water biotechnology

Make anything, anywhere with just-add-water biotechnology

Michael Jewett is a bioengineer who wonders if we can create equitable and distributed biotechnologies for the good. In this thought-provoking and insightful talk, he lays out a vision to re-think how biotechnologies are created and shared, made possible by biology without cells. Can just-add-water biotechnology turn us all into biomakers? Listen and learn how engineered biological systems are opening access to medicines, diagnostics, and more.

Read More
What I Learned About Life from Death
TEDxMinneapolis, awe agency Featured Dustin Huibregtse TEDxMinneapolis, awe agency Featured Dustin Huibregtse

What I Learned About Life from Death

Jane lost her husband at the age of 47. This experience transformed every aspect of her life. She believes this level of transformation is available to every single person out there. When we don't talk about death and remind ourselves daily, (maybe hourly) that we are going to die, we run the risk of taking this magical gift called life for granted and getting all tangled up in caring about what doesn't matter.

Read More
How Deep Brain Devices Open New Research into Brain Diseases
TEDxMinneapolis Dustin Huibregtse TEDxMinneapolis Dustin Huibregtse

How Deep Brain Devices Open New Research into Brain Diseases

How do we find out what's going on in the brain, so that we can help people with brain disorders? Adding brain-sensing circuitry into deep-brain stimulation devices enables new scientific research into chronic brain diseases and allows prototyping of advanced approaches to manage patients' symptoms. This talk will describe a new investigational device developed to probe more deeply into the day-to-day function of the brain in patients suffering from debilitating brain diseases. This technology may allow clinicians and scientists to discover new paradigms for managing these diseases and their symptoms.

Read More
3D Printed Prosthetic Hands for the World
TEDxMinneapolis Dustin Huibregtse TEDxMinneapolis Dustin Huibregtse

3D Printed Prosthetic Hands for the World

By 2050, there will be 50 million limb amputations all over the world! The present cost of a prosthetic hand with limited functionality is around $50,000. Desineni Subbaram Naidu has a vision to create an open source, affordable, and 3-D printed prosthetic hand with most functionality using surface based electromyography (s-EMG) to give hope and happiness to those millions of amputees.

Read More