2017 Event I TEDxNatick
TEDxNatick 2017 Speaker Videos
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We are excited to announce the videos are online today for several of our 2017 TEDxNatick speakers.
This highly talented group of speakers provided energy, creativity, joy, and wonder to the TEDxNatick stage. With their Stories That Inspire, they explored a wide range of provocative topics ranging from music composition to social reform, physics, poetry, health, architecture, sports, art, genetics, climate change, exercise, and more.
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Click on speaker photos to link to videos
Kathleen Tullie
Active Kids, Active Minds
Despite the fact that our children are wired to move, our country is in the midst of a physical inactivity epidemic. Kathleen Tullie took matters into her own hands by starting a grassroots program that empowers children, parents, teachers and community members to fight against physical inactivity. Through her passion, research and the "Word of Moms,” Kathleen created a free and turnkey solution to getting more kids active everywhere.
Bill Littlefield
Willie Mays: What Would You Say to Your Hero?
Bill Littlefield has spoken with and about athletes from all over the sporting world, yet one connection stands above the rest. Listen as Bill recounts what this special encounter meant for both of them.
Bill hosts NPR’s award-winning sports radio program “Only A Game” featuring insightful, humorous and creative stories about about the sentimentalities, quirks, and personalities of the sports world.
Maeve Sheehy
The Power of a Disability
Sleep is second nature for most teenagers, but for Maeve Sheehy, sleep goes far beyond fatigue. At age thirteen she correctly diagnosed herself with Narcolepsy with Cataplexy, but that was only the start of her medical journey. Since then she has used her story to raise awareness about Narcolepsy and other disorders in both her real and online communities.
Maeve is an honors high school student, athlete, and advocate for those with disabilities.
Rudy Tanzi & Chris Mann
Curing Alzheimer's with Science and Song
Alzheimer’s cases are growing at an alarming rate as our lifespan rapidly outpaces our “brainspan”. There are 5.4 million patients in the USA and as 71 million baby boomers head toward high risk age, Alzheimer’s could singlehandedly crush our healthcare system. The good news is that dozens of Alzheimer’s genes have been identified, and the opportunity for stopping this disease has never been greater. Rudy Tanzi discusses how he and others are doing just that. He is joined by chart-topping recording artist and actor Chris Mann for a performance of their anthem of hope, “Remember Me," that blazed the Internet in pursuit of a cure.
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Dr. Rudy Tanzi, a Professor of Neurology at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital and was named one of the TIME100 Most Influential People in the World in 2015 for his groundbreaking research on Alzheimer’s disease.
Chris Mann is a critically acclaimed recording artist and actor who has performed over 700 times as The Phantom in "The Phantom of the Opera" (Nat'l Tour) and on NBC's "The Voice".
Watch the Remember Me music video.
BUY & SHARE song to donate to Cure Alzheimer's Fund research:
More information at chrismannmusic.com
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Bren Bataclan
Kindness Can Truly Be Paid Forward
With his "Smile Project," artist Bren Bataclan took the idea of public art and turned it into a study of human nature. He leaves his whimsical paintings in public spaces with a note attached saying, "This painting is yours to take as long as you promise to smile at random people." In this visually captivating, humorous and moving presentation, feedback from folks who found paintings, and children in the schools where Bataclan paints murals, illustrates how a simple act of generosity can have a life-changing impact. Bren has been featured on CBS Evening News, Washington Post, Boston Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, Chronicle, Readers Digest, and The Boston Globe. He has taught at UMass Amherst and welcomes visitors to his art studio in Boston.
Jamele Adams
RACE. LOVE. FREEDOM.
A Blueprint for Every Community
Jamele is dedicated to inspiring others to "be L. I. T." With "love - inclusion - trust" no one will be left out and our ability to come together amongst different beliefs is limitless. Jamele has gathered together community, educational, political, legal, religious, health and social welfare leaders to form "Freedom Teams" which not only insure an open dialogue, but also strengthen the fabric of a community. As Dean of Students at Brandeis University, Jamele promotes opportunities for students to engage in leadership activities and to experience personal, social, and emotional growth and development. Jamele brings high energy and fierce dedication to fostering a community of diversity and unity at Brandeis and beyond.
Ned Brooks
What Makes a Person Decide to Donate His Kidney to a Stranger?
It was an ordinary day for a retired businessman until he listened to a podcast and found that the subject resonated with him well beyond anything he could have imagined. The ramification of Ned's decision to make an altruistic donation was initially felt within his immediate family, but ultimately the ripple effects were far reaching and led to personal connections that Ned never could have foreseen. Ned is a retired businessman and newly-minted grandparent who underwent a life-changing experience which led him to create the foundation Donor-to-Donor.
Monika Weber
Replacing the Petri Dish with a Microchip
The petri dish has been state of the art for bacterial contamination detection for a century so unsuspecting people can get sick needles. Monika details her journey to build a fast bioelectronic-based process that could transform contamination early, and warn people of danger before they come into contact with it. Monika speaks of her origin in a family electronics business and how that shaped her ambitious goals from earning engineering degrees to founding a high-tech startup. Her invention could make the world safer for millions of people. She is CEO of Fluid-Screen, Inc., based in Cambridge, MA. Monika was honored with the Grand Prize in the NASA Create the Future Design Contest and her company won the Gold Prize in MassChallenge, the largest startup accelerator in the world.
Sheldon Mirowitz
What does music DO?
We live in a music saturated world - when we watch, eat, drink, pray, mingle, shop, drive, even simply walk around, we generally do it with music. But why? Film composer and educator Sheldon Mirowitz wonders why we use, or maybe even need, music to "go with" things. By looking at the use of music in film, he shows that music offers a unique language for expressing our emotions.
Composer Sheldon Mirowitz has been nominated three times for an Emmy Award for Best Music, and his scores have been a part of many award-winning films and TV shows. In addition to composing, for the last twenty years he has served on the faculty at Berklee College of Music, where he is a Professor in the Film Scoring Department. His Berklee Silent Film Orchestra is considered one of the premier silent film music organizations in the world.
Caterina Stamoulis
Mapping Infant Brain Networks
Brain scientist and physicist Caterina Stamoulis is passionate to discover how an infant’s brain gets wired to understand the world around us. She discusses how her team has mapped “blueprints” of a child’s thoughts and how this promises to enable future understanding of cognitive abilities and disabilities. Her talk showcases how modern technology can map the development of specific brain circuits in babies as they respond to adult facial expressions. Caterina, a researcher at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She trained in engineering and applied physics (underwater acoustics) at MIT, she applies big data approaches inspired by the physical sciences to understand the infant brain. Caterina is supported by President Obama's BRAIN Initiative through the National Science Foundation.
Alan Plattus describes how resilience is critical for cities as they prepare for climate change, specifically the coastal flooding that is occurring with increasing frequency as our oceans rise. He argues that we must “prepare and plan” for the inevitable floods to come. His solutions will surprise you. Alan J. Plattus is Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at Yale University. He teaches architectural history and theory, urban history and design, and directs the school’s China Studio. He founded and directs the Yale Urban Design Workshop, a community design center that undertakes complex community-based planning projects throughout the world, at scales ranging from the neighborhood to the region, in response to problems such as border conflict, underdevelopment and climate change.