UF professor to help choose TEDMED speakers

A UF professor will help determine speakers for a large TEDMED conference this November in California.

Joshua Brown, a UF professor of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy, was announced as a 2017 TEDMED Research Scholar in March, he said. With his application to be a scholar accepted, Brown will spend the months until the conference helping select speakers for the yearly event, which brings together about 50 speakers to discuss how to make the world healthier, according to the conference’s website.

Attending the California conference costs about $5,000, according to the website.

Brown, along with 41 other scholars, will act as a peer reviewer of the potential speakers, he said. Speakers who apply and audition must have a unique perspective on their topic focusing on health and medicine.

“Being chosen is quite an honor,” Brown said. “When you think about the popularity of TED talks and the potential influence these have on the public, it instills a sense of pride and responsibility to take vetting these nominees quite seriously.”

Brown said he is in charge of choosing speakers to talk about health economics and outcomes.

He said each scholar reviews potential speakers independently in order to keep from swaying others’ opinions.

“TEDMED is an opportunity for thinkers, not politicians, to exchange ideas and network,” Brown said.

Alex Touchton, a curator for TEDx at UF, a student organization that brings a TED-style conference to UF every year, said he’s excited for the opportunities this could provide for students.

“It’s incredible to have someone from UF selected for this,” the 22-year-old UF chemistry senior said. “It fulfills what I try to do on a daily basis by sharing and spreading ideas through TED.”

By working with the conference, Brown said he hopes to show students that change can be made by younger individuals. Many of the potential speakers are young professionals who are still developing their careers and starting out in leadership roles.

“The willingness to listen to someone else’s ideas for just 10 minutes in a TED Talk may have a long-lasting influence on health and medicine as these people transition to being leaders and experts,” Brown said.

Joshua Brown