Theme: #TomorrowStartsNow Perspectives To Shape The Future

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

MED Campus Graz - Aula
Neue Stiftingtalstraße 6
Graz, Steiermark, 8010
Austria

Caroline Schober

Vice Rector of Research and International Affairs at the Medical University of Graz

Caroline Schober is a biochemist and molecular biologist with many years of experience in international management. She has worked as a marketing and change management consultant on projects involving industrial minerals in the U.S. and in China. After nearly one decade in research management of several large national and international research projects, she managed the Institute of Molecular Bioscience at the University of Graz from 2011 to 2016. Since February 15, 2016, Caroline Schober has been Vice Rector of Research and International Affairs at the Medical University of Graz.

Johanna Pirker

assistant professor, software engineer, and researcher at the Institute of Interactive Systems and Data Science at Graz University of Technology (TUG)

She finished her Master’s Thesis during a research visit at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) working on collaborative virtual world environments. In 2017, she finished her doctoral dissertation in computer science on motivational environments under the supervision of Christian Gütl (TUG) and John Belcher (MIT). She specialized in games and environments that engage users to learn, train, and work together through motivating tasks. She has long-lasting experience in game design and development, as well as virtual world development and has worked in the video game industry at Electronic Arts. Her research interests include AI, data analysis, immersive environments (VR), games research, gamification strategies, HCI, e-learning, CSE, and IR. Johanna was listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list of science professionals, and was awarded the Women in Tech Award by Futurezone (2019), the Käthe Leicher Award (2020), and the Hedy-Lamarr Award (2021).

Zisis Kozlakidis

Head of Laboratory Services and Biobanking at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization (IARC/WHO)

He is responsible for one of the largest and most varied international collections of clinical samples in the world. This WHO infrastructure supports multinational efforts in making treatments possible and delivering those to resource-restricted settings. He has significant expertise in the field of biobanking and has served as President of ISBER and is an active BBMRI-ERIC member. He is a virologist, with a PhD in microbiology from Imperial College London. He is an elected Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, UK, and a Turnberg Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences. He serves as editor-in-chief for the peer-reviewed international scientific journal ‘Innovations in Digital Health, Diagnostics and Biomarkers’. He is scientific advisor to the PTEN Research Foundation, holds an MBA from the Bayes Business School, City University of London. He holds visiting faculty positions in the UK and China.