MyGenetx Chief Science Officer Selected to Present at TEDxNashville

Dave Vigerust, Ph.D. will present "Beyond Accurate: Embracing Precision Medicine" during TEDxNashville's event on April 15, 2016.

Dave Vigerust, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer at MyGenetx, has been selected to speak at the 2016 TEDxNashville event. Dr. Vigerust will present "Beyond Accurate: Embracing Precision Medicine", providing attendees with information on the impact of pharmacogenetic testing.

"With the strength of healthcare knowledge here in Nashville, this is the place to introduce new and innovative ideas on the future of healthcare. The April 15th TEDxNashville topic is bringing some incredible and thought altering ideas to healthcare," says Dr. Vigerust.

With the strength of healthcare knowledge here in Nashville, this is the place to introduce new and innovative ideas on the future of healthcare.

On Friday, April 15th at the War Memorial Coliseum, and on Saturday, April 16th at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, distinguished leaders in technology, entertainment, design, science, art, education, government, public policy, healthcare and other areas will gather to present their ideas and experiences to an audience of 2,000 intellectually-minded, accomplished, and connected Middle Tennesseans who are influencers in their respective fields.

This year, TEDxNashville is expanding to two days with the addition of a Friday afternoon of TEDxTalks. From 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, TEDxNashville embraces one of Nashville's largest industries exploring the future of healthcare with the theme of "HealthNext." On Saturday, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, TEDxNashville breaks the national trend of negative commentary by raising our community's dialogue with the theme "Elevation", a day of sparking positive change through insight and storytelling. Each day will end with a reception providing attendees the opportunity to network with other TEDHeads.

Dr. Vigerust is a strategic scientist, consultant, teacher, and inventor, particularly in the areas of infectious disease, oncology, genetics, pharmacogenetics (PGx) and immunology.

Dr. Vigerust earned his BS degree from the University of Texas at El Paso in Biology and Chemistry, a MS degree in Immunology and Microbiology from Texas Tech University and his Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Pathology from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He completed postdoctoral fellowships in infectious disease first at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and second at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. After completing his fellowships in 2009, he joined the faculty of the Pathology, Immunology and Microbiology Department at Vanderbilt School of Medicine and was concurrently a Health Research Scientist for the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Vigerust currently maintains an Adjunct Assistant Professor position at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the Department of Neurological Surgery. In 2014 he joined MyGenetx Clinical Laboratory as the Chief Scientific Officer and directs the scientific and educational missions of the lab.

Dr. Vigerust's academic and research interests focus around areas of precision medicine in cardiology, diagnostics, infectious disease, innate immunity, traumatic brain injury, neuro-oncology, neuroinflammation, and neurodegeneration (ALS, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy and Spinal Muscular Atrophy).

In its 7th year and dedicated to "ideas worth spreading", TEDxNashville is an officially licensed TEDx community representing Nashville and Middle Tennessee as a world-class hub of innovation and creativity within the greater TED community that includes sister programs worldwide in places such as London, Tokyo, New York, San Francisco, Oslo, Buenos Aires, Mumbai, Beijing and Boston.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event
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, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. 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.)

About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or fewer) delivered by today's leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED's annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, and made available, free, on TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.

TED's open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from thousands of volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed; the annual million-dollar TED Prize, which funds exceptional individuals with a "wish," or idea, to create change in the world; TEDx, which provides licenses to thousands of individuals and groups who host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TED or Instagram at instagram.com/ted.

Source URL: http://prweb.com/releases/2016MyGenetx/03Vigerust/prweb13247308.htm

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