Cancer Researchers and Patients Take the TEDx Stage

When Diane Simeone was leading the Pancreatic Cancer Center at New York University Langone Health in the late 2010s to early 2020s, the field had begun to realize that early detection of pancreatic cancer vastly improved survival outcomes. She and her team started a program called Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection (PRECEDE) to identify people who might be at risk and encourage them to get screened.

“I was seeing a patient in the clinic as we were building out this program, and they said, ‘Dr. Simeone, you seem like a smart person. You're telling me all this stuff. It's incredibly valuable information, but people out there don't know it,’” recalled Simeone, who now directs the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego Health. “I said, ‘Well, what do you mean? I’m a pretty well-known professor. I've written 250 articles. I give talks all over the world.’ And she said, ‘But lay people don't know it. People who need to know it don't know it.’”

Simeone realized that although she effectively communicated science to scientists, she was completely missing the audience who needed to hear about her research most: the public. Soon after that interaction, she ended up writing an article for the New York Times about the importance of early detection and screening for pancreatic cancer. It was a hit. Just one day after the article was published, Simeone said that the Pancreatic Cancer Center had 200 messages from people who wanted to learn more about the PRECEDE program and if they should get screened.

“It might not just be how you communicate, but to whom you can communicate,” she said. “I think it's both of those things.”

Even as the years passed, Simeone carried the valuable lesson on the importance of effective science communication with her. So, when the faculty at the Moores Cancer Center, which she now directs, wanted to learn how to become better communicators, Simeone and her colleagues teamed up with TEDxSanDiego executive director Laura Hall to make that happen. In 2026, they created a collaborative program to train scientists, staff, and even patients at the cancer center to communicate their science and ideas to the public, increasing trust in science.

“Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. It's something that can turn people's world upside down instantaneously,” said Simeone. “We want to carry messages of hope, messages of understanding, for people to really understand what drives science [and] what's involved, also for people to understand the impact science can have on people's lives.”

Hall added, “One of the best things TEDx can do is help give these scientists confidence, make them good speakers so they can change the world.”

Simeone, Hall, and their teams opened applications to the program to the entire cancer center, asking faculty, staff, students, and patients to pitch their ideas to share in a TED-style talk. From about 40 applicants, the TEDxSanDiego team chose 12 people to participate in the program.

“The people who were chosen were across the whole spectrum,” said Simeone. “We had a couple students. We had residents…It goes to show you that compelling ideas can come from anywhere.”

Over the course of about 11 weeks, members of the TEDx team trained and mentored each of the 12 participants to help them refine their ideas into an eight-minute presentation. The participants did not just get feedback on what to say but also on how to use gestures and physical movement across the stage to communicate their points.

“Every good TED talk has what I kind of call…the spear-in-the-chest moment,” said Hall. “It's like that moment when whoever it is, including a scientist, actually says, ‘Wow, this is personal for me too.’”

At the end of their training, all of the participants will record videos of their talks. The TEDxSanDiego also selected two of the participants—bioengineer Kiana Aran and Tyler Callaway, who was a patient at the cancer center—to present their talks live at the mainstage TEDxSanDiego event on August 27^th in La Jolla.

“My prediction is this is going to be a smashing success,” said Simeone. “I suspect that we will broaden it out across the university so that we can increase the opportunities for all of our trainees and faculty and patients to find their voice.”