How Nature and a 9-Year Old Are Revolutionizing Cancer Treatment: Dr. Jim Olson at TEDxSeattle

Dr. Jim Olson is an internationally recognized thought leader in cancer drug discovery who has a lofty goal of being able to give hope to every child and family facing a diagnosis of inoperable brain cancer before he retires. To achieve his vision, he relies on community-driven funding and nature-inspired solutions. His team's track record of innovation includes the invention of Tumor Paint, a scorpion toxin based drug that makes cancer cells light up so that surgeons can distinguish cancer from normal tissue while operating. They also invented a way to test multiple different chemotherapy drugs in a patient's tumor to prioritize the best drugs or combinations and eliminate ineffective drugs. Dr. Olson cares for children with brain cancer, leads an innovative lab at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and founded two biotechnology companies to support his vision -- Blaze Bioscience and Presage Biosciences. Read more about his most recent endeavor at projectviolet.org.

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)