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Boston, MA - June 25 to 27, 2025

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Boston, MA - June 25 to 27, 2025

21Jul

Bo Eason

July 21, 2022 ally Speakers
Bo Eason

Bo Eason

Actor, Playwright, Motivational Speaker, and Leadership Trainer

Bo Eason is a former NFL All-Pro turned actor, playwright, motivational speaker, and leadership trainer to Fortune 500 companies. He started his NFL career as a top pick for the Houston Oilers. Continuing on with the San Francisco 49ers, during his 5-year career Bo competed beside and against some of the greatest players of his generation. After his football career ended, he branched out into acting and wrote a one-man play called Runt of the Litter that went to Broadway. Now, as a speaker and leadership coach, he trains some of the most successful people in the world on how to communicate for maximum impact and success. His first book There’s No Plan B For Your A-Game: Be the Best in the World at What You Do, will be published by St. Martin’s Press in September 2019.

Heman Bekele

Heman BekeleTIME’s 2024 Kid of the YearWinner of the 2023…

Leanne Fan

Leanne Fan Winner of the 2022 3M Young Scientist ChallengeLeanne…

Carl June, M.D.

Carl June, M.D. The Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy,…

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21Jul

Jean Crawford

July 21, 2022 ally Speakers

Jean Crawford

Multi-Organ Transplant Patient

In 2006, Jean Crawford underwent a multi-organ transplantation surgery and has since been living with six transplanted organs. Since this life-changing surgery, she has become an Ambassador for the United Network for Organ Sharing, as well as for her own state’s procurement agency Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates. She has also spent years volunteering for Kentucky’s Trust For Life -a Kentucky Organ, Eye, and Tissue Donation Awareness program whose goal is to register new donors for those on the waiting list. Jean, a retired educator, has also volunteered for Kentucky’s educational program “Life is Cool! She started a non-profit to raise tens of thousands of dollars for Kentucky’s transplant children and their families, by giving all funds raised to The Satterwhite Fund in Kentucky. Jean has also twice participated in the United States Transplant Olympic Games to honor donor families and educate the public about donor transplantation. With a passion to tell her story, Ms. Crawford spends her time inspiring people and explaining the importance of registering as an organ, eye, and tissue donor, so that others may receive the same second chance at life that she was offered. Jean is also the member of a donor family, so she has great perspective from the point of receiving a transplant, as well as the perspective from the point of a family giving the gifts of life.

Heman Bekele

Heman BekeleTIME’s 2024 Kid of the YearWinner of the 2023…

Leanne Fan

Leanne Fan Winner of the 2022 3M Young Scientist ChallengeLeanne…

Carl June, M.D.

Carl June, M.D. The Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy,…

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21Jul

Kevin Babington

July 21, 2022 ally Speakers

Kevin Babington

Irish Olympic Equestrian
Spinal Injury Survivor

Irish Olympian Kevin Babington is well known for his results and talent in the show jumping ring, but Kevin is much more than just a competition rider; he’s a dedicated coach to his students and never stops seeking to improve his own depth of knowledge. Kevin is very good at sharing his expertise with his students, picking up on the finest details and effectively explaining his theories and mastery of the sport. In his latest endeavors Kevin has expanded his teaching from in person lessons to also teaching virtually, using different forms of live videoing.

His teaching schedule keeps him very busy, but he also is still very involved in the sales industry. Kevin has a keen eye for horse and rider matches, and has paired many successful partnerships over the years. He has contacts all over the world, making him a valuable asset when horse shopping.

To round out his many skills and duties, Kevin is honored to be a selector on the High Performance Committee for Team Ireland’s show jumping teams.

Heman Bekele

Heman BekeleTIME’s 2024 Kid of the YearWinner of the 2023…

Leanne Fan

Leanne Fan Winner of the 2022 3M Young Scientist ChallengeLeanne…

Carl June, M.D.

Carl June, M.D. The Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy,…

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21Jul

Emily Gavigan

July 21, 2022 ally Speakers
Emily Gavigan

Emily Gavigan

Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis Survivor

Emily Gavigan was diagnosed with Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis in 2010 during her junior year at the University of Scranton, after over a year of misdiagnoses. She went on to graduate with a double major in English literature and business management in December 2012. She holds a master’s degree in publishing from Rosemont College and works as a technical writer at Sanofi Pasteur. Ms. Gavigan is passionate about spreading awareness of autoimmune encephalitis so that no one else has to go undiagnosed for as long as she did.

Heman Bekele

Heman BekeleTIME’s 2024 Kid of the YearWinner of the 2023…

Leanne Fan

Leanne Fan Winner of the 2022 3M Young Scientist ChallengeLeanne…

Carl June, M.D.

Carl June, M.D. The Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy,…

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21Jul

Florent Groberg, U.S. Army Captain (Ret.)

July 21, 2022 ally Speakers
Florent Groberg, U.S. Army Captain (ret.)

Florent Groberg, U.S. Army Captain (Ret.)

Recipient, 2015 Congressional Medal of Honor

U.S. Army Captain Florent Groberg (ret.), recipient of the Medal of Honor, the nation’s top award for valor in combat is the 10th living American to receive the Medal of Honor for actions since the attacks on September 11, 2001. Captain Groberg joined the Army in 2008 and was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado, as a platoon leader. In 2009, he deployed to Afghanistan as part of Task Force Lethal. Returning home in 2010, he continued to serve as a platoon leader. In 2012, he was deployed again with Task Force Mountain Warrior as captain and was selected to serve as the personal security detail detachment commander for his colonel, now-Brig. Gen. James Mingus.

In a 2012 heroic mission to stop a suicide bomber, Captain Groberg sustained the loss of 45% to 50% of his left calf muscle with significant nerve damage, a blown eardrum, and a mild traumatic brain injury. He spent nearly three years recovering and was medically retired as a captain in 2015.

Heman Bekele

Heman BekeleTIME’s 2024 Kid of the YearWinner of the 2023…

Leanne Fan

Leanne Fan Winner of the 2022 3M Young Scientist ChallengeLeanne…

Carl June, M.D.

Carl June, M.D. The Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy,…

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21Jul

Nicole Hall, R.N.

July 21, 2022 ally Speakers

Nicole Hall, R.N.

Maternal Mortality Survivor

Nicole Hall, R.N., is a small town Texas girl born and raised in the panhandle. In 2007, Nicole met her husband at West Texas A&M University, where she studied Nursing, and they became college sweethearts. Since marrying in 2014, they now have three beautiful children; Harper (9), Hadley (4), and Haxton (2). She has been a registered nurse for 8 years working in pediatric ICU and post anesthesia care. Since surviving an amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) with her last child, she started a program called “Before You Push” where she has worked with a dozen women educating them on their pregnancy and delivery.

Heman Bekele

Heman BekeleTIME’s 2024 Kid of the YearWinner of the 2023…

Leanne Fan

Leanne Fan Winner of the 2022 3M Young Scientist ChallengeLeanne…

Carl June, M.D.

Carl June, M.D. The Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy,…

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21Jul

Doug Lindsay

July 21, 2022 ally Speakers
Doug Lindsay

Doug Lindsay

“The Man Who Invented a Surgery to Cure Himself”
Founder, Doug Says

Doug Lindsay got sick at age 21 with a rare autonomic-adrenal condition. He spent the next 11 years home- and bed-bound until he figured out what was wrong, developed novel treatments to keep his condition at bay, and eventually developed the innovative surgery used to fix him. During his 14-year medical journey, he worked with 35 senior faculty at 28 institutions, developed new uses for five existing prescription drugs, won a first national court case protecting patients’ rights, and developed the concept for the two successful, innovative adrenal surgeries used to treat his case. Once he recovered his health, Mr. Lindsay returned to Rockhurst University and finished his biology degree. Now, Mr. Lindsay is a nationally recognized speaker on the role of hope and character in innovation and life. Mr. Lindsay also provides in-depth personal medical consulting services to a small number of rare disease and complex condition patients who’ve found themselves trapped in the medical system.

Heman Bekele

Heman BekeleTIME’s 2024 Kid of the YearWinner of the 2023…

Leanne Fan

Leanne Fan Winner of the 2022 3M Young Scientist ChallengeLeanne…

Carl June, M.D.

Carl June, M.D. The Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy,…

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21Jul

Larry Hester

July 21, 2022 ally Speakers
Larry Hester

Larry Hester

Recipient of the Argus II Bionic Eye

Larry Hester was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa when he was in his early 30s. The degenerative disease blinds patients, and at the time of his diagnosis, there were no known treatments. Mr. Hester is one of several people in the United States to have a bionic eye – an Argus II Retinal Prosthesis Device. The implanted device sends light signals to his brain, allowing him to see for the first time in 33 years. Mr. Hester is eager to provide researchers with information they can use to further enhance the technology so that future generations of patients will benefit from his pioneering effort.

Heman Bekele

Heman BekeleTIME’s 2024 Kid of the YearWinner of the 2023…

Leanne Fan

Leanne Fan Winner of the 2022 3M Young Scientist ChallengeLeanne…

Carl June, M.D.

Carl June, M.D. The Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy,…

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21Jul

Carmen Blandin Tarleton

July 21, 2022 ally Speakers

Carmen Blandin Tarleton

Recipient of one of the world’s first full face transplants
Became the first American to receive a second full face transplant in 2020

On June 10, 2007, Carmen Blandin Tarleton’s estranged husband broke into her rural Vermont home, beat her with a baseball bat, and doused her with industrial-strength lye. Doctors called it “the most horrific injury a human being could suffer.”

Ms. Tarleton spent the next three and a half months in a medically induced coma, and when she awoke, it was an unimaginable reality: She was blind and permanently disfigured, with burns covering more than 80 percent of her body. With so much taken away, no one could have anticipated what Ms. Tarleton would gain from her experience: an awakening, a purpose, and joy.

By sharing her struggles and ultimate victory over catastrophic loss, Ms. Tarleton proves that life is a choice and offers a rare glimpse into the best and worst corners of the human heart. In July of 2020, Ms. Tarleton received a second face transplant and became the first American to have undergone this procedure twice.

Heman Bekele

Heman BekeleTIME’s 2024 Kid of the YearWinner of the 2023…

Leanne Fan

Leanne Fan Winner of the 2022 3M Young Scientist ChallengeLeanne…

Carl June, M.D.

Carl June, M.D. The Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy,…

Read more
21Jul

Rebecca Rosenberg

July 21, 2022 ally Speakers

Rebecca Rosenberg

CEO and Founder, ReBokeh Vision Technologies
Forbes 30 Under 30 - Social Impact (2025)
2020 Graduate, Bucknell University Abell Fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design

Rebecca Rosenberg first attended the Congress in 2015 with dreams of becoming a neurosurgeon. Instead, she discovered a new passion for biomedical engineering. In 2019, Rebecca founded ReBokeh, a medical technology startup working to develop assistive technologies for people with low vision. As a person with albinism, Rebecca has struggled with her vision throughout her life. ReBokeh’s products provide individuals with technology that is more personalized, more integrated, and an order of magnitude less expensive than other devices. Rebecca earned her Master’s degree and is now an Abell Fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design.

Heman Bekele

Heman BekeleTIME’s 2024 Kid of the YearWinner of the 2023…

Leanne Fan

Leanne Fan Winner of the 2022 3M Young Scientist ChallengeLeanne…

Carl June, M.D.

Carl June, M.D. The Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy,…

Read more