Summary
Overview
Physician David Fagenbaum and social entrepreneur Kia Williams join TED's Alexandra Tillman for an inspiring conversation about living with purpose amid life's uncertainties. Fagenbaum shares his journey of nearly dying from Castleman disease and discovering life-saving repurposed drugs, while Williams discusses founding Serum to redistribute unused medicine to those who can't afford it. Together, they explore themes of actionable hope, resilience, choosing hard things as a privilege, and living in 'overtime' - making every moment count when life's fragility becomes clear.
Finding Purpose Through Crisis
David Fagenbaum recounts becoming critically ill with Castleman disease during medical school, spending six months in the ICU with his last rites read to him. After seven chemotherapies not designed for his disease saved his life, he had an epiphany: if these drugs worked for him, how many other life-saving drugs are sitting in pharmacies that could help patients with other diseases? This realization opened his eyes to the concept that even when options seem exhausted, solutions may be closer than we think.
- Fagenbaum promised his mother he would become a doctor in her memory after she passed when he was 19
- He became critically ill with Castleman disease in his third year of medical school and spent six months in the ICU
- Seven different chemotherapies, none made for his disease, saved his life and revealed the potential of drug repurposing
- When he relapsed, he discovered another drug that could save his life, proving that solutions exist even when hope seems lost
" If this drug is working for me, how many more life-saving drugs are sitting at our local pharmacy that could treat more patients and more diseases today? "
Choosing Your Own Path Forward
Kia Williams shares her pivotal moment at age 15 when her family fell apart and they teetered at the edge of poverty in West Philadelphia. She made a conscious decision that she had to be the one to save herself and create a better life. This early recognition of personal agency, combined with hard work in school, led to a full scholarship to Stanford and ultimately to founding Serum when she witnessed patients unable to afford necessary medications.
- Williams grew up in West Philadelphia with her family falling apart and facing poverty
- At 15, she decided she had to save herself and create a new path, focusing intensely on school
- She earned a full need-based scholarship to Stanford, marking the beginning of harnessing her own power
- Working in medical clinics, she discovered patients weren't getting better because they couldn't afford medications
" I remember being very young and 15 years old and saying, like, I got to do something different. I need to do something different and better "
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