Date: Monday, May 19, 2014. 3:00 PM.
Location: Encina Hall West, Room 208
Solving the problem of how to provide effective health education on diseases subject to social taboos is an immediate need. The social stigma of HIV and AIDS is particularly prominent in the developing world, where 95 percent of all HIV-infected persons live. Millions of people risk death while cultures and laws resist change. New approaches must be created to provide education despite whatever social, structural, cultural, and legal barriers exist.In her talk, Dr. Sorcar will share insights into the building of TeachAIDS, an award-winning social venture which develops culturally sensitive software used in 78 countries and provides effective education despite such barriers.Piya Sorcar is the founder and CEO of TeachAIDS, a nonprofit social venture founded at Stanford, whichcreates HIV prevention software used in 78 countries. Backed by UNICEF, Barclays, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others, TeachAIDS addresses numerous persistent problems in HIV prevention, and providesits materials to schools, governments, and NGOs worldwide for free under a Creative Commons License. Piya is a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and an Adjunct Affiliate at the Stanford School of Medicine. She received her Ph.D. in Learning Sciences & Technology Design from Stanford. In 2011, MIT Technology Review named her to its TR35 list of the top 35 innovators in the world under 35.