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Erika Moore Named a 2024 TED Fellow

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On April 16, TED announced the 2024 cohort of TED Fellows, including UMD Assistant Professor Erika Moore. Moore is one of only 11 individuals selected for this year’s TED Fellows program, which considered more than 6,000 applicants. She is the first TED Fellow for the University of Maryland, College Park.

Erika Moore sits for an interview with TEDThe TED Fellows program supports early-stage innovators in expanding the impact and reach of their ideas. The program will provide Moore with career development workshops and mentoring that will build the critical skills required to take her work to the global stage, including networking, communications, strategic planning, media relations, public speaking, and more.

The TED Fellows cohort will have access to coaching and events during which they connect with colleagues, collaborators, industry leaders, and potential sponsors. TED Fellows also have access to a vast international audience, utilizing TED Talks and other content to amplify their work around the globe.

“The TED Fellows Program allows me to record a TED Talk, in which I'll detail some of the results of the Moore Lab. I get to share some of our research on aging and our work on treating lupus,” says Moore, whose TED Talk will be available online in a few months. “I hope the people who watch my video can better appreciate the impact of my group and of the bioengineering field. This furthers my research goals of creating more equity in access to biomedical research and, hopefully, inspires others to get interested in this work!”

"The seeds that we plant sometimes take years to blossom. If anyone is inspired by me, I want to offer a word of encouragement—keep planting! Some things will take a while to grow."

Dr. Erika Moore

An Assistant Professor in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering, Moore joined UMD in 2023. Her research investigates how ancestry and sociocultural data affect disease development. Unlike many researchers, she accounts for diverse populations when building regenerative tissue models to create more equitable disease models. The Moore Lab is steadfastly committed to engineering biomaterial models that harness the regenerative potential of the immune system, particularly addressing health disparities. Ongoing research at the Moore Lab encompasses a wide spectrum, ranging from modeling vasculitis in lupus to investigating age-related macrophage function, decoding extracellular matrix signaling's impact on macrophage activity, and examining ancestral influences on innate immune responses.

Moore is also an active advocate for professional development and financial literacy. A co-founder of #BlackInBME, she provides support and mentorship to Black trainees and faculty members in the field of biomedical engineering. In alignment with her commitment to financial empowerment, she established Moore Wealth Inc., a nonprofit aimed at equipping students with essential financial literacy skills.

Erika Moore sits for a photo for TEDMoore's significant contributions have earned her esteemed accolades, including the NSF CAREER award in 2023; the 3M NonTenured Faculty Award in 2023 and 2022; the 2022 BMES Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award; the NIH R35 Maximizing Investigators' Research Award in 2022; and notable recognition in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in healthcare in 2021.

Moore’s trajectory showcases her as a distinguished figure in research, mentorship, financial education, and diversity advocacy. She reminds others, however, that these successes do not happen overnight.

“It took many years to be selected as a TED Fellow,” Moore explains, “and while I’m so excited to share this new award, I also think it’s important to remember success is not binary. The seeds that we plant sometimes take years to blossom. If anyone is inspired by me, I want to offer a word of encouragement—keep planting! Some things will take a while to grow.”

Published April 25, 2024