NPR

What This Doctor Is Going To Do With His $1 Million TED Prize

Raj Panjabi must use the award "to solve a timely, pressing problem." Here's what he plans to do.
Raj Panjabi knows what health care can be like in a developing country. As a boy in Liberia he never had his eyes checked. When he came to the U.S. at age 9, he found out he had 20/80 vision.

It sounds like a fairy tale. A benefactor gives you a million dollars to make a wish come true.

Only it can't be a selfish wish. The TED annual award goes each year to an "exceptional individual with a creative and bold vision to solve a timely, pressing problem." (TED is a nonprofit dedicated to "ideas worth spreading" and sponsors the TED talks aird on NPR's TED Radio.)

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR6 min read
Shipbuilders Harness The Wind To Clean Up Global Shipping
Container ships use heavy fuel oil called bunker fuel. They’re more efficient than trains, trucks and planes. But bunker fuel is highly polluting, and container ships produce about 3% of the world’s emissions.
NPR4 min read
How Do You Build Without Over Polluting? That's The Challenge Of New Catan Board Game
A new version of the popular board game Catan aims to make players wrestle with a 21st-century problem: How do you develop and expand without overly polluting the planet?
NPR4 min readCrime & Violence
Heated Arguments At The Supreme Court In Newest Abortion Case
At issue is a clash between federal and state law about how pregnant women must be treated in the emergency room.

Related Books & Audiobooks