What to do when you’re told there’s nothing left to try | David Fajgenbaum and Kiah Williams - TED Talks Daily Recap

Podcast: TED Talks Daily

Published: 2026-02-28

Duration: 30 minutes

Guests: David Fagenbaum, Kiah Williams

Summary

Physician-scientist David Fajgenbaum and social entrepreneur Kiah Williams transform hope into actionable change by repurposing existing resources to tackle seemingly insurmountable challenges. Their conversation highlights the power of questioning the status quo to find innovative solutions.

What Happened

David Fagenbaum faced a life-threatening battle with Castleman disease during his medical school years, relying on seven chemotherapies not specifically designed for his condition to survive. His discovery of Sirolimus as a treatment sparked the realization that countless other life-saving drugs could be hiding in plain sight at local pharmacies.

Kiah Williams, who grew up in West Philadelphia amidst economic hardships, leveraged education as her path out, earning a full scholarship to Stanford. She co-founded Serum, which has grown from a student project to the largest redistributor of unused medicine, addressing the fact that 30% of Americans cannot afford essential medications.

David founded Every Cure, an initiative focused on finding new uses for existing drugs through an AI platform that ranks drug repurposing ideas. This effort is particularly crucial given that 20-30% of prescriptions in the U.S. are used off-label, and 80% of drugs are generic, making it financially unattractive to discover new applications for them.

Both David and Kiah emphasize the importance of actionable hope, where each step taken towards a goal generates further hope and impact. David draws from his ICU experience, where he learned to take life one breath at a time, while Kiah speaks of the privilege of choosing to tackle difficult challenges.

David considers the period after his near-death experience as his 'overtime', a sports analogy where each moment is precious and mistakes are costly. For the past 15 years, he has focused on what truly matters in this extended time he considers a gift.

Kiah describes herself as a realistic, pragmatic pessimist but underscores the privilege of choice, highlighting that motivation can often follow action rather than precede it. Both guests inspire listeners to look beyond limitations and act on the possibilities that exist today.

The episode, hosted by Alexandra Tillmann at TED Next in 2025, encourages listeners to take actionable steps towards change, emphasizing that while not everything can be done, the things undertaken should be done with excellence.

Key Insights

• David Fajgenbaum's battle with Castleman disease led him to discover Sirolimus as a treatment, showing that potential life-saving drugs might already exist in pharmacies but are overlooked because they're not designed for specific conditions.
• Kiah Williams transformed her experiences of economic hardship in West Philadelphia into a mission by co-founding Serum, the largest redistributor of unused medicine, to combat the fact that 30% of Americans struggle to afford essential medications.
• Every Cure, an initiative by David Fajgenbaum, employs an AI platform to find new uses for existing drugs, tackling the issue that 20-30% of U.S. prescriptions are off-label and 80% are generics, which offers little financial incentive for repurposing.
• Both David Fajgenbaum and Kiah Williams argue that motivation can follow action rather than precede it, a mindset shift that encourages tackling tough challenges despite initial pessimism or doubt.

Key Questions Answered

What is Serum and who co-founded it?

Serum is the largest redistributor of unused medicine in the U.S., co-founded by Kiah Williams. It started as a student project and addresses the issue of medication access for those who cannot afford their prescriptions.

How does Every Cure aim to find new uses for existing drugs?

Every Cure, founded by David Fagenbaum, uses an AI platform to rank drug repurposing ideas. This approach addresses the challenge of finding new applications for generic drugs, which make up 80% of the market and are often financially unattractive for new research.

Why is off-label drug use significant in the U.S.?

Off-label drug use is significant because 20-30% of prescriptions are for conditions other than those the drugs were originally intended for. This highlights the potential for existing medications to be repurposed to treat other diseases effectively.