Travels from Austria
Bertalan Mesko's speaking fee falls within range: $30,000 to $50,000
Featured in Forbes as the “Geek Who’s Changing the World,” Bertalan Mesko helps medical professionals and students leverage disruptive technologies so that they can better focus on providing first-rate patient care and treatment. An internationally recognized leader in digital health, he frequently demonstrates that technology has the power to restore a much-needed dose of humanity to the patient-doctor dynamic.
A medical doctor with a Ph.D. in clinical genomics, Dr. Mesko designed his own profession of “medical futurist” to combine his medical training with his inner geek. Struck by the challenge of filtering correct and reliable medical advice online, he founded webicina.com in 2008, the first service to curate medical and social media resources free of charge for patients and medical professionals.
Dr. Mesko has given over 500 presentations, including courses at Yale, Stanford and Harvard University as well as the Futuremed course organized by the Singularity University at NASA. His “Medical Futurist” blog covers technological developments before they get to market along with the possibilities and ethical challenges they present. Dr. Mesko’s blog has over 3 million readers and he is one of LinkedIn’s top voices.
Dr. Bertalan Mesko, PhD is the Medical Futurist. A geek physician with a PhD in genomics and Amazon Top 100 author, he envisions the impact of digital health technologies on the future of healthcare, and helps patients, doctors, government regulators and companies make it a reality.
With 500+ presentations under his belt, including courses at Harvard, Stanford and Yale Universities, Singularity University, and organizations including the 10 biggest pharmaceutical companies, he is one of the top voices globally in healthcare technology.
Dr. Mesko was featured by dozens of top publications, including CNN, WIRED, National Geographic, Forbes, TIME magazine, BBC, and the New York Times. His popular blog has more than 3 million readers, and he is one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices.
Bertalan frequently helps leading pharmaceutical and technology companies prepare and take advantage of disruptive trends in medicine. His clients range from the top 10 pharmaceutical companies to innovative startups changing healthcare.
Bertalan is the author of the Amazon Top 100 The Guide to the Future of Medicine and My Health: Upgraded. Dr. Mesko is a science fiction fanatic who has been upgrading his health with digital technology for over a decade. His enthusiasm for medical innovation shows through his frequent updates on social media and regular posts on the latest news and advice about realizing the future of medicine. Bertalan was featured among the top 10 healthcare voices on LinkedIn and has over a hundred thousand followers across his channels.
Dr. Mesko teaches medical students and professionals at Semmelweis University, a leading European medical school, and gives masterclasses about disruptive health technology at events such as Stanford Medicine X and Doctors 2.0 And You.
Medical Futurist, Dr. Bertalan Mesko discusses balancing Internet technology and face-to-face relationships, showing how social media can make medical care more efficient for patients and doctors.
He clarifies that the strength doesn't lie in the technology itself but the quick access it provides to communities or patients we've actually met and built a rapport with. Explaining that he was able to crowdsource a young boy's diagnosis due to his understanding of who his Twitter followers were - medical professionals he had met in person throughout his career - he contrasts this with a tongue-and-cheek response that late night comedian Conan O'Brien got after sending a photo of a mole to his Twitter followers, a group that arguably differed from Dr. Mesko's online community. "Looking at that, I give you seven months," Dr. Mesko read one reply. "But don't worry, that's a lot of time."
While Dr. Mesko believes there is a need to meet with the patient in person and establish a relationship, he points out that technology can improve patient care by strengthening follow-up care and treatment. He then examines "how to fill the gap between the large number of e-patients who are willing to receive treatment on line and the large number of medical professionals who are hesitant to give it."
Dr. Mesko gives 60 to 70 keynotes every year. Never delivering the same speech twice, he channels his passion about the top trends shaping the future of health and medicine, and fires up his audience with actionable advice on preparing for the digital revolution in healthcare.
As a healthcare speaker, Bertalan helps companies and governments worldwide in bringing science fiction to everyday healthcare. His enthusiasm for the future shines through every one of his motivational talks, supported by stunningly visual presentations customized to each and every event’s audience.
Below are two foundational keynotes he delivers on a regular basis to top pharma companies, medical professionals and international events focusing on future trends. However, each topic can be personalized to your company and industry. Bertalan also regularly gives entirely custom talks about topics ranging from the future of healthcare and pharma supply chains to the impact of digitization on investment banking.
Upgrading your Health with New Technologies In 1997, Dr. Mesko started quantifying his life and has been doing so without missing a day for over 6500 days, acquiring the latest and best wearable technology along the years. He’s used this wealth of data to improve his health, including exercising more, improving his brainpower and sleeping better.
In this talk, Dr. Mesko explains how choosing to be “his own lab mouse” changed his life, and provides actionable advice to the audience to follow in his footsteps, and use wearable technology to live better.
SPEAKING.COM: What do you want people to learn/take away from your presentations?
MESKO: I’m enthusiastic about the future of medicine and healthcare, but I see major threats that stem from our individual ignorance and the fact that we are not prepared for the waves of change coming our way. My goal for every keynote is to persuade people to start upgrading their health with technology. This is the simplest and most useful first step forward, whether they want to improve their company or get a closer understanding the digital world. If they start doing so, people will better understand how technology will change both our lives and the healthcare industry as well.
SPEAKING.COM: What kind of special prep work do you do prior to an event? How do you prepare for your speaking engagements?
MESKO: I never give the same presentation twice as I customize my talk for every audience. I insist on talking with the organizers of the event so that I can understand their goals, the issues they think their company is facing, and what barriers I can help their audience overcome. This helps me to create a relevant narrative and bring examples that the audience can relate to, like how pharma supply chains will be disrupted, or why Virtual Reality will turn general practitioners’ world upside down.
SPEAKING.COM: Have you had any particularly memorable speaking engagements / unusual situations arise while on the road?
MESKO: I have given talks to crowds of thousands of people as well as small groups. I enjoy it is when organizers are excited and also a bit nervous before a talk as they want it to be perfect. High expectations make me more curious about what messages I can impart to the audience.
The best engagements I have had took place because the people who invited me knew their audience very well and enabled me to fine tune my content to their exact needs. When the head of an international organization of conference organizers had unusual requests from me, I was confident their ideas would work, because they understood both my visions and the needs of their audience very well, so I was happy to create something truly unique to inspire attendees.
On the other end of the scale, a professor in Russia tried to persuade me to give a keynote at his university by sending me pictures about his village every day, and also sending me a picture of him and his colleagues standing in an icy lake after leaving the sauna naked. It goes without mentioning that the photo did not help his cause.
SPEAKING.COM: What types of audiences would most benefit from your message?
MESKO: I give most of my talks to pharmaceutical companies, organizations in the life sciences, and medical professionals. However, my main messages – about upgrading your health and the shift to technological and patient-focused healthcare – are original and relevant to literally everyone. That is why I also give talks to C-level executives in banks, insurance, medical technology, and telecommunication companies.
SPEAKING.COM: Which of your keynote speaking topics are your favorites and why?
MESKO: I love talking about the gaps that we find today between how fast medical technology is expanding and how slowly the stakeholders of healthcare can adopt new technologies. I have numerous examples and stories about how we could speed up innovation in healthcare that get the audience just as excited as I am about this topic.
As I’m a practical person, I like to end my talks with a customized guide about what the individuals working in the company can and should do the next day to start preparing for the future. I believe that big changes start with people who make different choices in their lives, and technology can facilitate this.
SPEAKING.COM: What inspired you to start doing speaking engagements?
MESKO: As a medical student over a decade ago, I envisioned that the future of medicine would be powered by both technology and the human touch. I started giving talks and further analyzed the topic on my blog. People seemed really interested and my early talks often initiated vibrant discussions, so I started refining my ideas and presentations. Though I have built a popular online community over the years and regularly write articles about the future of medicine and healthcare, I’ve always felt that the most efficient way of transmitting important messages is still personal discussion. This is why I give 60-70 keynotes globally every year.
SPEAKING.COM: How do you keep your audience engaged and actively listening during your keynotes? Do you use case studies, personal stories and/or in your speeches?
MESKO: I work extensively on each presentation. Clients tell me my hopes and enthusiasm for a technology-powered, humanistic future of medicine shines through in both my content and my style of speaking. While I aim to move people out of their comfort zone, I leave mine as well, and that journey that we take together creates a special bond between us. I do this by adding new elements and stories/examples to each of my presentations to be as relevant to the audience as possible and bring these topics closer to them.
My goal is to always initiate great discourse so that after attendees leave my talks they will discuss future implications of medical technology at home, at the workplace, and other outlets, putting that conversation into society.
I also share a personalized link to a website with audience members; therefore, attendees can continue discovering the ethical issues as well as the advantages of medical technologies through whichever of my articles are most relevant to them. Such a link is unique to each audience.
SPEAKING.COM: What are some of the successes you’ve helped clients achieve?
MESKO: What I’m most proud of is when a company’s leaders are worried about how future technologies will change what they do and I can help transform that disruption into an opportunity rather than a scary prospect.
For example, some pharma companies have changed their internal policy about innovations and using digital solutions after having me in the advisory board. A private health clinic has informed me that their entire business model has switched to digital health applications after hearing me talk. Such cases make me more motivated than ever, because I want to see disruptive technologies used in ways that improve the human touch and help physicians do great work. Talking about these is the first step, but practical solutions must follow.
“Dr. Bertalan Meskó has captivated audiences at Stanford Medicine X for years. His expertise, combined with his ability to articulate his vision for a diverse audience has made him the ideal speaker for bringing together all healthcare stakeholders.” – Larry Chu, MD, MS, Stanford Medicine X
“Dr. Meskó is a well skilled speaker who has the rare gift of sharing his view on the future of healthcare with a realistic approach, making things tangible with examples, and combining trends into vision and challenges into suggestions for action.” – Lucien Engelen, TEDx Nijmegen
“Having invited him to keynote six times at Doctors 2.0 & You, I can truly say that it is a pleasure to work with him. Dr. Meskó lives and breathes his topics about the future of medicine, he always prepares, and the audience loves him.” – Denise Silber, Doctors 2.0 & You
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My Health: Upgraded: Revolutionary Technologies To Bring A Healthier Future
Health technology is changing healthcare for patients, doctors and regulators radically. Learn what to expect, and start living a better life with the help of digital health tools.
Dr. Bertalan Mesko, PhD answers the 40 most exciting questions about the present and future of health technology.
Known as The Medical Futurist and featured in CNN, TIME and BBC, Bertalan has interviewed 50 empowered patients, medical innovators and regulators. The questions he sought to answer are among the most exciting from over 500 talks given at patient forums, pharmaceutical boards and healthcare conferences, including:
Keeping this glimpse into the future actionable, the book gives detailed methods for using technology to live a healthy and proactive life, from sleeping better to using exercise motivation apps.
Healthcare impacts each of our lives. Start preparing for its future – today.
The Guide to the Future of Medicine: Technology AND The Human Touch
A few short years ago, it would have been hard to imagine that exoskeletons could enable paralyzed people to walk again; that billions of people would rely on social media for information; and that the supercomputer Watson would be a key player in medical decision-making. Perhaps more than in any other field, technology has transformed medicine and healthcare in ways that a mere decade ago would have sounded like pure science fiction.
From his unique vantage as a trained physician, researcher, and medical futurist, Dr. Bertalan Mesko examines these developments and the many more down the pipeline. His aim is to assess how the hand of technology can continue to provide the dose of humanity that is crucial to effective healthcare. The Guide to the Future of Medicine: Technology and the Human Touch is his incisive, illuminating roundup of the technologies and trends that will shape the future of medicine.
Patients, medical professionals, and any healthcare stakeholder will find an eye opening, reassuring roadmap to tomorrow’s potential in this accessible and fact-based book. By preparing for the inevitable waves of change, you can make informed decisions about how technology will shape your own well-being.
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