Lawrence Weru, SM

Lawrence "Larry" Weru is a health advocate, scientist, full-stack developer, collaborative storyteller, visual artist, information designer, and TEDx speaker. His work at the HiDIVE Lab in the department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School focuses on tackling the barriers in digital accessibility that prevent people with disabilities from fully engaging with biomedical resources.

Larry was distinguished as a Dean's Scholar at Harvard Medical School, where he earned his Master of Science (S.M.) in Media, Medicine, and Health. He is a "Notable Nole" alumnus of Florida State University (FSU) where he received dual bachelor's degrees in Biological Science (B.S.) and Studio Art (B.A.).

He has written and co-written on health topics as a freelance writer for Slate, Vox, and Harvard Medical School, co-authored public health op-Eds in the Orlando Sentinel, Vancouver Sun, and KevinMD, and has served as a panelist and speaker at Harvard, FSU, and University of South Florida. 

His contributions and co-contributions to the natural and social sciences are the subject of his TEDx talk, highlighted by Fast Company and Gizmodo Japan, cited in "Real World Python" (No Starch Press), published in Practicing Anthropology, and quoted in "Community Engagement Through Collaborative Writing" (Routledge). 

His note taking app, Columns, is a recipient of a Harvard Innovation Labs Spark Grant, and has ranked as a #1 education app on the Mac App Store.