Gitanjali Rao

Gitanjali Rao was recognized as America's Top Young Scientist and received an EPA Presidential award for inventing her device "Tethys"—an early lead detection tool. Gitanjali is also the inventor of “Epione”—a device for early diagnosis of prescription opioid addiction using genetic engineering, and "Kindly"—an anti-cyberbullying service using AI and Natural Language processing. She is currently conducting research on early detection of pathogens at the Broad Institute of MIT/Harvard. She was honored as Forbes “30 Under 30 in Science” in 2019 and TIME’s “Top Young Innovator” and "TIME Kid of the Year" for her innovations and STEM workshops she conducts globally, which has inspired over 70,000 students across six continents and 45 countries. In her sessions, she shares her own process of innovation that can be used by students all over the world. She often presents in global and corporate forums on innovation and the importance of STEM. Gitanjali is the author of the book "Young Innovator's Guide to STEM", available in 5 languages, which guides students, educators, or teachers with a prescribed 5 step innovation process. She was honored as one of America's Top Youth Volunteers by Prudential in 2021 and was appointed as a UNICEF Youth Advocate for using science for solving social problems such as cyber-bullying and developing solutions for environmental protection. She received a grant as a National Geographic young Explorer to expand her workshops and self-sustain them beyond her. With the grant she helped expand a maker-space in the Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya while mentoring them for innovation challenges.