Joe Scalea Keynote Speaker

Dr. Joe Scalea is a transplant surgeon, scientist, and healthcare innovator whose work bridges humanism, innovation, discovery, and entrepreneurism. A passionate surgeon and unwavering patient advocate, Dr. Scalea draws from years of performing surgery at the edge of life, caring for thousands of patients facing death to develop the Four Reasons to Live framework—a human-centered leadership model that makes purpose actionable and supports complex decision-making in high-stakes environments. The framework helps teams align innovation with what truly matters: family and connection, meaningful work, exploration of the world, and belief in something greater than oneself.

In his inspiration-forward keynote talks, Dr. Scalea shows listeners how humanism can function as an operating system for innovation—guiding decision-making, strengthening team alignment, and accelerating meaningful impact across science, healthcare, and technology. In addition to leading some of the nation’s largest transplant programs, his perspective is shaped by direct experience building multiple healthcare technology and services companies that translate bold ideas into real-world systems. He speaks frequently at corporate, scientific, and association events nationally and internationally.

Dr. Scalea founded and successfully exited his first company in 2023, a pioneering digital health firm that created the nation’s first smart transplant network, and he gained international attention for designing and implementing the first systems to transport human organs by drone. His current entrepreneurial work focuses on expanding access to kidney transplantation. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, articles, and book chapters and currently serves as executive medical director for a major academic health system, where he advises on venture investment and the commercialization of healthcare technology.

An NIH-funded professor and Vice Chair of Surgery, Dr. Scalea was educated and trained at the University of Maryland, Harvard University, the University of Wisconsin, and MIT. His work and writings have been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, CNN, and Fox News. His TED Talk titled Four Reasons to Live was selected as an Editor’s Pick on YouTube and launched nationally in Fall 2025, amassing more than 118,000 views and 16,000+ followers on LinkedIn.

Outside the operating room and boardroom, he is a husband, father of two, and an artist known for large-scale abstract paintings—bringing the same curiosity, discipline, and humanity to his creative life as he does to his work in medicine and innovation.