Gitanjali Rao

Gitanjali Rao is an inventor, an aspiring scientist, author, speaker, and an active promoter of STEM around the world. She was recognized as America's Top Young Scientist and was a recipient of an EPA Presidential award for her patented invention of an innovative lead contamination detection tool. Rao 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 that has been praised by UNICEF.

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 85,000 students in the last three years across 46 countries and she has raised and contributed over $100K for rural science fairs and maker space in refugee camps.

Rao is the author of the book "Young Innovator's Guide to STEM", available in 6 languages, which guides students, educators, or teachers through a self-developed prescriptive 5-step innovation process. She was appointed as a UNICEF Youth Advocate 2021 for using science for solving social problems such as cyber-bullying and developing solutions for environmental protection, and recently received the Muhammed Ali Humanitarian and Martin Luther King beloved Community award for her selfless service for the refugee camp students. Rao is a freshman at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.