The Donaghue Foundation 2010 Conference

Wednesday, April 21, 2010
7:30am - 12:30pm

Hartford Marriott Farmington
15 Farm Springs Road
Farmington, Connecticut 06032

Dan Ariely
Behavioral Economist, Duke University and MIT
Author of Predictably Irrational

Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University and visiting Professor at the MIT Media Lab. Ariely’s research has shown that we all succumb to irrationality in situations where rational thought is expected. He is an expert on how people actually act – and why they act – in all kinds of business and economic environments, and what this means for business innovation, strategy, and marketing.
     Ariely is the author of the groundbreaking New York Times best-selling book, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions (Harper). In this work, Dr. Ariely presents often humorous and peculiar research findings that provide new insights into human behavior that will help us make better decisions as individuals, as corporations, and as a society.
     Ariely received a PhD in marketing from Duke University, a PhD and MA in cognitive psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a BA in psychology from Tel Aviv University. He publishes widely in the leading scholarly journals in economics, psychology, and business. His work has been featured in a variety of media including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Business 2.0, Scientific American, Science,CNN, NPR, and on ABC’s 20/20. He is also a monthly guest commentator on NPR’s Marketplace. Click here to learn more about Dan Ariely.

Val Curtis
Health Anthropologist, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine



Val Curtis is a behavioral scientist at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine where she directs the Hygiene Centre, a multidisciplinary group dedicated to improving hygiene, sanitation and water in households and schools through enhancing knowledge. Originally trained in engineering, she has an MSc in Public Health and a PhD in Anthropology. Dr. Curtis has a particular interest in human behavior especially from an evolutionary perspective. Her research includes the study of Darwinian approaches to health promotion and the health impacts of handwashing including the effectiveness of different tactics, including consumer marketing, in changing hygiene behavior.
     Curtis is a founding leader of the Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap, persuading large multinational corporations such as Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and Unilever to join the initiative to promote handwashing with soap in the developing world. She carries out advisory work in Africa, Asia and the UK for organizations such as the UK Department for International Development and the World Bank.
     Curtis is a regular contributor to TV and radio, including the BBC World Service, and has had her work featured by CNN, NPR’s Science Friday and The New York Time. Click here to learn more about Val Curtis.

Panel Moderator

Julio Urbina
Director, Healthy Aging Program, Samuels Foundation


Julio A. Urbina is the Director of the Healthy Aging Program at the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation and is responsible for helping the Foundation identify programs and projects that meet its goals. Prior to joining the Samuels Foundation, Urbina held management positions at healthcare agencies and hospitals in New York City and Connecticut. In addition, Urbina spent twenty years as a paramedic.
     A product of the New York City public school system, Dr. Urbina earned a Bachelor‘s degree in Public Administration from the City University of New York, an MPH from the Yale University School of Public Health and a PhD in Social Policy from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University where he was also a Pew Fellow. His primary research interest is the study of health disparities and the development and implementation of “healthy public policy.” Click here to learn more about the work of the Samuels Foundation.