Piya Sorcar

Sorcar was born in Denver, Colorado, with Indian ancestry, the eldest daughter of artist and engineer Manick Sorcar and Shikha Sorcar, and the granddaughter of the pre-eminent magician P. C. Sorcar and Basanti Devi.^[4] As a child actor, she was nominated for a regional Emmy Award for her performance in the short film Deepa & Rupa: A Fairy Tale from India, directed by her father,^[5][6] which went on to win at the Chicago International Film Festival.^[7]

She moved to California around the 2000s, and began the development of TeachAids at Stanford University, where it was the focus of her doctoral research.^[8] In 2009, she founded it as a nonprofit partnered with the university,^[9] working with a team of interdisciplinary experts for five years. Her research efforts developed a new approach to large-scale public HIV education which overcame taboos to vastly improve learning and usage rates.

The approach Sorcar created included combining 2D cartoon images (balancing clarity with comfort), a research-based translation and back-translation process, mnemonic devices, and voices of regionally-specific cultural icons, among other inventions.^[10]

She has led TeachAids to produce many versions of its interactive HIV prevention software,^[11] which are now used in more than 80 countries.^[3][12] Her work has included directing Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Shruti Haasan, and Nagarjuna.^[13][14]

In 2018, she led the creation of a second TeachAids initiative for concussion education called CrashCourse, using a new pedagogical approach based on virtual reality,^[15] and supported by Steve Young, Dick Gould, Jim Plunkett, Katie Ledecky, and other prominent sports figures.^[16] The initiative partnered with 23 United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee Sports Governing Bodies.^[17] Demonstrating high efficacy levels through research conducted at Harvard University and Stanford, CrashCourse was used globally, particularly in Canada, Great Britain, and the United States.^[18]

In 2011, MIT Technology Review named Sorcar to their TR35 list of the top 35 most innovative people in the world under 35.^[1] In 2012, she and TeachAids were named one of twelve global laureates of The Tech Awards.^[19] In 2022, she received the Public Service Award from the Association of Academic Physiatrists, joining past winners such as Christopher Reeve.^[20]