AJ Addae’s provocative talk shares her journey as a scientist in the beauty industry. Her research showing that hyper-pigmentation products work differently on melanin-rich skin (darker skin tone) than on melanin-deficient skin (lighter skin tone) created the opportunity to use science to close the beauty industry’s inclusivity gaps.AJ Addae is a Ghanaian-American chemical biology PhD candidate at the University of California Los Angeles, and the founder of SULA LABS – a cosmetic laboratory that formulates and clinically tests products for beauty companies in retailers such as Sephora, Credo Beauty and Ulta Beauty. AJ’s research focuses on formulating skincare solutions for darker skin tones, as well as optimizing and engineering cosmetically elegant sunscreens for photoprotection of darker skin tones.Her research is published in peer reviewed journals, and she is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, a Center for Diverse Leadership in Science Fellow and a Future Laboratory 100 Innovators Awardee. AJ’s work has been featured in outlets such as CBS News, United Nations Economics Commission for Africa (UNECA), Essence, Beauty Independent, UCLA newsroom, and many more. She is driven by her innate passion for using chemistry and clinical research as a means of change for the health of skin of color.This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx