Empowered picks up where my father’s book left off. Where Overpowered explained the science, Empowered explains what to do about it – clear, actionable steps anyone can take to reduce their EMF exposure in daily life. Available on Amazon.
Co-authored with Dr. Martin Blank, Overpowered made decades of peer-reviewed EMF research accessible to a general audience. The book draws on Dr. Blank’s career at Columbia and his contributions to the BioInitiative Report – an independent review of thousands of studies on the biological effects of electromagnetic fields.
I didn’t come to this work through marketing or business – I came to it through science and family.
My father, Dr. Martin Blank, earned his PhD in physical chemistry from Columbia University and spent over 30 years at Columbia’s Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics studying how electromagnetic fields affect living cells. His research demonstrated that even non-ionizing EMF – the kind from cell phones, WiFi, and power lines – triggers biological stress responses at the cellular level.
He contributed to the BioInitiative Report, co-editing sections that compiled findings from thousands of peer-reviewed studies. He published Overpowered in 2014 to bring that science to a wider audience. When he passed away in June 2018, I continued the work he started.
Growing up with his research gave me a perspective that most people in the technology industry don’t have. I understood both sides – I spent 20+ years building software and teaching engineering, and I understood the science showing that the technology we build has biological effects the industry prefers to downplay.
That’s why I started SYB. Not because I’m anti-technology – I spent my career building it. Because I believe we can enjoy the benefits of modern technology while taking simple, science-based steps to reduce our exposure.
Everything at SYB is grounded in verifiable science:
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R Blank is the founder and CEO of Shield Your Body (SYB), an EMF protection company he started in 2012. He holds a BA from Columbia University (with honors) and an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management. Before founding SYB, he spent over 20 years as a software engineer and taught at USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering. He is the author of Empowered and co-author of Overpowered with his father, Dr. Martin Blank of Columbia University.
R Blank’s qualifications span technology, business, and EMF science. He holds degrees from Columbia University and UCLA Anderson, taught engineering at USC, and spent two decades in software development. His EMF expertise comes from a lifetime of direct exposure to the research – his father, Dr. Martin Blank, was a leading Columbia University researcher who contributed to the BioInitiative Report and published extensively on the biological effects of electromagnetic radiation.
Dr. Martin Blank was R Blank’s father. Dr. Blank spent over 30 years at Columbia University’s Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics studying the biological effects of electromagnetic fields. He contributed to the BioInitiative Report and co-authored Overpowered with R Blank in 2014. After Dr. Blank passed away in 2018, R continued his father’s mission of making EMF science accessible through SYB’s products and educational resources.
R Blank combines formal education (Columbia, UCLA Anderson), technical expertise (20+ years in software engineering, USC faculty), and a deep background in EMF science through his father’s research at Columbia. He has authored two books on EMF, hosts a podcast interviewing scientists and health experts, and has built a company around translating peer-reviewed EMF research into practical protection. His approach emphasizes published science and lab-tested results over unverified claims.
