2024 Schedule

Visit the Ideas Pavilion to pick up your Aspen Ideas: Health Pass before Opening Session. If you arrive early, check out these activities on campus: Wellness Lounge in the Marble Garden, Puppy Playdates in the Paepcke Lawn, and Community Mural Project with Artist Brandon Hill in the Marble Garden. Or visit Underwriter activations: Johnson & Johnson Community Lounge in the Grove, Mount Sinai...

What health issues will play a role at the ballot box this election season? And will they influence voter turnout? As 2024 campaigns heat up, pollsters want to know what most concerns voters and whether those concerns will translate into political engagement, especially in battleground states. They’ll be polling key voting groups, including women, about their priorities and asking how healthcare a...

Join us to kickoff Aspen Ideas: Health 2023 with welcome remarks from Aspen Institute leaders, 10 Big Ideas from Aspen Ideas: Health speakers, and a special performance from the cast of the Broadway Show "How to Dance in Ohio."

Immediately following the Opening Session, head to the Doerr-Hosier Center to meet your fellow attendees and enjoy drinks and hors d'oeuvres.

In a live podcast recording, health policy journalists talk about hot-button health issues and what they mean for the upcoming election. From the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion, and prescription drug prices to reproductive rights, gender-affirming care, and veterans’ health, some issues are particularly resonant in local elections, others could have implications for presidential and congr...

Join a local naturalist and bird expert for a one-hour bird watching walk along the banks of the Roaring Fork River. Learn about the important role birds play in nature and in our lives, from architectural design to pollination, to how birds are indicators of ecosystem health. Meet at the Aspen Meadows, Walter Isaacson Center. First come, first served. Limited to 20 participants.

The beauty and wonder of nature and trees can produce mental, emotional, and physical health benefits. Guided forest bathing, or forest therapy, is said to lower blood pressure, pulse rate, and cortisol levels; improve mood; and may even boost our immunity. Join us for morning walks along the Rio Grande River Trail to experience the benefits of this healing practice for yourself and to learn the h...

[Buses load at 7:30 AM at the Limelight Hotel and the Aspen Meadows, Walter Isaacson Center. Boxed breakfast included.] Follow local naturalists on a gentle walk along the pristine lake beneath the famous peaks of the Maroon Bells. Learn about the plants and animals that call this area home and the secrets to their success in the wilderness. First come, first served. Limited to 50 participants....

Center yourself with an outdoor yoga practice in Anderson Park. Certified yoga instructors will lead you through a series of stretches and breathing exercises to mindfully connect you to the moment. All levels welcome. Yoga mats will be provided.

Light breakfast is provided in the Paepcke Tent and in the Doerr-Hosier Center.

Some say we are going over a caregiving cliff—too much demand for too few workers and too little respect for the uncompensated labor of family members. Caregivers don’t have the recognition, rights, or compensation they deserve and families can’t find, provide, or afford help for their youngest, oldest, and sickest members. The invisible and indispensable nature of caregiving came into sharp focus...

Barely a dozen years ago, Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues published a paper in Science about CRISPR, the pioneering gene-editing technique that thrilled the scientific community. In 2020, the discovery earned her a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. CRISPR is now a mainstream area of study, with researchers looking at its use not only to advance medicine but also to improve animal health, develop droug...

Lessening the anguish of firearms injury demands that we reach across ideological divides. No one—not gun owners or health systems, not parents or politicians of any party—considers it acceptable that more than 48,000 Americans died by firearms in 2021 and twice that many were injured. The science of public health tells us how to implement evidence-based strategies that will keep all of us—childre...

Despite great differences in demographics, available resources, disease threats, and the structure of their health systems, all countries need responsive, equitable, and innovative policies to meet population needs. Leaders of national health agencies across the globe come together for a wide-ranging conversation that spotlights their unique and shared challenges and pioneering approaches to refor...

World-renowned cellist Joshua Roman blends performance and storytelling to share his experience with long COVID and the life-altering limitations that nearly ended his career. After a crisis of struggle and self-doubt, Roman emerged with a profound acceptance of who he is, and a deeper understanding of what it takes to deal with a mysterious medical challenge. An intimate musical journey, his Immu...

In less-developed countries, parasitic roundworms can colonize the gut and cause significant intestinal problems. But autoimmune diseases, the devastating package of disorders in which the body’s immune system attacks healthy cells, are rare in those places. By contrast, in the United States, where roundworm infections are no longer part of the ecosystem, as many as 50 million people suffer with a...

Traditional views of healthcare have built the environment we live in—and reinforced systemic inequities and poor health outcomes. Is our own thinking limiting our ability to truly transform community-level conditions that catalyze well-being? What cross-sector investments and strategies are required to rebuild communities through shifting power, voice and interest for community-led systemic solut...

Mental health crises are plaguing Americans. Despite parity mandates that require mental health services to be reimbursed like any other medical service, clinician shortages, knowledge gaps, inequitable access to services, lack of culturally appropriate treatment models, and stigma combine to undermine effective care. To address the growing crisis, we need more research and a package of supports a...

Immerse yourself in ancient instrumental sounds to find deep relaxation and mindfulness. The symphony of sound vibrations will assist in releasing tension, restoring balance, and reconnecting with your inner tranquility.

History was made this year when the first FDA-approved CRISPR-based gene editing therapy became available to patients, designed to cure sickle cell anemia. That represents ground-breaking progress, but the treatment involves a months-long ordeal with often-brutal side effects and it is hugely expensive. With dozens of CRISPR therapeutics in the second phase of human trials, hopes run high that...