2023 Schedule

More than 8% of US greenhouse gas emissions originate in the health sector. Recognizing the urgency of change, almost 1,000 hospitals, industry organizations, and trade associations have embraced the federal government’s voluntary Health Sector Climate Pledge, promising to cut their emissions in half by 2030. Practical, cost-effective actions with dramatic payoffs include designing green surgical...

No one is immune from the catastrophic storms, wildfires, heat waves, and drought that accompany climate change, but the risks are far greater for some populations than for others. Unstable housing, food insecurity, inadequate access to care, lack of tree canopy, and proximity to toxic emissions and other environmental hazards all intensify the health consequences. People of color, low-income popu...

Scientists and policymakers all agree that another pandemic is inevitable—and that we are still not prepared. Whether it is a COVID mutation, a bird flu, or something entirely unforeseen, the extent of the dangers we will face depends on public health, clinical capacity, the lethality of a new virus, and the ease of its transmission. Early warning systems and an equitable supply chain can reduce t...

Environmental stewardship has become as much a watchword in the business sector as it has among activists and advocates. When corporate executives start talking about the importance of ecosystems, regenerative agriculture, and responsible product sourcing, and NGOs promote innovative financing mechanisms that forgive national debt in exchange for funding conservation activities, a shared sense of...

When it comes to biomedical research, Earth’s gravity can be an obstacle, making it harder to program stem cells into viable organs, obscuring the crystalline structure of proteins, and interfering with cellular communication channels. The possibility of using space to advance science is no longer an exercise in imagination as biotech start-ups begin sending experiments into orbit. The costs are h...

Start with the right seed, and you can grow healthy, delicious food while protecting the environment and safeguarding nutrient-rich soil. But today, just four industries control 50% of the global seed market, and that concentrated control results in a dramatic loss of quality, taste, and nutrition. Recognizing that the future of food rests with the nature of the seeds, chef Dan Barber is spearhead...