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Hear Saketh Guntupalli talk about his new book, Sex and Cancer: Intimacy, Romance and Love After Diagnosis and Treatment. The seeds of this work were planted at Spotlight Health two years ago, when Guntupalli participated in a conversation about flibanserin, then a newly approved drug nicknamed “Viagra for women.” A gynecologic oncologist, Guntupalli realized the drug migh...
Declining cancer death rates, promising research, and innovative technology suggest the tide may be turning in the long war against cancer. Clinical trials using CRISPR technology to modify immune system cells are increasing, cancer vaccines are the next frontier for immunotherapy, and blood tests capable of detecting early signals of multiple types of cancer appear promis...
Cancer is on the rise in Africa, with the World Health Organization predicting that by 2020, it will take the lives of one million people a year across the continent. The most common forms of the disease in Africa -- breast, cervical and prostate cancers -- are also the most treatable, but drugs have been in scarce supply, and the price of treatment remains a huge obstacle...
Whether the headlines describe a “cancer moonshot” or a “war on cancer,” they capture a yearning and determination to eliminate the scourge of malignancy. Artificial intelligence, huge genomic data sets, and expanded access to clinical trials are pushing forward knowledge about the package of diseases we call cancer. As the treatment arsenal expands, it highlights both the...
In 2021—five decades after President Richard Nixon declared a War on Cancer—some 1.9 million new cancer cases were diagnosed and the scourge killed more than 600,000 Americans. Yet we have made extraordinary progress on the battlefront in the same time frame. Childhood leukemia can often be cured, death rates for colorectal, cervical, and prostate cancer have fallen by hal...
It’s no secret that chemotherapy is a brutal and all-too-often unsuccessful way to treat cancer, one that harms healthy cells even as it tries to ferret out malignant ones. The search for alternatives is leading researchers deep into the human immune system, seeking ways to exploit the body’s extraordinary drive to heal. They are going to the frontlines of science to under...
When Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation giving birth to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 1937, he brought a decade of political wrangling to a close and created the world's foremost cancer research and training infrastructure. Eighty years later, with an annual budget of some $5 billion, NCI remains at the forefront of investigations into cancer biology and cli...
In a time of historically low trust in leaders and institutions, how can leaders build trust across lines of difference, depolarize solutions, and not live in fear of cancel culture? What does it look like to lead effectively today and increase the health and economic well-being of communities, families, and children?
Memphis Jookin’ dancer and 2014 Harman-Eisner Artist in Residence Charles “Lil Buck” Riley and ballet dancer and director Damian Woetzel in a conversation of words and movement. Join these collaborators, arts advocates, educators, and friends as they talk shop about being an artist in the 21st century. With musical guests including Robert McDuffie and Arthur Bloom.
How do you become someone people want to say “yes” to? Hint: You don’t have to be pushy to be influential. But confidence in who you are is key. In this workshop, Professor Zoe Chance, who teaches the most popular class at the Yale School of Management, will illuminate the skills and strategies necessary to improve your natural ability to persuade. Our perceptions about in...
The Poetry Jam Session brings together some of the nation’s leading young poets for a spirited 80-minutes of cross-disciplinary performance, collaboration, and discussion. Lyrical and musical acrobatics will introduce ideas and issues central to this year’s arts track, bringing poetic life to the intersection of art and justice. This session is led by dancer turned directo...
Illness and death are universal challenges, but not something we anticipate in our 30s. Kate Bowler and Lucy Kalanithi understand that any of us can confront these harsh realities at any time. Bowler was 35 when she was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. She tried to make sense of it in Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved. Kalanithi, an internal m...
Although death is every bit as much a part of life as birth, we pretend it isn’t there. Perhaps it’s time that changed. The soon-to-be released HBO documentary Alternate Endings: Six New Ways to Die in America, tackles this final taboo. Join the filmmakers for a sneak peek and a frank discussion about end of life options. How might we design more meaningful deaths?
For Kate Levin of Bloomberg Philanthropies, Mayor Melvin Carter of St. Paul Minnesota, and Karen Brunwasser of FeelBeit (a community center that bridges divides between East and West Jerusalem), the arts aren’t just a supplement to life — they are a crucial balm to social division. Find out how institutions can harness the power of the arts to strengthen communities in th...
Advances, limitations, and potential at the cutting-edge of cancer care.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms joins CNN political commentator Angela Rye for a candid conversation about her most challenging months as mayor of Atlanta — an epicenter for the multiple crises we’re seeing across the country in 2020. Bottoms opens up about authenticity and exhaustion, identity and the American experience, and the leadership lessons she’s learned from Covid-19....
Humans are tribal. But in America today, the allure of tribalism takes us down one treacherous path after another. American political elites have ignored the group identities that matter most to ordinary Americans. Identity politics have seized both the left and right in an especially dangerous, racially inflected way to the point that every group now feels threatened. To...
Are you woke? The Afternoon Jam Session brings together some of the nation’s leading young poets, Jookin’ innovator Lil Buck, writer/activist Yosimar Reyes, and more special guests for a spirited hour of cross-disciplinary performance, collaboration, and discussion. Lyrical, musical, and physical acrobatics will introduce ideas and issues central to this year’s Aspen Ideas...
In some communities, the laundromat has become a place to get a mammogram, a blood test, or a skin cancer screening. Mental health counseling is being offered at churches, health insurance sign-ups are taking place in libraries and parks, and barbers are raising awareness of hypertension and the risk of colorectal cancer as they snip and shave. When the doctor’s office is...
Music exists in every human culture and drives a multibillion-dollar industry, and yet the vast majority of people who enjoy music do instinctively, without any formal training. So where does music come from, and what is is good for? Drawing from studies in neuroscience, psychology, clinical science, and data science, Dr. Psyche Loui will discuss why we feel emotions in re...