Explore
Search results
Sixty percent of American adults, and 75 percent of children, have been infected with SARS-CoV2. Coupled with immunity-boosting vaccines and medical progress, rates of severe disease, hospitalization, and death are all falling dramatically. Can we declare victory and move on? Or do the threats still facing vulnerable populations require continued precautions? The prospect...
As new public health threats brew, we need to ensure there is capacity within our health systems to serve the people of this country. There is a strong business case for readiness, but it requires a paradigm shift in how we think about the intersection of routine care, unscheduled care, and the health of the populations we serve.
For decades, public health experts warned of a coming pandemic and developed recommendations to prepare—yet when it arrived, the response was a catastrophic failure. With better surveillance, perhaps we could have slowed the worldwide spread of the virus. Had the threat become less politically charged, a consensus-driven strategy might have slowed it down. Certainly, stron...
Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare industry had to quickly adapt to confront the rapidly evolving challenges facing its patients, customers, and employees. Learn how three key decisions enabled Merck & Co. to accelerate innovation in 2020 and why these lessons will be critical to future success in addressing the most pressing healthcare challenges.
Before Covid-19 began spreading across the globe last year, virologist Nathan Wolfe already knew what was becoming abundantly clear: The world was woefully unprepared to prevent the spread of novel viral threats. To prevent similar devastation, he challenges people to imagine a different future where viruses are regularly tracked in groups of individuals—providing a sort o...
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the world to grapple with a long-standing truth: that poor diversity in early and late stage medical research remains a major threat to health equity. Overcoming barriers and challenges to fair representation in research and development will not happen overnight, nor can it be achieved by a single institution. In order to pioneer lasting and su...
As the COVID-19 virus began to burn across the globe last year, virologist Nathan Wolfe had been studying how viruses cross over from wild animals to humans. He was also among the scientists and public health experts sadly prescient about something that is now abundantly clear: The world is woefully unprepared to prevent the spread of novel viral threats. In this conversat...
Polio is likely to be wiped off the planet in the next two years, a huge triumph for global health. Seventy-four cases of polio were reported in 2015, in contrast to 350,000 when eradication efforts began in 1988. Although polio remains endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, there is now a push towards the finish line, with creative strategies in place to attract religious l...
Building on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, there are significant opportunities to expand the use of rapid testing to address many health challenges around the world- from infectious diseases like malaria and HIV to non-infectious health needs like prenatal care. Learn how Abbott is intentionally approaching product development to democratize, decentralize and...
The decline in trust of scientific institutions over the course of the pandemic is manifested in the number of Americans worried about the truth of scientific progress and the abilities of scientific leaders to be objective and credible. How do we rebuild trust?
From blockchain to back to school and virus-hunting to bridging divides, speakers at the 2021 Aspen Ideas Festival addressed issues in a new kind of world—one touched, and changed, by the pandemic. Our speakers looked to the future and discussed the biggest, boldest ideas. Here's a sampling of the some of the Festival's conversations.
On November 9, 2020, as coronavirus cases surge, President-elect Joe Biden named a COVID-19 Advisory Council. Aspen Ideas has been honored to host several of the council members over the years. While only a few of the talks listed here are about the pandemic, each gives a window into the speakers and their expertise in public health. Congratulations to Ezekiel Emanuel, Atu...
As scientists work to develop a vaccine to battle the coronavirus pandemic, many people question whether the process has been rushed and if the results will be effective and safe. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is responsible for approving new vaccines in this country. FDA commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn and former FDA commissioner Dr. Peggy Hamburg say the agency use...
Best known to the public as the Trump Administration’s White House Coronavirus Task Force coordinator, physician Deborah Birx is a clinical immunologist who has also served as US Global AIDS coordinator and a colonel in the US Army. Challenged to speak the truth about COVID-19, she balanced candor and political pragmatism to get out accurate information. Her new book, Sile...
Journalist Thomas Friedman says countries around the world are undergoing a stress test thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
Aromas can trigger memories more forcefully than any other sense. The ability to smell allows us to enjoy nature’s riches, protects us from food gone bad, warns of gas leaks, and provides the perfume of intimacy. It is also the primary communication tool that animals use in the wild. Yet the superpower of smell has historically been under appreciated, the sense people gene...
Aspen Ideas: Health is where the arts meet health. Ahead of the 10th annual event this summer, we're looking back at some of the innovative artists, musicians, actors, filmmakers, playwrights, and dancers who have shared their creative expressions of the mind, body, and spirit on our stages. Explore how the arts help expand our understanding of health and well-being.
Since 2014, Aspen Ideas: Health has welcomed over 700 inspiring women leaders to our stages to share their bold approaches to better health. In honor of Women's History Month, we're taking a look back at some of the many highlights. From medical researchers and clinicians to entrepreneurs and activists, meet 12 change makers who are breaking barriers to reimagine a healthi...