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![The Global Vaccine Race: A Conversation with Bill Gates](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null39028c82-85f6-4b2f-9c33-9f2ae7ccf48b/speakers-june301.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=416%2C0%2C1718%2C1718&w=290)
Since its founding, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed billions of dollars to the search for and distribution of vaccines across the globe. Its knowledge, network, and resources are now being tapped amid the accelerated search for treatments for COVID-19. Gates joins Stephanie Mehta, editor in chief of Fast Company, and shares his expectations for a vaccine...
![A Troubling Prognosis: Race Disparities and Health Outcomes](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/48059c7c-4e10-4d46-9ee2-01bc80519949/35419958671_e69456a3dc_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1000%2C0%2C4016%2C4016&w=290)
By every measure — including life expectancy, infant mortality, and rates of heart disease and cancer — people of color fare worse than white people, even after controlling for education and income. Social policies that foster segregation, discriminatory employment and housing practices, and inequities in the criminal justice system can all have dire health consequences. E...
![Countering Racial Bias with Empathy](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/9b5f56e6-0e79-4ec5-bf33-e25583520a2c/52171897596_e01db36af9_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1012%2C0%2C4024%2C4024&w=290)
No doctor awakens in the morning determined to discriminate against patients of color, yet their daily clinical decisions too often have that result. Implicit bias—unconscious assumptions and stereotypes—often cause the harm. The failure to ask the right questions, listen closely and reserve judgment can sabotage communication in any patient/physician encounter, but it wor...
![How To Dismantle Structural Racism in Health?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/26db16fe-9f06-4ff3-88be-c9edd1717752/53806498237_abd97894b4_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=775%2C0%2C3101%2C3101&w=290)
Structural racism, reflected in uneven access to care, inequitable community conditions, and the wealth gap, drives persisting racial disparities in health. Unconscionable differences in life expectancy and the incidence of numerous diseases are the result. The systems and structures at the root of these inequities were created intentionally and need to be dismantled just...
![A 'Stubborn Optimist' in the Face of Climate Change](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/987aa4f9-ac3e-4898-bd3d-30e5b79ba9f1/29151323668_b3917b5549_o3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=714%2C0%2C1837%2C1837&w=290)
As secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres led the global adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. But she was not always so hopeful, and recalls a turning point as she consciously shifted her attitude from despair to stubborn optimism. Jeff Goodell, author of The Water Will Come sits down with Figueres to reve...
![Clearing the Air: Living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/a597681f-1fad-4f2d-ab86-6da0c79ffd60/41158587770_a5005df67b_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1376%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is the third leading killer in the US, yet it rarely commands the attention paid to #1 heart disease and #2 cancer. As both advocate and patient, Grace Anne Dorney-Koppel is fighting to change that. After being given less than five years to live in 2001, Grace Anne embarked on an ambitious rehab program, and now helps fund pulm...
![The Science of Endurance and Superhuman Feats](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null6c21ca21-a805-4bae-80f8-ec232326ab0b/48133341997_dee7ab4b1c_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1247%2C0%2C4988%2C4988&w=290)
The ability to endure is the essential trait in every extreme athletic endeavor. Hundred-mile races, Himalayan Mountain expeditions, and cross-continental treks all require humans to push harder and achieve more than we ever thought possible. How important is the delicate interplay between mind and body in the struggle to keep pushing despite an agonizing will to stop? Wha...
A bone marrow transplant was Maggie Lake’s only hope of surviving lymphoma, and her sister, Elizabeth Lesser, was the perfect match. But Elizabeth’s decision to become a donor meant not only agreeing to a painful procedure, but also to exploring with Maggie their mind/body connection as they raced against the clock to clean up their relationship and strengthen their bond....
![The Best Pandemic Big Ideas in Health Care](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/bf63fd2a-3735-4fbc-9bbb-8b40c265fb2f/AdobeStock_143181795.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1077%2C0%2C2623%2C2623&w=290)
The pandemic revealed significant weak points in the health care safety net and compelled practitioners, executives, and policymakers to acknowledge deep inequities they failed to in the past. Since then, countless initiatives have been introduced, or expanded, to rebuild a system with inclusion at its core. So, what’s working? From telehealth counseling to mobile clinics,...
![Report Card: How Do Colleges Score on Student Health Needs?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d21c4108-9f72-4a20-8df6-fa01074789c4/42068584495_4f04f82453_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1376%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
College presents opportunities for students to test their wings, explore new relationships, pursue their personal best, and develop an enduring passion for learning. Often the first opportunity for real independence, the college years can also pose serious health risks — among them, mental health issues, binge drinking, sexually transmitted diseases, date rape, infections,...
![Birthing Justice: The Maternal Mortality Crisis](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/dbfb6de8-66c3-4212-bf09-d7f8d6f1779d/52997119939_7a2b73577f_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1808%2C0%2C4640%2C4640&w=290)
If Black women bear the heaviest burdens of the maternal mortality crisis—they are 2.6 times more likely to die during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth—they are also the most determined to address it. Moving beyond grief and rage, their leadership is prioritizing culturally sensitive care, respect for best practices, and greater use of community-based models and licen...
![What the Health: Election 2024 (live podcast recording)](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/56c6f4af-4eac-4eca-baa7-0bc971fb7c8f/53805577321_4b63018d06_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=642%2C274%2C2618%2C2618&w=290)
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 f...
![Selma Blair: From Hollywood Ingenue to ‘Mean Baby’ Memoirist](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/18535b16-f392-4fdc-8ab3-a88748e720ae/52186051830_a023c644ac_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1039%2C0%2C3379%2C3379&w=290)
You likely remember Selma Blair as the ingenue in Cruel Intentions or the preppy ice queen in Legally Blonde, but her most important role to date might be as a disability advocate. Outspoken about her own diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, she shares her raw and intimate story by way of her New York Times best-selling memoir, Mean Baby. Join her for a rare on-stage conversat...
![Is Full Fat Back?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullc1241a27-1e19-46b7-800c-213b0d2a4a7f/27286745684_68ddeaf578_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=0%2C266%2C1068%2C1068&w=290)
Skim milk is out, full-fat dairy products are in. Recent research has turned conventional wisdom on its head with the finding that people who consume the highest levels of fat from dairy products have a lower risk of diabetes. Other studies have found that eating high-fat dairy reduces the odds of becoming obese, and may offer protection against cardiovascular disease. All...
![The Fate of Food: What We'll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter World](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nulla7d6bd81-2777-4cf6-ab2d-84ec66969200/48153163757_5ce299668b_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=798%2C0%2C2403%2C2403&w=290)
With crop production increasingly threatened by unpredictable weather and a world population expected to grow 30 percent by midcentury, how are we going to feed everyone? The race to reinvent the global food system is on, and solutions you’ve probably never heard of are already in play. One company is tackling problems around industrial agriculture by growing cell-based me...
![Deep Dive: Genetics and Genomics, Today and Tomorrow](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/bfa10e83-f125-4433-b201-d481dd31d659/42250235554_1b8b09d11a_o1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1376%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
The sequencing of the human genome – a complete map of the body’s three million base pairs – opened a window into disease processes, led to new diagnostic tools and personalized therapies, and heralded an age of medical discovery. A brief documentary produced by Retro Report describes the historic race to unlock the genomic code, the birth of precision medicine, the use of...
![Clinical Trials Thrive on Speed and Diversity](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c829f2c9-c5ab-4e97-9d35-f4a60da4e501/52997124369_67e6aaac63_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1376%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
Although essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of new drugs and devices, clinical trials tend to be costly and slow to reach conclusions, and there is often an imbalance in the race, gender, and age of participants. Efforts to reinvigorate the research ecosystem aim to broaden access to trials, increase their diversity, and make it more efficient to capture pro...
![Reimagining Elder Care in the United States](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/22ecfc3a-8bf9-45d4-9588-af553cb30585/42983890341_c6792577b0_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1376%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
The US is aging – between 2012 and 2050, the number of adults over age 60 will jump from 43 to 84 million, representing about 20 percent of the population. Meanwhile, smaller and more scattered families will mean greater numbers of people growing old alone. Fostering the social connections and cross-generational interactions that are so essential to healthy aging has becom...
![Taking on Autoimmune Diseases—with Worms!](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/dfc94a20-9491-4766-aec0-4bdc74ef6de1/53806714423_d9c12b256c_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1004%2C0%2C3628%2C3628&w=290)
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 mil...
![Fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Conversation with Anthony Fauci](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullcf8d2715-a7b1-4875-a75d-efca558abb10/byrne-abrams-fauci2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=416%2C0%2C1718%2C1718&w=290)
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, joins CNN Senior Medical Correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, to discuss the current state of the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent surge in cases as the US reopens. Fauci talks about the US response to the pandemic, including missed opportunit...