2024 Schedule

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...

Today's young people (Gen Z) are the most diverse generation yet, have grown up as digital natives, and report poorer mental health outcomes than previous generations. Venture capitalists and philanthropies have the opportunity to help fuel innovation and growth and usher in a new era of effective, inclusive, and affordable behavioral health care.

Laura Kelly sits down to discuss health policy and practice in the state of Kansas. Kelly, a Democrat, heads the traditionally red state of Kansas, where government is divided. She'll discuss challenges—from fiscal pressures, Medicaid cost-sharing, and the need to bolster public health, to the threat of future pandemics and delicate decisions about reproductive health and gender-affirming care. In...

Extreme heat waves, storms, and wildfires; disease outbreaks, water shortages, and crop loss; tick-borne illnesses and asthma—these are just some visible signs of a changing climate. Few physicians have been trained to recognize the potent health consequences—allergies that are no longer just seasonal, athletes suddenly finding it hard to breathe, patients who can’t get needed care when travel bec...

Contemporary American society is deeply age segregated. Youth spend most of their time in school or with peers and older people head to senior centers and retirement communities. Yet a yearning for connections is palpable across the age spectrum and innovators are responding with models that bring the generations together in their homes, schools, workplaces, and communities. Success stories includ...

Human beings sometimes forget they are animals themselves. The biological and emotional patterns of other mammals—seen in cancer among golden retrievers, high blood pressure in pregnant giraffes, the social behavior of insects, and connections among elephants that safeguard against loneliness—have much to teach us about our own health. The emerging field of zoobiquity, which joins evolutionary bio...

Artificial intelligence is generating enormous excitement for its potential to predict health risks, speed diagnoses, and guide medical decision making. At the same time, the algorithms that make AI so powerful carry an inherent danger of bias, as some models are known to return lower accuracy results on risk assessment or even exclude certain populations from clinical studies. Lack of diversity i...

From early childhood to advanced age, we all need some fun. Society hints that there is something childish, even self-indulgent, about playing, but it’s quite the opposite: play helps us handle our adult responsibilities better. Taking time for fun can strengthen relationships, refresh cognitive capacity, bolster creativity, and invigorate daily life. Whether you carve out time for art, sports, da...