This is a golden age for biomedical research, with novel technologies and groundbreaking science revealing new pathways to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure disease. Yet too many patients still lack lifesaving therapies. Last year, the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce launched the bipartisan 21st Century Cures initiative to consider opportunities to transform biopharmaceutical research and development. Now under review in Congress, the 21st Century Cures Act, proposes new ways to...

The inaugural Aspen Ideas Award, developed with Booz Allen Hamilton, will recognize Spotlight Health Presenters and Scholars with innovative ideas that are changing and impacting communities around the world. Five award finalists will pitch their ideas to a panel of judges in front of a live Spotlight Health audience. During the pitch session, the Spotlight audience will have the opportunity to vote. One winning finalist from the Spotlight Health section will be awarded $25,000 to bring their...

Featured scholar: Rubayat Khan. // Crowdsourcing, mobile apps, even robotics have become familiar, but their novel uses in healthcare keep multiplying. Inventors, entrepreneurs, and strategic thinkers are developing interactive products that offer instant diagnostics, link patients in remote locations to distant clinical care, and partnering robots with surgeons in the operating room. They are also looking for ways to scale these breakthroughs for use in low-resource environments. How is...

With the critically necessary focus of integration of primary care and vertical integration of healthcare in America, the delivery of complex care has received less attention. This puts the centers of excellence at risk for regression to the mean. What is required of government, private payors, consumers and the healthcare sector as a whole to mitigate against the risk of regression to the mean? How can centers of excellence thrive in the new environment? (Content produced by Mayo Clinic.)

Featured scholars: Jamila Abass, Karan Chopra, Rubayat Khan, and Misan Rewane // Innovations and new ideas often come from individuals determined to be bold in the face of wicked problems, not necessarily from the biggest stakeholders at the table. Social entrepreneurs around the world are making major contributions to health and development as they invent solutions to what once seemed like insurmountable challenges. How can mobile technology feed whole communities and provide access to...

The incredible technological and scientific advances of the last few decades have paradoxically come with growing patient and physician dissatisfaction. Technical expertise is often essential to save lives, but so are effective communication and trusting partnerships. How do we balance wisdom with knowledge? And care with caring? Join distinguished physician and professor Abraham Verghese in an Aspen Lecture that looks back at the past and forward to envision the future we want.

From digital medicine to the next generation of human-centered designs for health, donors and investors are asking big questions and placing big bets on the future. Working at the intersection of money and meaning, and unafraid of risk, they are targeting seed funding at digital health, looking for low-cost technology that can easily reach rural populations, and much more. What’s the best health-related idea to invest in now? What holds the biggest promise of large-scale payoff?

Featured scholar: Maureen Towey. // Art can be a tool to promote healing, a way to express pain, fear, grief, and hope, and a method of sharing information and educating people about healthy behavior. It is a gift available to the very young and the very old, to those who will recover from what ails them, and those who will not, to the farmer, the merchant, and the executive alike. Whatever the medium — theatre or music, crafts or storytelling, photography or sculpture — art helps us send...

With the Supreme Court’s ruling that the federal government can continue to provide health insurance subsidies, the Affordable Care Act, as President Obama said in reaction to the ruling, “is here to stay.” Five Washington insiders, including Democrats who drafted the bill and guided it into law, and a Republican who urged state governors to set up insurance exchanges, will talk about how we reached this moment. How did the law pass and survive in the face of fierce opposition? How will it...

During the Ebola crisis, strong grassroots relationships and homegrown leadership made the difference between life and death. Drawing on that learning, movers and shakers from the Aspen New Voices Fellowship will share their stories about the silo-busting connections that can be forged under stress. From Sierra Leone to Nepal, these kinds of bonds keep our most vulnerable communities healthier and safer in perilous times. UNDERWRITTEN BY THE BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION

A healthy society is about more than just preventing injuries and reducing the death toll from disease. It is also about having access to safe neighborhoods and affordable housing, broadening job opportunities and reducing income inequality, designing walkable towns and fostering community cohesion. It takes multiple interventions and cross-sector partnerships to do all of that, and data to determine what is working. Analytic tools and strategies from other disciplines offer some guidance for...

With the smartphone revolution comes an increasingly powerful new set of tools to reduce our use of doctors, cut costs, speed up the pace of care, and empower patients. Soon, we will be wearing attachments to diagnose ear infections or track heart rhythms and using apps to monitor our mental health. Digital avatars won’t replace physicians, but the relationship will be radically altered. We’ll be able to do routine diagnoses and monitoring (lab tests, physical exams, sensors, and some...