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Dean Ranney Joins Other Public Health Thought Leaders at Aspen Ideas: Health Festival

July 08, 2024

The Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) had a strong showing at this year’s Aspen Ideas: Health festival, a three-day gathering of global thought leaders and innovators who engaged in captivating discussions about current health challenges and shared bold ideas for improving health in the future.

YSPH Dean Megan L. Ranney, MD, participated in three panel discussions during the June 20-23 event. One focused on adopting public health approaches to reduce firearm injuries and deaths. Another focused on the importance of health care and public health partnerships and a third focused on ways health communicators can overcome widespread disinformation.

Among those joining Ranney for different panel discussions were Gregory Jackson, deputy director of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention at the White House and special assistant to the president; Brendan Carr, CEO of the Mount Sinai Health System; Admiral Rachel Levine, MD, assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Margot Sanger-Katz, health care correspondent for The New York Times; and Bertha Coombs, senior health care reporter for CNBC.

Associate Professor Ijeoma Opara, director of The Substances and Sexual Health Lab (SASH) at Yale, attended as an Aspen Ideas: Health Fellow. Opara called the festival “a transformative experience” that reaffirmed her “passion for public health and the innovative work we're doing at Yale School of Public Health.”

Over 1,000 people attended the global event.

Dr. Harlan Krumholz, MD, professor of public health (health policy) at YSPH and the Harold J. Hines Professor of Cardiology at the Yale School of Medicine, also participated in a panel discussion at the festival. Krumholz discussed a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists that includes the popular obesity drug Semaglutide—distributed in the U.S. under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy—including how the drugs are used, and the racial disparities that currently exist in accessing them. Also participating in the discussion were Jennifer Ashton, chief health and medical correspondent for ABC News, and Amanda Velazquez, director of obesity medicine at the Center for Weight Management and Metabolic Health at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Yale and YSPH alumni were also represented at the festival. Indra Nooyi, MPMM ’80, an Amazon board member and former chair and CEO of PepsiCo, participated in a discussion entitled “What Makes a Great Leader?” on June 25 as part of the main Aspen Ideas festival that took place June 23-29. Nooyi was joined by Ford Foundation President Darren Walker; journalist Katie Couric; and Mitch Landrieu, national co-chair of the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign and a former mayor of New Orleans. Nooyi and her husband, Raj Nooyi, gifted YSPH $3 million in 2021 to establish the Raj and Indra Nooyi Professor of Public Health at Yale. Albert Ko, MD, a professor of epidemiology (microbial diseases) and of medicine (infectious diseases), is the first holder of the chair.

Also present in Colorado was YSPH alumna Blair Palmer, MPH ’01. Palmer, who works in UNICEF’s Office of Innovation, Partnerships, and Resource Mobilization, took part in a discussion sponsored by the Aspen Global Innovators Group. The discussion focused on the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and girls and celebrated the leadership and pathways girls and women like Palmer have created in response to the climate crisis.

"As an alumna participating in this year's Aspen Ideas Festival, I've been struck by how Dean Megan Ranney's visionary leadership at the School of Public Health has elevated critical conversations,” Palmer said. “Her ability to bridge academic insights with real-world challenges is instrumental in moving the needle on pressing public health issues, inspiring us all to think bigger and act bolder."

Complete recordings of the Aspen Ideas: Health panel discussions are provided below.

Taking Aim at Gun Violence Through Public Health

Lessening the anguish of firearms injury demands that we reach across ideological divides. No one—not gun owners or health systems, not parents or politicians of any party—considers it acceptable that more than 48,000 Americans died by firearms in 2021 and twice that many were injured. The science of public health tells us how to implement evidence-based strategies that will keep all of us—children, families, and communities—safe from firearms injury. Elevating prevention also widens the circle of players with both the responsibility and opportunity to act.

Video by The Aspen Institute

From Measles to Maternal Health: Strengthening Partnerships Between Healthcare and Public Health

The mission of healthcare is to meet the needs of individual patients while public health is driven by a commitment to the health of broad populations. For too long, the two fields have operated largely in parallel, with only weak ties to connect them. Although the COVID-19 pandemic illustrated the urgency of building bridges, we are now at risk of pandemic amnesia. It is time to meet the country’s most pressing health challenges—childhood infections, influenza, obesity, reproductive health, and the opioid epidemic, to name just a few—with a well-coordinated approach that draws on the strengths of both healthcare and public health. Breaking down silos can amplify a more efficient and equitable response that offers greater benefits for all. (Presented by the Common Health Coalition)

Healthy Communication: How Truth Can Overpower Disinformation

From the measles vaccine to the origins of COVID, the speed at which disinformation spreads and the harms it can do have become painfully familiar. Communicators are fighting back, leveraging the same digital tools as myth purveyors—podcasts, TikTok, X, and other social media channels—to share scientific information in new ways, engage diverse audiences, combat falsehoods, and promote trustworthy medical and public health advice. Taking advantage of the democratization of health information, trusted messengers are empowering people to act in their real interests so they can stay healthy.

Video by The Aspen Institute

GLP-1 Agonists: Wonder Drugs of the 21st Century?

The first drug in a class known as GLP-1 agonists was approved in 2005 to treat diabetes. GLP-1 drugs subsequently proved their mettle to treat obesity and prevent major cardiovascular events and will likely soon be available to treat sleep apnea as well. Looking ahead, their action on the brain is prompting research to gauge their value in curbing drug, alcohol, and nicotine cravings. But these seemingly miracle drugs are costly, not always covered by insurance, and generally need to be taken forever. How do they work, what else might they do, and how do we ensure they are accessible to those who need them most?

Video by The Aspen Institute

What Makes a Great Leader?

Life-or-death decisions, ethical dilemmas, turning organizations around and creating trust require wisdom and stamina from the top. Three consummate leaders with decades of experience in military, business and philanthropy reflect on the qualities needed to succeed.

Video by The Aspen Institute