Events

On Wednesday, June 11, HMS hosted David A. Kessler, former Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration and co-leader of Operation Warp Speed, for a conversation about his New York Times bestseller, Diet, Drugs, and Dopamine: The New Science of Achieving a Healthy Weight, exploring his groundbreaking insights into what shapes our relationship with food and how to navigate it for better health. He will be interviewed by Vivek Murthy, former US Surgeon General. Click on the image to watch the video recording!

On February 10, 2025, the Health, Medicine & Society Program, in partnership with Aspen Institute Kyiv, hosted a special screening of the 2025 Academy Award-nominated documentary, Porcelain War. The docufilm closely follows two artists-turned-soldiers as they craft beautiful porcelain masterpieces while fighting for their homeland’s freedom, demonstrating the powerful impact of the arts on health and well-being, including emotional resilience. As an art form itself, the film also inspires emotional resilience to all those who watch and cheer on the unyielding strength of the Ukrainian people.

Ahead of the film, the audience heard from Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States, Oksana Markarova. Following the screening, Slava Leontyev, Porcelain War film director and participant, was interviewed and entertained questions from the audience on the transformative power of art and its role in wartime. Porcelain War is playing in select theatres. Please visit https://www.porcelainwar.com/tickets to find local participating theatres.

Photo by Shannon Finney

March 10-11, 2025: The Aspen Institute Science & Society Program, in collaboration with the MIT Press, is pleased to invite you to Building Trust in Science for a More Informed Future. Learn more about this FREE one-day conference by clicking on the logo!

This unique half-day program explored the burgeoning field of women’s health – where we have been, where we need to go, the policies that will help get us there, and what the American public thinks about it all.

Across sectors, Discover Discovery aims to elevate the voices of scientists and those in science-adjacent careers including academia, industry, media, government, healthcare, finance, nonprofit, public health, and more. Many existing efforts in science storytelling concern specific discoveries of new scientific knowledge. This project is supported by Johnson & Johnson.