The Health, Medicine & Society Program of the Aspen Institute serves as an umbrella for numerous initiatives, including Aspen Ideas Health, the Aspen Health Strategy Group, the NeuroArts Blueprint, Science & Society, and AFFIRM, which together confront some of the most significant health challenges facing the U.S. in the 21st century.
Our rigorously nonpartisan work engages groups of thought leaders and decisionmakers, and spans a range of timely topics—from maternal mortality, the opioid epidemic, firearms injury, and the role of art in health to public health communication, health systems financing and innovation, health data privacy, misinformation, and much more. At the heart of most of our activities is a package of research, convenings, and publications that supports policymakers, scholars, advocates, and other stakeholders in their drive towards change. A public-facing component helps grow a constituency for innovative ideas.
We emphasize reasoned discussion, practical problem-solving, and analytical rigor, and honor disruptive thinking; seek intersections across disciplines; and go beyond the “usual suspects” in recruiting participants for our events so that diverse voices can be heard. Our goal is to nurture new connections, inspire thoughtful debate, and identify and advance action-oriented strategies to improve the nation’s health.
