HMS in the News
We need more research on guns. Here are 5 questions we can answer.
AFFIRM at the Aspen Institute
Megan Ranney, co-founder of AFFIRM at the Aspen Institute, identifies five research questions that could help lead to solutions for the gun epidemic in the United States, in this Washington Post op-ed.
Could Music Therapy Ease the World’s Dementia Crisis?
NeuroArts Blueprint
Susan Magsamen, codirector of the NeuroArts Blueprint initiative, which is spearheaded by the International Arts+Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University and HMS, is quoted in a Dana Foundation article exploring the therapeutic potential of music. The piece describes the NeuroArts Blueprint initiative and links to the project website.
HHS Secretaries: Looking Ahead, Looking Back
Aspen Ideas Health
An Aspen Ideas Health 2022 conversation with two former US Department of Health and Human Services Secretaries is highlighted in a Health Affairs blog. Alex Azar and Donna Shalala talk about their proudest achievements, the hardest decisions they had to make, how they oversee a $1.8 trillion budget, and the advice they have for their successors. Learn what it’s like to be in the hot seat every day, grappling with Medicaid expansion, disease outbreaks, health at the border, Congressional pressure, food safety, medical research priorities, and children’s wellbeing—sometimes all at once.
Reducing the Health Harms Of Incarceration: Five Big Ideas From the Aspen Health Strategy Group
Aspen Health Strategy Group
Aspen Health Strategy Group cochair Bill Frist calls for more attention to the poor health of the incarcerated population and the widespread harm it causes in an op-ed published in Forbes. Action steps to reduce the harm: repeal the Medicaid exclusion for this population, prioritize health in correctional systems, upgrade quality standards of carceral health, coordinate care within and outside carceral settings, and dramatically reduce the level and consequences of incarceration.
White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis
Aspen Health Strategy Group
The Aspen Health Strategy Group’s report, Reversing the U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis, is highlighted in the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis. Spearheaded by Vice President Kamala Harris, this call to action describes a series of investments and other commitments to support safe pregnancies and childbirth and to reduce post-partum complications.
Recent Releases
A Blueprint for Equitable AI
Science & Society
The Science & Society Program convened two diverse groups of cross-sector experts to discuss how they would advise building and distributing artificial intelligence for equitable outcomes, and summarized the discussions in a publicly available report, A Blueprint for Equitable AI.
In Favor of Pure Science
Science & Society
This Science & Society report, In Favor of Pure Science, assesses the current state of basic science around the world, creates a forum for discussion among scientific leaders, and provides guidance on how basic science can be supported and advanced internationally. It was developed in collaboration with Aspen Institute international partners in 13 countries.
Talking Health: A New Way to Communicate About Public Health
PHRASES
Public Health Reaching Across Sectors (PHRASES), an initiative jointly launched by the de Beaumont Foundation and HMS, informed and inspired Talking Health, published by Oxford University Press. Ruth Katz, HMS executive director, co-authored the introduction to the book, which builds on the recognition that public health needs to tell its story more effectively. Talking Health offers resources to help public health professionals better communicate about the role and value of their field and form stronger cross-sector partnerships.
Budgeting for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion: Improving the Federal Scorekeeping Process
Health, Medicine & Society
This report highlights consensus recommendations emerging from an HMS convening that brought together former Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Office of Management and Budget leaders. Their conclusion: Structural changes to current federal costing and scorekeeping practices could clarify the value of clinical and population-level programs that elevate health through prevention activities. Dan Crippen, former CBO director and former executive director of the National Governors Association, and Nancy-Ann DeParle, former director of White House Office of Health Reform during the Obama Administration, chaired the group.
One Health / One Planet: A Special Magazine on Climate Change and Infectious Diseases
Science & Society
One Health / One Planet is a digital collaboration between the Aspen Institute Science & Society Program, housed within HMS, and the science outlet Leaps.org. Published in May 2022, the magazine offers wide-ranging perspectives on climate change, infectious disease, and the intersection between the two.
Reducing the Health Harms of Incarceration
Aspen Health Strategy Group
This Aspen Health Strategy Group report offers five big ideas for tackling systemic issues at the intersection of incarceration and health. Action steps to reduce the harm: repeal the Medicaid exclusion for this population, prioritize health in correctional systems, upgrade quality standards of carceral health, coordinate care within and outside carceral settings, and dramatically reduce the level and consequences of incarceration. Background papers provide a fuller context for these ideas.
