Acclaimed singer Renée Fleming discusses the curated collection of essays in Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness about the powerful impacts of music and the arts on health and the human experience. Moderated by Eric Motley, Deputy Director, National Gallery of Art

Public Health Grand Rounds at the Aspen Institute presents Dr. Mandy Cohen, Director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as she maps out her vision for the future of the CDC and how she plans to integrate and build best practices.

Join Public Health Grand Rounds at the Aspen Institute for a book talk on Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us, with authors Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross and moderated by Eric Motley, Deputy Director of the National Gallery of Art. Your Brain on Art shares the new science behind humanity’s evolutionary birthright — to make and behold art and its power to transform our lives. What artists have always known, and researchers are now proving is that arts, in all its forms, amplify physical and mental health, learning and flourishing and build stronger communities.

Debra Houry, director of CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, and Christine Moutier, chief medical officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, explore the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of the US population, describe critical steps for mitigating suicide risk, and present newly released data from the CDC on suicide. Rebecca Ruiz, senior features writer with Mashable, moderates the conversation.

In a remarkably prescient event, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Ron Klain, former White House Ebola response coordinator, and Nancy Messonnier, then director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, discuss the potential of a novel coronavirus to become a pandemic. At the time, SARS-CoV2 had killed 400 people. The questions they confront: How bad will it get, how dangerous is it, and are we prepared?

A lunchtime performance and discussion with Benjamin Lerner, musical prodigy, piano-rap artist and opioid addiction survivor. The great-grandson of Irving Berlin (composer of “God Bless America”), Lerner credits his continued recovery to his ability to express his emotions through word and song. His novel hybrid genre of music combines piano compositions rooted in classical music theory with rap that journals his experience with addiction. By sharing his personal journey, Lerner hopes to others who are also struggling.

Navigating the Maze: How Science and Technology Policies Shape America and the World offers a captivating deep dive into the inner workings of the world of public policy. With interest in science communication and STEM policy growing rapidly, the book, written by science advocate and renowned physics researcher and educator, Michael S. Lubell, offers invaluable insights into public policy and lessons for effective science advocacy.

Brian G. Southwell, director of the Science in the Public Sphere Program at RTI International, talks about the newly published book Misinformation and Mass Audiences, the first comprehensive social science volume to explore the prevalence and consequences of misinformation and consider remedies.

This HMS book talk features Bruce C. Wolpe and Bryan W. Marshall, authors of The Committee: A Study of Policy, Power, Politics and Obama’s Historic Legislative Agenda on Capitol Hill, in discussion with Henry Waxman, former US Congressman (D-CA) and chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Joanne Kenen, health care editor at POLITICO, moderates the conversation.

As part of the Alma and Joseph Gildenhorn Book Series, with Elisabeth Rosenthal, editor-in-chief of Kaiser Health News, discusses her recent book An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. Joanne Kenen, health care editor at POLITICO, moderates the conversation.

Care toward the end of life reflects the best and worst of American health care: amazing medical advances delivered by dedicated clinicians, but often provided in the context of a fragmented health system, with its attendant high costs and poor coordination and communication among clinicians, patients, and families. New approaches are needed to honor patient preferences and meet their medical, social, and spiritual needs.

Eric Lander, president and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, describes his pioneering methods for uncovering the molecular basis of diseases and how the tools of human genomics are being applied to deepen our understanding of cancer, diabetes, rare genetic diseases, inflammatory diseases, and other medical conditions.

Sue Desmond-Hellmann, who served as chief executive officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at the time of this Grand Rounds, talks about how reducing inequity, elevating innovative public-private partnerships, and investing in programs are tools for making markets work for the poor, and ensuring that all people have the opportunity to live healthy, productive lives.

Jeffrey Brenner, who served as executive director of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers at the time of this Grand Rounds, describes “healthcare hotspotting,” the use of data to map hot spots where the highest consumers of healthcare can be found. This innovative approach lays the groundwork to provide more effective, less costly team-based care to super-utilizers.