Conference Presentation, Lecture
Mike Milken │ Public Health and Prosperity
- Public health advances and medical research are identified as drivers of 50 percent of global economic growth over the last two centuries, with an expectation that this link will sustain future economic expansion.
- A 1998 law mandated a doubling of the NIH budget over six years, though funding stagnation since 2004 created risks of losing a generation of young scientists following their 15-year post-high school training period.
- The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions was established in 2003 to shorten the timeline for cures and treatments based on the premise that saving time saves lives.
- Public and private partnerships involving the NIH, patients, DARPA, FDA, pharmaceutical, and bioscience sectors were initiated to integrate separate infrastructure pieces.
- A reaffirmation of U.S. commitment to biosciences four years prior to the speech led to the passage of the National Center for Advancing Translational Science and an expectation of a new age of medicine.
- Transformative changes in treating life-threatening diseases are expected within the next couple of years, driven by cancer vaccines, stem cell treatments, new diagnostic tools, and immunology drugs.
- The human genome completion, originally predicted in 1987 to occur in the 22nd century at previous sequencing rates, was achieved in 2003.
- Human genome sequencing speed has recently reached 7.3 seconds with costs approaching $1,000 in leading global centers, a trend expected to continue driven by Moore's Law.
- Computational capabilities now reach 34,000 trillion calculations per second, eliminating the possibility of humans ever outperforming computers in chess.
- A significant diversion of talent, human capital, and funding is occurring away from research areas due to shifting social factors such as weight.
- Smoking carries the highest direct economic impact globally at $2.2 trillion, followed by armed violence/terrorism at $2.1 trillion and obesity at $2.0 trillion according to the World Bank.
- Unhealthy behaviors cost the United States an estimated $1 trillion annually as of a 2007 report.
- Changes in weight from 1991 and seven chronic diseases are projected to act as a growth engine for the U.S. through out-of-pocket costs, presenteeism, and absenteeism.
- Modern technology and public health knowledge are expected to shift the focus toward prevention and wellness.
- A small group of thoughtful, committed citizens is identified as the sole force capable of effecting global change.