Latest Interviews

Driving the Digital Health Revolution

Indu Subaiya, Paul Chew, Karen DeSalvo, Esther Dyson, Cindy Elkins, Donald Jones, Don Jones

The digital health sector is pivoting from episodic treatment to preventative "generating health" models, driven by a projected shortage of 40,000 primary care physicians by 2030 and the need to address social determinants that account for 80% of health outcomes. Companies like Omada Health and Way to Wellville are disrupting traditional fee-for-service structures by implementing value-based payment reforms that leverage behavioral design, remote coaching, and community-led interventions to achieve measurable clinical results. Despite significant funding and technological advancements in AI and connected devices, widespread adoption faces critical hurdles including regulatory lag, the digital divide, and the need for new data ownership frameworks to support equitable population health management.

Healthy Living Equals Healthy Aging: How Where We Live, Work and Play Can Impact Our Longevity

Anand Parekh, Catherine Anderson, Frank Diana, Omar Nagji, Allison Silberberg, Pattie Dale Tye

Industry leaders from Humana, Lyft, UnitedHealthcare, and the City of Alexandria convened to address the critical intersection of aging demographics and healthcare access, highlighting how transportation barriers and social isolation drive significant health disparities. The panel detailed strategic partnerships that integrate non-clinical services like housing stability and food security into core care models, demonstrating measurable successes in reducing missed medical appointments and improving community health metrics. By advocating for regulatory agility and cross-sector data integration, these stakeholders outlined a roadmap for shifting from reactive treatment to preventative, community-centric solutions that support healthy life extension.

Raising an Active Generation

Sean Gregory, Mark Abbott, Eric Boerwinkle, Bruce Y. Lee, Kathleen Tullie

Discussions highlight how a $15 billion youth sports industry and restrictive school policies have created significant health disparities and participation gaps for children in lower-income neighborhoods. To address these systemic barriers, stakeholders including the MLS, Reebok, and corporate partners are deploying grassroots solutions such as free mini-pitches, sampling-based training programs, and mobile donation initiatives to increase accessibility and physical literacy. These strategic shifts prioritize unstructured play, injury prevention, and inclusive recreational leagues to counteract burnout and ensure long-term retention across diverse communities.

The Rapidly Changing Food Industry and What it Means for Health

Michael Klowden, Cristina Alesci, Shane Emmett, Neil Grimmer, Douglas Munk, Jonathan Neman, Irwin Simon

A global food industry pivot is driven by millennial demand for transparency, personalized nutrition, and long-term health outcomes, forcing major players like Nestlé and Hain Celestial to launch billion-dollar initiatives and restructure supply chains. While small innovators like Health Warrior and Daily Table demonstrate viability through agile models and strategic partnerships, they face persistent structural barriers including retail placement dominance by established brands and federal subsidies that favor nutrient-poor crops. The market is increasingly converging toward scalable "dynamic menus" and affordable infrastructure, as leaders recognize that bridging the cost gap requires merging advanced biological data with massive logistical efficiency.

A Conversation with FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb

Scott Gottlieb

Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb outlines a multifaceted regulatory strategy addressing the opioid epidemic, tobacco addiction, and the aftermath of Hurricane María on Puerto Rico's critical medical manufacturing sector. He emphasizes adapting regulatory frameworks for emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and digital health tools while prioritizing the prevention of medical misinformation and product shortages. The discussion highlights a shift toward reducing review cycles, de-risking early-stage development, and utilizing post-market surveillance to balance safety with innovation.

Women Leading a Wellness Revolution

Joyce Chang, Nancy Brinker, Alexia Brue, Donna Karan, Melanie Whelan

Moderated by Joyce Chang, a panel of industry leaders including Donna Karan, Nancy Brinker, Alexia Brew, and Melanie Whalen convened to redefine the wellness movement as a collaborative force driven by community accountability and shared impact. The discussion highlighted distinct strategies for systemic change, from SoulCycle's peer-driven transformation model and Well and Good's democratization of health journalism to Susan G. Komen's focus on closing care access gaps and Urban Zen's integration of holistic care within commercial and healthcare frameworks. Ultimately, the group agreed that the future of wellness relies on shifting resources from reactive "sick care" to preventative lifestyle solutions supported by clean data and scalable community networks.

A Conversation with PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi

Indra Nooyi, Michael Milken, Andrew, Mike

PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi transformed the beverage and snack giant through "Performance with Purpose," a strategy that integrated social and environmental sustainability into core operations while shifting the revenue portfolio toward healthier product lines. This cultural overhaul was driven by scientific leadership under Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Mahmood Khan and reinforced by tying executive compensation to specific nutritional and environmental goals. Nooyi further extended the company's impact by forging partnerships with healthcare institutions to improve access for underserved veterans and advocating for systemic policy changes to address chronic disease and nutritional equity.

Innovators Improving Access: Creating Healthier Links in the Food Chain

Kevin Boylan, Matt Barnard, Lee Anne Grant, Dariush Mozaffarian, Sam Polk, Josh Stevens, Simone Friedman, Jeffrey Davis, Ambassador Compson

Leading entrepreneurs from Everytable, Plenty, Day2, and Brandless, alongside Tufts University Dean Dr. Dari Mozaffarian, convened to debate scalable solutions for a U.S. food system that drives 70% of annual deaths through diet-related chronic disease. The panelists presented contrasting strategies ranging from Everytable's dual-tier pricing and Plenty's water-efficient vertical farming to Day2's machine learning-driven personalized nutrition, while challenging the federal government's $46-to-one research funding disparity between nutrition and pharmaceuticals. Ultimately, the discussion highlighted a critical pivot toward integrating healthy food into healthcare infrastructure and expanding global operations to address the 1,400 daily cardiovascular and diabetes deaths attributed to dietary factors.

A State of Emergency: Integrative Approaches to Addiction and the Opioid Epidemic

David Beier, Jerome Adams, Terry McAuliffe, Lori McFarling, Tom Moriarty, Nora Volkow, Tammy Wincup

A federal and state coalition deployed 14,000 officials alongside private sector partners like CVS and Discovery Education to address the opioid crisis through prevention economics, educational outreach, and prescription limits that reduced Virginia's over-prescriptions by one-third. Initiatives including a new data-sharing compact among 46 governors and the Surgeon General's social capital report aim to leverage granular prescription analytics and community resilience to cut costs associated with incarceration and unemployment. These coordinated efforts target the multifactorial nature of the epidemic by embedding science-based prevention in classrooms, enforcing seven-day prescription caps, and expanding safe disposal programs to recover from 64,000 overdose deaths recorded in 2016.

The Future of Health: A New World of Collaboration

Michael Milken, Francis Collins, Lynn Goldman, Bob Hugin

The National Institutes of Health, alongside corporate leaders like Celgene and academic institutions such as GW School of Public Health, is driving a decade-long strategic shift toward cross-sector collaboration to address mounting global health crises including opioid addiction, rising obesity-related cancers, and antimicrobial resistance. Key initiatives such as the Accelerating Medicines Partnership and the "All of Us" research program are deploying hundreds of millions in combined public and private funding to accelerate therapeutic discovery, leverage genomic data, and implement preventive structural interventions. This coordinated effort aims to reverse declining U.S. life expectancy trends and reduce the $4 trillion annual economic burden of chronic disease by aligning industry innovation cycles with public health objectives.

Boundless Potential: How Unlocking Big Data Can Change Health

Dan Diamond, Murray Aitken, Aneesh Chopra, Martin J. Murphy, Robin Thurston

Industry leaders from Quintiles IMS, Helix, and the Obama administration convened to evaluate big data's transition from hype to a tangible reality that is currently constrained by fragmented data, misaligned financial incentives, and a cultural gap in healthcare adoption. The panel highlighted Project Data Sphere, which has grown into the world's largest open-access cancer trial database to enable synthetic control arms that could halve trial timelines and improve survival rates for small cell lung cancer. Looking forward, experts discussed how lowering sequencing costs, blockchain privacy tools, and shifting toward value-based payment models aim to overcome current silos and empower consumers to drive precision public health initiatives.

Experiments in Art and Technology with Artforum Editor Michelle Kuo

Michelle Kuo, Kat Mañalac, Craig Cannon

Founded in 1966 by artist Robert Rauschenberg and Bell Labs scientist Billy Kluver, Experiments in Art and Technology (EAT) established a non-hierarchical network connecting thousands of creators with engineers to merge artistic vision with specialized technical expertise. The organization executed large-scale interdisciplinary projects such as the 1970 Osaka Pepsi Pavilion and the "Automation" townhouse, which utilized military-grade infrared technology and broadcast systems to test new forms of performance and labor relations. Despite facing criticism for their ties to the military-industrial complex and eventual project failures due to budget disputes, EAT's legacy endures through its pioneering of site-specific, portable technology works that influenced subsequent corporate art programs.

Talks at GS – Edward Norton: Capitalism and Creative Disruption

Edward Norton

In a discussion spanning his activist family lineage and career in entertainment, actor Edward Norton analyzes the necessity of treating ecological services as a financial asset class to drive sustainability. He contrasts the late-1990s studio system's willingness to risk new voices, exemplified by *Fight Club*, with the modern disruption caused by streaming services that have dismantled traditional DVD revenue models. Norton further details his transition to founding EDO, a data science firm applying finance-grade ROI analytics to media to replace outdated engagement metrics and align ad spend with actual audience action.

Electric cars will come of age in 2018

The 2018 automotive landscape marked a global tipping point where electric vehicle costs fell below those of fossil fuel models, driven by halved battery prices, doubled driving ranges, and government mandates from nations like Britain and France to ban internal combustion engines by 2040. China's dominance in production and sales, combined with corporate commitments to fully electrify fleets, aims to disrupt global oil demand while introducing ethical supply chain challenges regarding cobalt extraction in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Experts characterize this transition as an inevitable momentum that will eventually phase out the 1880s-era internal combustion engine, despite the trillions of dollars required to upgrade power grids and stabilize regions reliant on oil revenue.

Content Marketing Tips from Experts at First Round Capital and Andreessen Horowitz

Camille Ricketts, Sonal Chokshi, Craig Cannon

First Round Capital and a16z articulate a content philosophy that prioritizes strategic metrics and deep, long-form storytelling over vanity traffic, utilizing an editorial instinct honed through pattern recognition. These firms deploy a rigorous production workflow ranging from a three-tier interview framework to the use of "maker schedules" that protect creative energy while balancing reactive news with enduring "stock" projects. Their approach to audience growth relies on identifying niche "true fans" and leveraging proprietary data narratives to ensure utility, rejecting shallow advertorials in favor of authentic, emotionally resonant, or tactical advice.