Yale School of Public Health Dean Megan L. Ranney, MD, and Ijeoma Opara, associate professor of social and behavioral sciences and director of the YSPH SASH Lab, are traveling to Colorado this week to take part in the Aspen Ideas: Health conference, which runs from June 20-23. This will be followed by the Aspen Ideas Festival, taking place June 23-29. Ranney will participate in three panel discussions during the weekend, while Opara will attend as an Aspen Ideas: Health Fellow.
Combined, the two Aspen Ideas events feature more than 100 sessions and over 300 speakers, including some of the top minds from the worlds of health and health care, politics, business, finance, journalism, literature, and the arts and entertainment.
I look forward to expanding our sense of what’s possible for the future of public health – and to representing YSPH’s values and work on this global stage.
Dean Megan L. Ranney
"It's a privilege to be invited back to Aspen Ideas: Health as a speaker this year,” said Ranney, who was named an Aspen Institute Health Innovators Fellow in 2019 and spoke about gun violence at last year’s conference.
“It’s a week of deep thought and illuminating discussions with some of the most brilliant minds and voices working in the health field,” she said. “I look forward to expanding our sense of what’s possible for the future of public health – and to representing YSPH’s values and work on this global stage."
Ranney will take part in three Aspen Ideas: Health panel discussions:
- “Taking Aim at Gun Violence Through Public Health” (June 21). Other participants include Gregory Jackson, deputy director of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention at the White House and special assistant to the president; Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health; and Margot Sanger-Katz, health care correspondent for The New York Times.
- “From Measles to Maternal Health: Strengthening Partnerships Between Healthcare and Public Health” (June 21). Also taking part will be Dave Chokshi, chair of the Common Health Coalition; Brendan Carr, CEO of the Mount Sinai Health System; Admiral Rachel Levine, MD, assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and head of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps; and J. Nadine Gracia, president and CEO of the Trust for America’s Health.
- “Healthy Communication: How Truth Can Overpower Disinformation” (June 22). This discussion will also include Bertha Coombs, senior health care reporter for CNBC; Austin Chiang, chief officer for endoscopy at Medtronic and author of the book Gut: An Owner’s Guide; and Joel Bervell, a science communicator widely known as the “Medical Mythbuster” and host of the podcast The Dose with the Commonwealth Fund.
Opara, who is working on community-based approaches to improve mental health in communities of color, was invited to be an Aspen: Health Fellow after being nominated by Ranney. As a fellow, she will attend the festival for free, meet and exchange ideas with other fellows, and take part in special private events for fellows. She said she is “thrilled” to be going.
“I’m looking forward to networking and sharing my ideas about co-creating solutions around improving mental health access and youth substance use prevention with community members, for the communities that need it the most,” Opara said. “I’m most excited to be able to attend sessions with so many leaders in the health care field.”
She said she hopes to leave Aspen feeling inspired and with new connections for future collaborations with people who share her passion for community-engaged research.
Ranney said she is thrilled that Opara will be a fellow this year. “Dr. Opara's commitment to public health equity and inclusivity is both unwavering, and transformative,” she said. “Her selection as a fellow is a testament to this impact."
Two other speakers with YSPH connections will be participating at Aspen.
Harlan Krumholz, MD, SM, Harold J. Hines Professor of Cardiology at the Yale School of Medicine and professor in the Institute of Social and Policy Studies, of investigative medicine and of public health, is taking part in the discussion entitled “GLP-1 Agonists: Wonder Drugs of the 21st Century?” on June 22. He will be joined by Jennifer Ashton, chief health and medical correspondent for ABC News and founder and CEO of the newsletter Ajenda; and Amanda Velazquez, director of obesity medicine at the Center for Weight Management and Metabolic Health at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Indra Nooyi, a Yale alumna (MPMM ’80) and former chair and CEO of PepsiCo, is participating in a discussion entitled “What Makes a Great Leader?” at the Aspen Ideas Festival June 25. Nooyi will be joined by Ford Foundation President Darren Walker; journalist Katie Couric; and Mitch Landrieu, national co-chair of the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign and a former mayor of New Orleans. Nooyi and her husband, Raj Nooyi, gifted YSPH $3 million in 2021 to establish the Raj and Indra Nooyi Professor of Public Health at Yale. Albert Ko, MD, a professor of public health (microbial diseases) and of medicine (infectious diseases), is the first holder of the chair.