2020 Speakers

Amy P. Abernethy, MD, PhD is the President of Product Development and Chief Medical Officer at Verily, where she leads teams in the development and delivery of solutions that bridge the gap between clinical research and care.

Before joining Verily, Dr. Abernethy was Principal Deputy Commissioner and Acting Chief Information Officer of the US Food & Drug Administration. Prior roles include serving as CMO/CSO of Flatiron Health and multiple roles at Duke University, where she was Professor of Medicine.

Dr. Abernethy went to the University of Pennsylvania and then Duke University Medical School, and received her PhD from Flinders University in Australia.

Stacey Allaster is an internationally renowned sports and entertainment leader, champion of equality and innovator in the sport of tennis. Currently, Stacey is the United States Tennis Association’s Chief Executive, Professional Tennis, responsible for setting the strategic vision for the USTA’s pro tennis division, including oversight of the US Open, US Open Series, Davis Cup and Fed Cup, the professional developmental pathway for aspiring young Americans and Officiating. Under Stacey's leadership, the USTA leverages professional tennis tournaments and assets to inspire kids and adults to be physically active, play tennis and lead healthy lifestyles.

Previously, Stacey was the Tournament Director of the Canadian Open (now known as the Rogers Cup), where she was the only woman tournament director within the ATP Master Series. In 2006, she was hired as the President of the WTA, and three years later was promoted to Chairman and CEO. During her tenure, Stacey generated $1 billion in revenue, while expanding the global footprint of women’s professional tennis, including a robust Asia-Pacific growth strategy.

Throughout her career, Stacey has been a fierce advocate for equality in women’s sports, playing a lead role in driving prize money growth and securing equal prize money for women at Wimbledon, Roland Garros and WTA major events. Additionally, she has dedicated her personal life and career to inspiring and mentoring the next generation of strong and confident female leaders.

Stacey has been named one of the Top 50 Heroes of Tennis in the past 50 years in Tennis Magazine, the WISE Woman of the Year and a Sports Business Journal Gamechanger. She was also recognized by Forbes as one of the 10 Most Powerful Women in Sports.

Anousheh Ansari is a CEO of the XPRIZE Foundation, the world’s leader in designing and operating incentive competitions to solve humanity’s grand challenges. Ansari, along with her family, sponsored the organization’s first competition, the Ansari XPRIZE, a $10 million competition that ignited a new era for commercial spaceflight.  Since then, she has served on XPRIZE’s Board of Directors.

Prior to being named CEO of XPRIZE, Ansari served as the CEO of Prodea Systems, a leading Internet of Things (IoT) technology firm she co-founded in 2006, and continues to serve as the executive chairwoman. She captured headlines around the world when she embarked upon an 11-day space expedition, accomplishing her childhood dream of becoming the first female private space explorer, first astronaut of Iranian descent, first Muslim woman in space, and fourth private explorer to visit space.

Ansari serves on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Future Council and has received numerous honors, including the WEF Young Global Leader, Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and STEM Leadership Hall of Fame, among others. She is a UNESCO Good Will Ambassador and serves on the board of Jabil and Peace First, as well as several other not-for-profit organizations focused on STEM education and youth empowerment.

Ansari also co-founded The Billion Dollar Fund for Women, announced at the Tri Hita Karana (THK) Forum on Sustainable Development in Bali, Indonesia, with a goal of investing $1 billion in women-founded companies by 2020.

She published her memoir, My Dream of Stars, to share her life story as inspiration for young women around the world.??Ansari holds a BS in electronics and computer engineering from George Mason University, an MS in electrical engineering from George Washington University; and honorary doctorates from George Mason University, Utah Valley University, and International Space University.

Jeff Arnold is chairman and CEO of Sharecare, a digital health company he founded with Dr. Oz to help each person – no matter where they are in their health journey – build a longer, better life by enabling health transformation at the individual, organizational and community level. Also chairman of Forbes Travel Guide, he was twice named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year – in 1999 for WebMD and 2019 for Sharecare – making him one of a handful of winners in history to receive the award twice.

After concluding a prolific professional cycling career that produced a medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games, eight US national championships, two Pan American gold medals and a world record, Dotsie Bausch has become a powerful influencer for plant-based eating for athletes and non-athletes alike. Named by VegNews in 2019 as one of the top 20 most influential vegans in the world, she utilizes her degree in plant-based nutrition to inform her impassioned messages as an advocate on behalf of humans, planet earth and animals.

Dotsie latest initiative is founding the non-profit Switch4Good. Switch4Good launched in” – early 2018 with a television commercial featuring six Olympians from four different countries and proves that cow’s milk is not part of a high-performance diet.

Bausch is also one of the stars of the film The Game. Changers (http://gamechangersmovie.com), which chronicles the story of the world’s most dangerous myth. Directed by Academy Award winner Louie Psihoyos and executive produced by Oscar winner James Cameron, The Game Changers released to worldwide audiences in October of 2019 and in just one week, became the #1 downloaded film of all time on iTunes.

Long before embodying radiant health and becoming an influential game changer, Bausch struggled for years with severe eating disorders and a recreational drug habit, that combined, led to a suicide attempt. It was during her recovery that she discovered her gift and love for the bike. 

Bausch speaks passionately around the world, spreading her message about the numerous benefits – humane, nutritional and environmental – of plant-based eating. Her popular TEDx Talk, “Olympic Level Compassion,” has garnered over 275,000 views and has been a catalyst of change for thousands of people.

Holly Benson serves as EVP, President and CEO of Health Care Enterprises where she oversees the operations of Community Medical Group, HealthSmart, Interpreta, and USMM. Centene owns all or a portion of each of those companies, and Holly is responsible for ensuring that those companies not only provide quality service to Centene’s health plans but also to external customers and that those companies continue to grow and develop innovative new products and services.

Holly joined Centene in March 2011 as Centene’s Senior Vice President of Health Policy.

Ms. Benson graduated with honors from Dartmouth College and earned her law degree from the University of Florida - College of Law.

Elizabeth H. Bradley, PhD, was named the 11th President of Vassar College in July 2017. Prior to this position, she was on the faculty at Yale for more than twenty years, and was most recently the Brady-Johnson Professor of Grand Strategy and Faculty Director of the Yale Global Health Leadership Institute. She also served as the Head of College for Yale’s Branford College.

Bradley is renowned internationally for her work on quality of hospital care and large-scale health system strengthening efforts within the US and abroad including in China, India, Ethiopia, Liberia, Ghana, Rwanda, and the United Kingdom. In the US, Bradley published the landmark papers that drove national change in the care of patients with heart attacks, and in Ethiopia, Bradley is widely known as a major architect of the system-wide improvements in the quality of health care provided to the 90 million people of that country. Bradley has published more nearly 320 peer-reviewed papers and has co-authored three books including The American Healthcare Paradox: Why Spending More Is Getting Us Less. She is the 2018 recipient of the William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research, the highest distinction that researchers in the health services field can achieve. Bradley was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2017.
 
Bradley graduated phi beta kappa from Harvard in economics magna cum laude, earned an MBA from the University of Chicago, and a PhD in health economics from Yale University. Bradley grew up in New Britain, Connecticut and is married to her husband John with whom she has three adult children.

Dr. Bredesen received his undergraduate degree from Caltech and his medical degree from Duke. He served as Resident and Chief Resident in Neurology at UCSF, then was postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Prof. Stanley Prusiner. He was a faculty member at UCLA from 1989-1994, then was recruited by the Burnham Institute to direct the Program on Aging. In 1998 he became the Founding President and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, and Adjunct Professor at UCSF; then in 2013 he returned to UCLA as the Director of the Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research.

The Bredesen Laboratory studies basic mechanisms underlying the neurodegenerative process, and the translation of this knowledge into effective therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions, leading to the publication of over 220 research papers. He established the ADDN (Alzheimer’s Drug Development Network) with Dr. Varghese John in 2008, leading to the identification of new classes of therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease. He and his group developed a new approach to the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, and this approach led to the discovery of subtypes of Alzheimer’s disease, followed by the first description of reversal of symptoms in patients with MCI and Alzheimer’s disease, with the ReCODE (reversal of cognitive decline) protocol, published in 2014, 2016, and 2018. His book, The End of Alzheimer’s, is a New York Times Bestseller.

John Hope Bryant is an American entrepreneur, thought leader and philanthropic leader. He is referred to as the Conscience of Capitalism by the CEOs of Delta Air Lines, Walmart, and
countless others. Mr. Bryant is the Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Operation
HOPE, Inc. the largest non-profit provider of financial literacy and economic empowerment services in the United States. Bryant is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of John Hope Bryant Holdings, Bryant Group Ventures and Executive Chairman of The Promise Homes Company, the largest for-profit minority-controlled owner of institutional-quality, single-family residential rental homes in the U.S.

Bryant has been recognized as an influential leader by many. He has received hundreds of awards and citations for his work, including Oprah Winfrey’s Use Your Life Award, and the John Sherman Award for Excellence in Financial Education from the U.S. Department of Treasury. Bryant has also received the 100 Black Men of America “Chairman’s Award for Economic Empowerment,” he was listed by The Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “2022 Power 100”, named #2 among 100 inspirational leaders on the “Yahoo Finance Empower Role Model list 2022," Georgia Trend’s “100 Most Influential Georgians” in 2022, 2023 and 2024, Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “Most Admired CEOs of 2018,” Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “The Power 100: Most Influential Atlantans in 2020,” American Banker magazine's 2016 “Innovator of the Year,” and one of Time magazine’s “50 Leaders for the Future” in 1994. Bryant received an honorable mention in Inc. Magazine’s “The World’s 10 Top CEOs” an article that spotlights global servant leaders as the visionaries behind some of the most successful organizations.

Five former U.S. presidents have recognized Bryant’s work, and he has served as an advisor to three sitting U.S. presidents from both political parties. In 2008, Bryant inspired President George W. Bush to make financial literacy the official policy of the U.S. federal government.

Bryant is the author of Up from Nothing: The Untold Story of How We (All) Succeed; The Memo: Five Rules for Your Economic Liberation, How the Poor Can Save Capitalism: Rebuilding the Path to the Middle Class, and LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass, 2009).

Howard A. "Skip" Burris III, MD, FASCO, FACP serves as president and chief medical officer of Sarah Cannon, as well as the executive director, drug development for the research institute. He is an associate of Tennessee Oncology, PLLC, where he practices medical oncology.
 

Dr. Barry Byrne is a clinician scientist who is studying a variety of rare diseases withthespecificgoalofdevelopingtherapiesforinheritedmuscle disease. Asa pediatric cardiologist, his focus is on conditions that lead to skeletal muscle weaknessandabnormalitiesinheartandrespiratory function. Hisgrouphas made significant contributions to the understanding and treatment of Pompe disease, a type of neuromuscular disease due to glycogen storage in motor units. Theresearchteamhas beendevelopingnewtherapiesusingAAV-mediatedgene therapy to restore cardiac and skeletal muscle function in DMD, Friedreich’s ataxia, Pompe, and other inherited neuromuscular diseases. His group at the Powell Center has also established a series of new methods for large-scale AAV clinical manufacturing. The work is supported by several NIH and foundation awards.

Dr. Byrne is the Associate Chair of Pediatrics and Director of the University of Florida Powell Center and Child Health Research Institute. He obtained his B.S. degree from Denison University; M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois; and hecompleted hisPediatricsresidencyandcardiologyfellowshipaswellaspost- doctoral training in Biological Chemistry at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Following his early career at Hopkins, he joined the University of Florida and is now the Earl and Christy Powell University Chair in Genetics.

In addition to his academic appointments, he serves as the Chief Medical Advisor of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and a member of the TACT committee of TREAT-NMD. He is an advisor to the Pfizer Rare Disease Therapeutic Area Advisory Committee and co-founder of AavantiBio.

Born to a poor immigrant family in New York City, Richard Carmona experienced homelessness, hunger, and health disparities during his youth. The experiences greatly sensitized him to the relationships among culture, health, education and economic status and ultimately shaped his future.

After dropping out of high school, Dr. Carmona enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1967 where he received a GED. By the time he left active duty, he was a Special Forces, combat-decorated Vietnam veteran. He then pursued a college degree and entered medical school at the University of California – San Francisco where he won the prestigious Gold Cane award as the top graduate.

Dr. Carmona became a surgeon with a sub-specialty in trauma, burns and critical care and was recruited to Tucson to establish the first trauma system in southern Arizona which he did successfully. Later, while working full time as a hospital and health system CEO, he earned a master’s degree in public health policy and administration at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Carmona has served for over 34 years with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Tucson, including as deputy sheriff, detective, SWAT team leader and department surgeon. He is one of the most highly decorated police officers in Arizona, and his numerous awards include the National Top Cop Award, the National SWAT Officer of the Year, and the National Tactical EMS Award. Dr. Carmona is a nationally recognized SWAT expert and has published extensively on SWAT training and tactics, forensics, and tactical emergency medical support. Dr. Carmona has also served as a medical director of police and fire departments and is a fully qualified peace officer with expertise in special operations and emergency preparedness, including weapons of mass destruction.

In 2006 Vice Admiral Carmona successfully completed the statutory four-year term as Surgeon General and was named vice chairman of Canyon Ranch, CEO of the health division and president of the Canyon Ranch Institute. Dr. Carmona continues his Canyon Ranch leadership role as the Chief of Health Innovations. He also serves on several public corporate boards and works with private equity and venture capital firms to identify emerging science and technology to translate to market for economic and public benefit.

Gloria Caulfield leads health and wellness strategy and planning for the Lake Nona Institute. Gloria is passionate about identifying partners who are skillful at collaboration and have the desire to innovate solutions that have the potential to move the needle on community health and wellness.

Toby Cosgrove, MD, is former CEO and current Executive Advisor of Cleveland Clinic. He is Strategic Advisor to Care Centrix, Senior Advisor of Innova Health Partners, and is Member of the Board of Directors of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, American Well, Hims & Hers and View. He worked for Google Cloud and currently is an advisor for several healthcare organizations. As an expert on health issues, he is a frequent commentator in national and international media.
As CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic from 2004 through 2017, he led the $8 billion organization to new heights of achievement and efficiency, seeing it ranked the #2 hospital in America (U.S. News). In his role as Executive Advisor, he is working with Cleveland Clinic leadership on strategies for national and international growth.
Dr. Cosgrove graduated from Williams College and the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He trained at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brook General Hospital in London. In 1967, he was a surgeon in the U.S. Air Force, earning a Bronze Star.

Dr. Cosgrove joined Cleveland Clinic in 1975, and chaired the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular surgery from 1989 to 2004. He performed over 22,000 operations and earned an international reputation in valve repair. He holds 30 patents for medical innovations. As CEO from 2004 to 2017, he reorganized services, improved outcomes and patient experience, and strengthened the organization’s finances.

He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, and a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. In 2016, he was a Fortune Businessperson of the Year (No. 14). Three successive presidents of the United States have consulted him on healthcare issues.

John F. Crowley is the Executive Chairman and founding CEO of Amicus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on the development of treatments for rare genetic diseases. Crowley also currently serves as Vice Chair of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). Crowley’s involvement with biotechnology stems from the 1998 diagnosis of two of his children with Pompe disease—a severe and often fatal neuromuscular disorder. In his drive to find a cure, he became an entrepreneur as the Co-founder, President and CEO of Novazyme Pharmaceuticals, which he credits as ultimately saving his children’s lives. The 2010 movie, Extraordinary Measures, is inspired by the Crowley family journey. Crowley served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve from 2005-2016, and is a veteran of the global war on terrorism, with service in Afghanistan. He graduated with a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and earned a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He was awarded a Doctor of Laws Degree from Notre Dame. The Crowley family received the Family Exemplar Award from Notre Dame. Crowley serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. and Entrada Therapeutics, Inc. He is the former National Chairman of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America and is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. In 2023, he was inducted as a member of the Horatio Alger Association.

Karen Dale is the CEO for AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia, which serves more than 120,000 members.  Guided by the organization's mission and values as well as the strategies of innovation and collaboration, she is implementing population health approaches, leading policy change and creating a more human-centered system of care.  Her career includes working in public health, and hospital systems.

Lynda Deakin is a partner and managing director at IDEO. With over 20 years of experience in human centered design, she focuses on driving change in the food and health systems to enable better care and choices for people and the planet. Lynda works across the food and healthcare industries and uses design as a tool to help individuals, organizations, and society establish healthier, more sustainable behaviors. She has spoken on this topic and more at the Danone 100 Years event and the Culinary Institute of America and MIT Media Lab’s ReThink Food conference, and served as a judge for the Basque Culinary World Prize.

Lynda’s empathic approach and charismatic leadership enables clients to address customer and patient desires and tackle a wide variety of challenges, from embracing the circular economy of food and bringing healthcare to the underserved to transforming food at scale and building disruptive new health ventures. Lynda has collaborated with large companies and organizations as well as smaller startups and foundations that are on a mission to reshape the future of food and health, including Revolution Foods, Nestle, The J.M. Smucker Company, Habit, Del Monte Foods, and the Basque Culinary Center.

Lord Michael Dobbs is Britain’s foremost parliamentary novelist and an active member of the House of Lords. He is best known for writing House of Cards, now a global TV hit with Netflix, based on his experience as Margaret Thatcher’s chief of staff. He has written award-winning novels about Winston Churchill and has a doctorate in international affairs.

Victor J. Dzau is the President of the US National Academy of Medicine (NAM). In addition, he serves as Vice Chair of the US National Research Council. He is Chancellor Emeritus and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine at Duke University and the past President and CEO of the Duke University Health System.

Dr. Emmeline Edwards is director of the Division of Extramural Research of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). In that capacity, she is responsible for development of scientific programs or areas of science that fulfill NCCIH's mission as well as planning, implementation and policy. NCCIH is one of 27 components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with a mission to define, through rigorous scientific investigation, the usefulness and safety of complementary and alternative medicine interventions and their roles in improving health and health care.

Before coming to NIH, Dr. Edwards earned her Ph.D. in Neurochemistry from Forham University, did postdoctoral research in behavioral pharmacology and neuroscience at the State University of New York, and was a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Maryland. Her research there focused on the neural mechanisms of complex behaviors and characterization of a genetic model of affective disorders. She also served as Chair of the Graduate Studies and Research Committee and Member of the Dean's Executive Council at the University of Maryland.

Currently, Dr. Edwards is also Chair of Women World in Neuroscience (WWN), an independent mentoring and networking organization, with the primary mission of identifying, promoting and implementing mentoring and networking opportunities for women neuroscientists across the world.

Charlie Engle is a global ultra-endurance athlete and the founder of the 5.8 Global Adventure Series, one of the most ambitious expeditions in modern history, trekking from the lowest to the highest points on all seven continents. He is also one of the most accomplished ultramarathon runners in the world, having placed in hundreds of races in dozens of countries.

His incredible athletic ability was profiled in the film, Running the Sahara, narrated by Matt Damon. The documentary highlighted his historic, record-setting journey with his two teammates across the world’s largest desert, running more than two marathons a day for 111 consecutive days, for a total of 4,500 miles. Charlie’s transcontinental run through deep sand and politically unstable countries remains one of the premier accomplishments in the ultra-endurance and adventure sports worlds. After crossing the Sahara and seeing the global water crisis first-hand, Charlie raised more than $6 million for clean water projects in Africa and helped establish an organization called H20Africa, now known as Water.org, one of the largest water nonprofit in the world.

Charlie’s memoir, Running Man, became a bestseller shortly after it was published in 2016. While the book details his inspiring life story, it is about more than just running. It is about facing demons, overcoming impossible odds, keeping your sense of humor and discovering the redemptive power of putting one foot in front of the other, even when you feel like you can’t keep going.

His motivation to run and tackle extreme adventures stems from his battle with addiction to drugs and alcohol. Charlie has been in recovery since July 23, 1992, and he credits a large part of his recovery to the purposeful devotion and emotional release he experiences while running. He has said that “Drugs and alcohol were my way out. Running was my way through.”

Charlie is a dynamic speaker who has enthralled audiences around the world, from keynotes at the Boston Marathon and Google to the National Geographic Society, the United Nations and the deck of a nuclear-class U.S. Naval aircraft carrier.

He’s been featured in the New York Times, National Geographic Weekend, Outside, Runner’s World, NPR’s All Things Considered, Men’s Journal, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He lives with his wife, Astacianna Hatcher, in Durham, North Carolina.

Chris Evert, one of the most accomplished tennis players in history, burst onto the national tennis scene at the age of 15, and a year later made the 1971 US Open semifinals in her first Grand Slam event. Evert won 18 major singles championships (two Australian Open, three Wimbledon, and a record six US Open and seven French Open titles), winning at least one each year for 13 consecutive years (1974-1986). She retired in 1989 with 157 singles titles overall, and a career win-loss record of 1,309-146 (.900), the best of any professional player in history.

She was voted the AP Female Athlete of the Year four times and in 1985 was voted the Greatest Woman Athlete of the Last 25 Years by the Women’s Sports Foundation. She was a unanimous selection to the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1995.

In 2019, the USTA Foundation, the national charitable arm of the United States Tennis Association (USTA), appointed Evert as Chair of the USTA Foundation’s Board of Directors. In this role, Evert serves as the Foundation’s spokesperson and ambassador to promote its mission and increase the impact of its national outreach efforts to under-resourced youth.

Evert joined ESPN in 2011 as an analyst, and has since covered all four Grand Slam events – including ESPN’s start-to-finish coverage of three Grand Slams – the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. She also worked as an analyst for NBC for 10 years.

Evert operates a tennis academy bearing her name in Boca Raton, Fla., and writes a column for Tennis Magazine.

Renée Fleming is one of the most highly acclaimed singers of our time, performing on the stages of the world’s great opera houses and concert halls. Honored with five Grammy® awards and the US National Medal of Arts, she has sung for momentous occasions from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the Super Bowl. A Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health for the World Health Organization, she was awarded the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor in December.
Renée’s anthology, Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness, will be published by Viking in April. A leading advocate for research at the intersection of arts, health, and neuroscience, Renée launched the first ongoing collaboration between The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the US National Institutes of Health. She has presented her program Music and Mind in more than fifty cities around the world, and in November, she was awarded Harvard’s David Mahoney Neuroscience Prize. She is a founding advisor for major initiatives including the Sound Health Network at the University of California San Francisco and the NeuroArts Blueprint, a project of Johns Hopkins University and the Aspen Institute.
Renée’s recording Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene won the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. Her current and upcoming concerts inspired by the album include an original film by the National Geographic Society created to reflect the musical selections. Recent opera performances include starring in the world premiere staging of The Hours, a new opera based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and award-winning film, at the Metropolitan Opera, and a role debut as Pat Nixon in a new production of Nixon in China at the Opéra de Paris.

In addition to directing SongStudio at Carnegie Hall, Renée is Co-Artistic Director of the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS at the Aspen Music Festival and School, and Advisor for Special Projects at the Los Angeles Opera. Other awards include the 2023 Annenberg Award for Diplomacy through the Arts, the 2023 Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum, the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, the Order of Merit from Germany, and the French Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur. She holds honorary doctorates from eight leading universities. www.reneefleming.com

Energy, fashion, and talent collide every time Chloe Flower sits behind her piano. In February, Chloe’s performance at the 2019 Grammy Awards with Cardi B was a viral sensation. On a mission to make classical music more accessible, Chloe was recently featured on The Today Show and CNN. Her single “Get What U Get” shot to Number 1 on the classical charts.

Sandro Galea, a physician, epidemiologist, and author, is dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at Boston University School of Public Health. He has published 18 books and over 850 peer-review journal articles. He has been listed as one of the world’s most widely cited scholars. He has two children and is a devoted Juventus soccer fan. 

Pat Geraghty is President and Chief Executive Officer of GuideWell, a $26 billion mutual insurance holding company headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla. A mission-driven health solutions enterprise, GuideWell is the parent to a family of forward-thinking companies focused on transforming health care.

GuideWell comprises Florida Blue, Florida’s Blue Cross Blue Shield plan and leading health insurance company in Florida; Triple-S Management, Puerto Rico’s Blue Cross Blue Shield plan and leading health care services company in Puerto Rico; GuideWell Health, a portfolio of clinical delivery organizations; GuideWell Venture Group, a portfolio of companies, including PopHealthCare, focused on creating human-first and innovative health solutions for health plans; GuideWell Source, a provider of administrative services to state and federal health care programs; and WebTPA, a market leading administrator of self-funded employer health plans. GuideWell serves more than 46 million people across 45 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, including more than 6 million individuals in Florida.

Geraghty was the architect of the strategic restructuring that created GuideWell from the foundation of a more than 75-year-old health insurance company, transforming it into a health solutions organization at the forefront of reimagining the future of health.

Geraghty is considered an expert voice on a range of health care topics including health care reform, next-generation payment strategies, innovation in health care and the benefits of wellness and prevention programming. He is frequently sought after for his insights on important health care policy matters in Washington, D.C. and Tallahassee, Fla.

He is a member of the Florida Council of 100 and serves on the boards of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, including chair of its Health Policy & Advocacy Committee, National Institute of Health Care Management; America’s Health Insurance Plans; and Tampa Electric Co. His work with United Way, MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation and American Cancer Society are also among his most important commitments.

Geraghty holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University and a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, degree from Florida Southern College. He also has completed executive education programs at Harvard University School of Public Health and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Admiral Brett Giroir is the 16th Assistant Secretary for Health. He serves as the Secretary’s principal public health and science advisor, senior adviser for HRSA, CDC, and SAMHSA and chief opioid policy adviser. He also oversees the Office of the Surgeon General and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.  

Guru Gowrappan is CEO of Verizon Media, a powerhouse of trusted media and technology brands, including Yahoo, HuffPost, and TechCrunch. Prior to his role at Verizon, he was Global Managing Director of Alibaba where he where he focused on international expansion for key consumer and enterprise products. He has ~20 years of global industry experience building products, operationalizing and scaling businesses across mobile ecosystem and platforms, including commerce & payments, media & gaming, search & utilities, ad products. He has held a breadth of including leadership roles (CEO, COO, CPO) at companies such as Quixey, Zynga, and Overture. He is also a co-founder of two Indian startups. He has an M.S. in computer science from USC and was in the Business bridge program from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Dr. Staci Gruber is the Director of the Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Core at McLean Hospital’s Brain Imaging Center and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Gruber’s clinical research focuses on the application of neurocognitive models and brain imaging to better characterize risk factors for substance abuse and psychiatric conditions. She has been studying the impact of cannabis on the brain for over two decades using neurocognitive, clinical and diagnostic assessments and multimodal brain imaging techniques.

Her work examining the etiologic bases of neural models of dysfunction in cannabis-using adolescents and adults has been published in numerous peer reviewed journals and been the basis of national and international symposia, documentaries, news stories and press conferences, including features in the New York Times, NPR, and CNN’s documentary series “WEED” with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Her ongoing initiative to educate policymakers, judges, attorneys and the general public about the neurobiologic differences between adults and adolescents as well as additional factors that contribute to the impact of cannabis on the brain have had both local and national impact on policy formation. In fact, Dr. Gruber recently testified at the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control hearing entitled, “Marijuana and America’s Health: Questions and Issues for Policy Makers.”

Dr. Gruber recognized the importance of examining the impact of medical cannabis use on the brain, as there are many inherent differences between recreational and medical cannabis users. Accordingly, in 2014, Dr. Gruber launched Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery (MIND), the first ever program of its kind designed to clarify the specific effects of medical cannabis use. MIND utilizes valid, robust research models and supports numerous projects designed to address the impact of medical cannabis on a number of important variables including cognition, brain structure and function, clinical state, quality of life, pain, sleep, and other health-related measures. As the director of MIND, Dr. Gruber has generated major contributions to the field as the first investigator to assess medical cannabis patients longitudinally, first to acquire neuroimaging data in medical cannabis patients, and as Principal Investigator of the first ever clinical trial of a whole plant-derived, high cannabidiol (CBD) product which she specifically formulated to treat anxiety; other novel clinical trials have been approved and are pending.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is the multiple journalism award-winning chief medical correspondent for CNN and host of the CNN podcast Chasing Life. Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon, plays an integral role in CNN’s reporting on health and medical news for all of CNN’s shows domestically and internationally, and regularly contributes to CNN.com.

Since 2001, Gupta has covered some of the most important health stories in the United States and around the world. On March 9, 2020, Gupta penned an op-ed announcing the network would refer to the novel coronavirus outbreak as a “pandemic,” ahead of the WHO and the CDC. Throughout 2020 into 2021, Gupta reaffirmed his role as a trusted guide to viewers worldwide on navigating between facts and fiction surrounding Covid-19 and the pandemic.

In addition to his work for CNN, Gupta is an associate professor of neurosurgery at Emory University Hospital and associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. He serves as a diplomat of the American Board of Neurosurgery. And in 2019, Gupta was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, considered one of the highest honors in the medical field.

Gupta received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and a Doctorate of Medicine degree from the University of Michigan Medical School.

Patrice A. Harris, MD, MA is the CEO and Co-Founder of eMed, a digital healthcare company. She is a board certified psychiatrist from Atlanta and has diverse experience as a private practicing physician, county public health director and patient advocate and expertise in policy, legislative and government affairs. Dr. Harris was the 174th President of the American Medical Association and the first African American woman elected to that position. Dr. Harris is a visiting professor of psychiatry at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and serves as Chief Health and Medical Editor of Everydayhealth.com.

Beyond the AMA she has held positions of leadership with the American Psychiatric Association, the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association, the Medical Association of Georgia, and The Big Cities Health Coalition, where she chaired this forum composed of leaders from America’s largest metropolitan health departments. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the Atlanta Regional Collaborative for Health Improvement (ARCHI) and the Board of the Georgia Aids Coalition. She also serves on the Board of Quartet Health.

Dr. Harris spent her formative years at West Virginia University, earning a BA in psychology, an MA in counseling psychology and, ultimately, a medical degree (MD). She completed her psychiatry residency and fellowships in child and adolescent psychiatry and forensic psychiatry at the Emory University School of Medicine

Dr. Harris is a highly sought after speaker at national and international conferences and has given invited lectures and presentations on COVID-19, children’s mental health, childhood trauma, integration of mental health into overall health services, health equity, health policy and the intersection of athletics and health. She has been a guest expert on multiple national radio and television networks including CNN, MSNBC, Fox and NPR. Dr. Harris has received numerous awards in recognition of her service and leadership.

Dr. Harris is fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and is adjunct assistant professor in the Emory Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and an adjunct clinical assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Morehouse School of Medicine.

Jerry Harrison is the Co-Founder and Chairman of RedCrow™ Inc. a direct investment platform presenting professionally vetted investment opportunities in innovative healthcare startups to an accredited crowd of investors. Jerry is also a Co-Founder of Orphirex, Inc. a pioneer in the treatment of snakebites. Prior to RedCrow, Jerry was a Co-Founder of Garage Band, a record label which was a pioneer in using crowd-sourcing and the internet in general to identify promising artists to be signed and then released. Garageband became iLike and was sold to Myspace in 2009. Jerry has served on the Board of Directors for a number of other companies including MicroUnity, IODA and Carbon Gold.

Admired for his work as a musician Jerry performed as the keyboard player for The Modern Lovers. Their album recorded in 1972 but released in 1976 was an inspiration to the burgeoning punk rock movement. Also, In 1976, while a student at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, Jerry met David Byrne, Chris Franz, and Tina Weymouth and left school to join the Talking Heads in January 1977, with whom he remained until the band’s break up in 1991. In 2002, The Talking Heads were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jerry has also released several solo albums as well as worked as an active music producer for some of rock and roll’s best-known bands including Live, The Fine Young Cannibals, Violent Femmes, Bodeans, Crash Test Dummies, Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, No Doubt, Foo Fighters, Verb Pipe and the Von Bondies. A father of three children, he resides in Marin County, California with his wife of 31 years.

Mariel Hemingway is considered an expert in health—both mental and physical — and is a longtime advocate of personal power, life balance, authenticity, joy and finding peace of mind through a devoted practice of healthy living. She’s both a committed teacher and student in this holistic concentration. In 2014 Mariel co-executive produced the Emmy-nominated Running From Crazy, a rich and evocative documentary about the Hemingway family, collaboration with Oprah Winfrey. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and documents her boundless advocacy for mental health awareness, the dignity and rights of people of all circumstance and ability, and her commitment to connecting those of like mind and heart in order to optimize their lives in the best and worst of times.

In May 2015, in alignment with National Mental Health Awareness month, Regan Arts Publishing released two new books including her memoir, “Out Came The Sun” and a young adult targeted diary form project about the journey from surviving to thriving, entitled “Invisible Girl.

In 2013, Mariel co-wrote the book, Running With Nature, wherein she and her life partner Bobby Williams share their insights about the import and impact of nutrition, meditation, mindfulness, movement, silence, the beauty of simple living, compassion for self and community, and staying a student of life at all ages. Mariel’s best-selling book, Finding My Balance, is an honest and inspiring story of her life’s journey through the lens of her personal yoga and meditation practices. Her second book, Mariel Hemingway’s Healthy Living from the Inside Out is a how-to guide to finding a greater sense of balance and meaning through self-empowering techniques and strategies. Her 2009 cookbook, Mariel’s Kitchen, offers creative gluten and sugar free recipes and was one of the first to shine the national spotlight on the benefits of this type of diet and lifestyle.

Mariel is a regular keynote speaker at conferences, conventions, and on academic panels where those of like mind and heart gather to educate, engage, entertain, and to enrich each other’s experiences. She is also an educator for groundtherapy.com and for Earthing.com  which promotes the natural anti inflammatory properties of grounding. She created a magazine dedicated to the practice of grounding called MH Earthing. 

Recent health, wellness, inspirational, advocacy and entertainment media profiles include those in USA Today, LA Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Times of London, The Today & Dr. Oz shows, Huffington Post/AOL video sites, Vanity Fair, the New York Times, Interview, People, and USA Today Best of Magazines. In 2014, Mariel was the focus of a one-hour interview about her books with Oprah Winfrey’s on OWN’s premiere show, Super Soul Sunday.

Mark Hoplamazian has served as Hyatt’s President and CEO since December 2006, following his appointment to Hyatt’s Board of Directors in November 2006. Prior to joining Hyatt, Mark spent time at the Pritzker Organization, L.L.C where he served as an advisor to various Pritzker family-owned companies, including Hyatt Hotels Corporation. He previously worked at The First Boston Corporation in New York.

Patty Horoho is the CEO of OptumServe, which provides technology, health services, data analytics and consulting for the U.S. Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, and others. After 33 years in the Army, Patty retired as Lieutenant General, the 43rd Army Surgeon General and Commander of the Army Medical Command, the first female and nurse to hold these posts. 

Design is Meija's not-so-secret weapon for creating a better food future. Meija brings a background in clinical psychology to design brands, products and experiences—from a communications platform to support former NFL players in healthy behavior change to award-winning wholesome kids snacks. She also serves on the board of Eat Real, a nonprofit tackling diet-related disease by supporting school districts to transform food programs.

Paul E. Jacobs, Ph.D., founded XCOM in 2018 to #keepinventing and to invest with the world’s most creative engineers and businesspeople.

As former chief executive officer and executive chairman of Qualcomm Incorporated, Dr. Jacobs spearheaded its efforts to develop and commercialize fundamental mobile technology breakthroughs that fueled the wireless internet and smartphone revolutions. During his tenure as CEO, Qualcomm’s revenues quadrupled and its market capitalization doubled. Dr. Jacobs is a prolific inventor with over 80 U.S. patents granted or pending in the field of wireless technology and devices.

He served as a director of Qualcomm Incorporated from June 2005 to March 2018, including as chairman of the board of directors from March 2009 to March 2018, and as executive chairman from March 2014 to March 2018. He served as chief executive officer from July 2005 to March 2014, and as group president of Qualcomm Wireless & Internet from July 2001 to July 2005. In addition, he served as an executive vice president of Qualcomm Incorporated from February 2000 to June 2005.

Dr. Jacobs is a director of Dropbox, Inc. and FIRST, and Chairman of Heal, a private technology enabled medical care company. He is an owner and vice chairman of the Sacramento Kings, who compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science, M.S. in electrical engineering, and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science. He founded Berkeley’s Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation and was the university’s 2017 Alumnus of the Year. Dr. Jacobs is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Carl H. June is an American immunologist and oncologist. He is currently the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. He is most well-known for his research into T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer.