Aspen 2026 – Ideas | Mount Sinai Today

Ideas and Innovation

Mount Sinai Programming at Aspen Ideas 2026

Program titles, dates, times, or venues subject to change

Aspen Ideas: Health

June 22–25

Featured Program

Reimagining Youth Mental Health

Solutions to the growing youth mental health crisis are moving beyond traditional clinical settings to incorporate sports, play, music, and creative arts into care. Leaders from medicine, community-based programs, and professional sports highlight how Mount Sinai Health System and its partners are redefining mental health support and scaling culturally relevant, community-driven models to meet young people where they are—from locker rooms to clinics. By integrating creative expression and athletic engagement into care delivery, these powerful, evidence-based interventions promote psychological safety, foster trust, reduce stress, and build resilience, improving outcomes for vulnerable populations. (Presented by Mount Sinai Health System)

Monday, June 22 | 3:30 pm MT

East Lawn Tent

Moderated By

Brendan G. Carr, MD, MA, MS

Chief Executive Officer
Professor and Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Distinguished Chair
Mount Sinai Health System

Speakers

Sandra M. Brunson, MD

Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer
Second Round Foundation

Russel Wilson

Super Bowl Champion Quarterback, Entrepreneur, Sports Owner, and Philanthropist

–

Sidney Hankerson, MD, MBA

Vice Chair, Community Engagement, Department of Psychiatry
Director of Mental Health Equity Research
Institute for Health Equity Research Center
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Russell Wilson

Super Bowl Champion Quarterback, Entrepreneur, Sports Owner, and Philanthropist

Sarah Wood, MD, MS

Chief of Adolescent Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center
Mount Sinai Health System

Additional Events

Reimagining Medical Education

As the medical school curriculum evolves in response to AI and other new technology, humane medicine has never been more important. Evidence shows that nutrition, exercise, social connection, and the arts are keys to good health, and that structural barriers to care generate enormous health disparities. But physicians-in-training learn less about promoting well-being than about fixing ailments, and academic preparation isn’t keeping pace with today’s evolving health demands. How do we bridge that gap, strengthen the workforce pipeline, and reconsider medical education so it truly meets the needs of patients and communities?

Tuesday, June 23 | 1:40 pm MT

McNulty Room, Doerr-Hosier Center

Moderated By

Kenneth L. Davis, MD

Executive Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees
Mount Sinai Health System

Speakers

Uché Blackstock

Founder and CEO
Advancing Health Equity

David Skorton

President and CEO
Association of American Medical Colleges

–

Sharmila Makhija

Founding Dean and CEO
Alice L. Walton School of Medicine

David Skorton

President and CEO
Association of American Medical Colleges

Are We Ready for Psychedelics?

Late-stage clinical trials suggest psychedelic-based therapies to treat anxiety and depression will soon be available by prescription. Pharmaceutical companies are investing heavily in research and the White House has directed the FDA to put them on a fast track for review. But the road from clinical testing to marketing to broad use will be bumpy as we learn more about how psychedelics affect the brain, regulators develop a framework for assessing their safety and effectiveness, insurers consider whether to cover them, and healthcare providers seek out specialized training to ensure their proper use.

Wednesday, June 24 | 9 am MT

Greenwald Pavillion

Moderated By

William Brangham

Host, “Horizons from PBS News”
Correspondent, “PBS NewsHour”

Speakers

Rachel Yehuda, PhD

Professor of Trauma and Resilience
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

–

Matthew Zorn

Deputy General Counsel
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

At the Table Together: Sharing the Responsibility of Containing Healthcare Costs

In 2026, the nation’s healthcare expenses are expected to grow by almost 8%, pharmacy costs will rise nearly 15% and insurance premiums are soaring. Despite their differing interests, health systems, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, economists, and public payers agree this cannot continue. Leaders across the healthcare ecosystem set aside finger-pointing and take this rare opportunity to talk together about cross-cutting, sustainable strategies for bringing down costs while improving access to care and patient outcomes. The clear message is that everyone has a role in cost containment.

Thursday, June 25 | 9 am MT

McNulty Room, Doerr-Hosier Center

Moderated By

Dan Gorenstein

Founder and Executive Editor
Tradeoffs

Speakers

Stephanie Carlton

Chief of Staff and Deputy Administrator
CMS

David Cutler

Professor of Applied Economics
Harvard University

John Love

VP
Amazon Pharmacy

–

Brendan G. Carr, MD, MA, MS

Chief Executive Officer
Professor and Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Distinguished Chair
Mount Sinai Health System

David Cutler

Professor of Applied Economics
Harvard University

Katerina Guerraz

Chief Operating Officer
Aetna

John Love

VP
Amazon Pharmacy

Aspen Ideas Festival

June 25 – July 1

Featured Program

The Longevity Moonshot: Personalized, Predictive, and Restorative Health

Health care is shifting from treating disease to preserving and restoring function across the lifespan. Using Mount Sinai’s NYC-VITA trial as a case study, researchers from Mount Sinai and XPRIZE Healthspan semifinalists examine breakthroughs in restorative health, smarter clinical trials, and personalized care—while confronting the ethical, regulatory, and equity challenges of bringing longevity science into everyday medicine. (Presented by Mount Sinai Health System)

Monday, June 29 | 11 am MT

Booz Allen Hamilton Room, Koch Building

Moderated By

Brendan G. Carr, MD, MA, MS

Chief Executive Officer
Professor and Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Distinguished Chair
Mount Sinai Health System

Speakers

Fanny Elahi, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Neurology, Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, and Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine
Director of The Glickenhaus Center for Successful Aging

Eimear E. Kenny, PhD

Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
Director of the Institute for Genomic Health
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

–

Zahi A. Fayad, PhD

Lucy G. Moses Professor of Medical Imaging and Bioengineering
Vice Chair for Research in Radiology
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Director of the BioMedical Engineering and Imaging Institute

Eimear E. Kenny, PhD

Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences
Director of the Institute for Genomic Health
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Anuradha (Anu) Lala-Trindade (Lala), MD

Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), Population Health Science and Policy, and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Additional Events

Life, Optimized: What We Gain (and Lose) When AI Takes Over

AI is rapidly moving from assistant to surrogate—drafting our messages, organizing our schedules, shaping our decisions, and managing the cognitive labor of everyday life. As we outsource more thinking to machines in the pursuit of enhanced human potential, what happens to attention, memory, creativity, and human connection? What are the true psychological and social tradeoffs of an AI-mediated life?

Friday, June 26 | 11 am MT

Paepcke Auditorium

Moderated By

Jenn White

Journalist; Host, “1A,” NPR

Speakers

Fanny Elahi, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Neurology, Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, and Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine
Director of The Glickenhaus Center for Successful Aging