Advancing Public Health in Uncertain Political Times

Summit Overview

The 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit brought together public health practitioners, policymakers, community organizations, and Bloomberg Fellows in Washington, D.C. from December 2-4, 2024 to explore strategies to ground public health solutions in evidence and forge connections to advance policies to improve health. 

Speakers at the 2024 annual summit included leaders from state and federal public health agencies, political figures, faculty from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, journalists, and representatives from community organizations. Bloomberg Fellows also had the opportunity to meet and strategize with the Initiative’s growing network of collaborators who are on the cutting-edge of public health in communities across the country. Sessions covered strategies to work across political divides to evaluate and reform long-standing policies that impact public health. 
 

View a recording of the Summit.

To those of you who are students or are hoping to save lives – science doesn’t change. Politics might, but science doesn’t. Go forward with the tried-and-true process that we use in science for health, in which your North Star is evidence.

Secretary Xavier Becerra

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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General

Opening Remarks: Michael R. Bloomberg

WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries and Bloomberg American Health Initiative Founding Donor Michael R. Bloomberg delivers opening remarks at the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit.

General

Introductory Remarks: Joshua Sharfstein and Michelle Spencer

Bloomberg American Health Initiative Director Dr. Joshua Sharfstein and Deputy Director Michelle Spencer welcome you to the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit.

General

Bridging Divides in Public Health

At the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit Dr. Jerome Adams joins Reporter Jonathan Capehart to share strategies to bridge divides in public health in uncertain political times.

General

Building Trust While Upholding Scientific Integrity: Francis Collins

At the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Washington Correspondent at the New York Times, spoke with Dr. Francis Collins, Distinguished Investigator at the National Institute for Health, about the importance of building trust while upholding scientific integrity.

General

Building Trust While Upholding Scientific Integrity: Thomas Dobbs

At the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Washington Correspondent at the New York Times, spoke with Dr. Thomas Dobbs, Former Mississippi State Health Officer, about the importance of building trust while upholding scientific integrity.

General

The Value of Science in Uncertain Times

Ron Daniels, President of the Johns Hopkins University, delivers a keynote address at the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit.

Environmental Challenges

Transforming Transportation

At the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit Robert Hampshire, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology at the U.S. Department of Transportation, joined Dr. Shima Hamidi, Bloomberg Assistant Professor of American Health, and David Zipper, Senior Fellow, MIT Mobility Initiative, to speak about how their partnership is transforming transportation in the United States.

Violence

Violence Reduction Councils

Mark Talbot, Chief of Police for the City of Norfolk, Virginia, Bloomberg Fellow Malcolm Cunningham, and Mallory O'Brien, Associate Scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health spoke with Reporter Chip Brownlee about violence reduction councils and how they have been implemented in communities across America.

Adolescent Health

Empowering Youth: Advancing Mental Health and Wellness

In her keynote address at the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit, President and Co-Founder of Born This Way Foundation, Cynthia Bissett Germanotta, shares more about her vision to advance youth mental health and wellness in America.

Violence

Advancing Gun Safety: Policy Makers on Background Checks and Firearm Licensing

Deputy Director's of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention Greg Jackson and Rob Wilcox shared their thoughts on the importance of background checks and firearm licensing at the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit.

General

Navigating Forward to Advance Health

At the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit Xavier Becerra, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, shared his guidance for navigating the way forward to advance health in America.

General

Bridging Divides: The Role of Politics in Public Health

At the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, U.S. Representative, 1st District of Pennsylvania, spoke with Bloomberg American Health Initiative Director Joshua Sharfstein about the role of politics in public health.

Violence

Training Physicians to Address Firearm Safety with Patients

At the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit Annie Andrews, CEO & Founder of Their Future. Our Vote. spoke with John Feinblatt, President of Everytown for Gun Safety about a new project which will focus on training physicians to address firearm safety with patients.

Violence

Judicial Health Notes

Bloomberg Centennial Chair, Department of Health Policy and Management, Dr. Keshia Pollack Porter and her colleague Stefanie Carignan launched Judicial Health Notes at the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit. This high impact project helps to identify the public health impact of court decisions on Americans.

Food Systems for Health

Feeding the Future

At the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Initiative Robert Campbell, Vice President, Policy at Feeding America, and Kelli Case, Senior Staff Attorney at the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative, share more about how to build better food systems for the future.

Addiction & Overdose

Expanding Access to Treatment in Correctional Facilities

At the 2024 Bloomberg American Health Summit Dr. Ruth Potee, Medical Director for the Franklin County House of Corrections and the Director of Addiction Services for Behavioral Health Network, and Dr. Yngvild Olsen, Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, spoke with Bloomberg Health Reporter Riley Griffin about the importance of expanding access to methadone in jails and prisons across the United States.

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Public health is not a game where we can walk away from a bad hand or simply wait for our next turn. It is a constant struggle, which impacts the daily lives of over 330 million people. If we do not do our jobs and advocate for [the people], no matter how difficult, nothing will get better.

Rosa DeLauro

U.S. Representative, 3rd District of Connecticut