2025 Bloomberg American Health Summit to Highlight Innovative Strategies to Advance Public Health

At a time of profound shifts in the public health landscape, the eighth annual Bloomberg American Health Summit will bring together Bloomberg Fellows, public health experts, community leaders, and policymakers from around the country to discuss current health challenges in the U.S.—and innovative solutions to save lives. 

Hosted by the Bloomberg American Health Initiative at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Summit will take place in Baltimore, on September 30, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Each section of the plenary will focus on one of the Initiative’s five focus areas: addiction and overdose, adolescent health, environmental health, food systems for health, and violence. With emerging health threats, advancing technologies, and shifting political dynamics, the Summit will emphasize the importance of safeguarding communities, driving equitable health outcomes, and ensuring a healthy and inclusive future.

Local, state, and federal experts, leaders from nonprofit organizations, and state representatives will share successful public health efforts and creative solutions to address health challenges. These include sexual health programs in Oklahoma, nutritional programs in Michigan, suicide prevention programs in Puerto Rico, and maternal health efforts in Louisiana, among others. 

Additional topics to be discussed onstage include:

• Urban sprawl in the U.S. and its impact on health, environment, and equity
• Bridging the gap between public safety and public health
• How community leaders and public health officials are working to ensure opioid settlement funds are driving lasting impact
• How local public health agencies are using Artificial Intelligence, with a focus on ethics and access

Featured speakers include:

• Alonzo T. Washington, Maryland State Senator
• Angela Ferrell-Zabala, Executive Director, Moms Demand Action
• Benjamin Brooks, Maryland State Senator
• Brandon Scott, Mayor, Baltimore
• Joshua M. Sharfstein, Director, Bloomberg American Health Initiative
• Kelly Henning, Public Health Program Lead, Bloomberg Philanthropies
• Keshia Pollack Porter, Dean, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• Lisa Lawson, President, Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Matthew Tejada, Senior Vice President of Environmental Health, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Michael Botticelli, Former Director, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
• Michelle Spencer, Deputy Director, Bloomberg American Health Initiative
• Michelle Taylor, Health Commissioner, Baltimore City Health Department
• Nikil Saval, Pennsylvania State Senator
• Randall L. Woodfin, Mayor, Birmingham
• Ron Daniels, President, Johns Hopkins University

Additional speakers and moderators are listed on the Summit's website. 

The Summit will also focus on the work of Bloomberg Fellows, individuals from around the country receiving public health training at the Bloomberg School who are working in organizations addressing health challenges in communities across the U.S. 

Each year, the Initiative supports 60 fellows with a full scholarship to earn a Master of Public Health or Doctor of Public Health degree. Unique to this fellowship, each fellow must be working at an organization advancing one of the Initiative’s five focus areas and remain with that organization one year after earning their degree. To date, there are 448 Bloomberg Fellows from 43 states, Washington, D.C., two territories, who represent 351 organizations. 

"I am extremely proud to have been part of the Initiative from the very beginning, and to have seen its members grow and its impact deepen," said Keshia Pollack Porter, PhD ’06, MPH, dean of the Bloomberg School and a Bloomberg Centennial Professor. "This year’s Summit is a powerful opportunity to bring together voices from across the nation to imagine and inform the future of the public’s health. The challenges before us are great, but our fellows and our partners have the courage and tenacity to meet them."

The Bloomberg American Health Initiative was created in 2016 to address the nation’s most pressing health challenges and works to improve life expectancy in the United States in ways that advance equity, use evidence, and change policy. The Initiative was established with a $300 million gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the world’s leading school of public health.

Members of the media are invited to attend in person or watch the livestream. Requests for credentials can be submitted here by Monday, September 29, and must be confirmed in advance. 

Learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellowship program here. 

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Media Contacts: Caitlin Hoffman choffman [at] jhu.edu (choffman[at]jhu[dot]edu) or Su Tellakat stellak1 [at] jh.edu (stellak1[at]jh[dot]edu)

This post originally appeared on the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health website.