Sponsors

Speaker:
George Poste, Director, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University

Preregistration for this invitation-only event is required. For information, contact the Events Department at 310-570-4605.

Moderator:
Michael Milken, Chairman, Milken Institute; Chairman, FasterCures / The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions

The high level of attention given to Social Security, Medicare and the maturing baby boom generation only hints at the implications and opportunities of our aging population. This session touches on vital issues affecting the future of all of us.

Preregistration for this invitation-only event, which will be held at the Milken Institute, is required. For information, contact the Events Department at 310-570-4605.

Moderator:
Richard Hodes, Director, National Institute on Aging

Can physical activity reduce morbidity and mortality at the same time that it enhances cognitive functioning and emotional vitality? Do the benefits of exercise last throughout life? Can aging be made healthier and happier for everyone, ameliorating memory loss and dementia in the process?

Preregistration for this invitation-only event, which will be held at the Milken Institute, is required. For information, contact the Events Department at 310-570-4605.

Gary Small, author of The Memory Prescription, and head of the UCLA Center on Aging and the UCLA Memory Clinic, will talk about how we can maintain our mental performance as we get older.

Preregistration for this invitation-only event, which will be held at the Milken Institute, is required. For information, contact the Events Department at 310-570-4605.

Moderator:
Greg Simon, President, FasterCures / The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions

To understand how to accelerate the search for cures, we need to understand better the critical elements — money and human capital — necessary for speeding innovative products to market, and how to bring them together in as friction-free an environment as possible. What kinds of inputs are necessary at what points in the process of innovation? How can conflicting short- and long-term goals be balanced among scientists and those who fund science — government, philanthropy and the private sector?

Preregistration for this invitation-only event, which will be held at the Milken Institute, is required. For information, contact the Events Department at 310-570-4605.

Moderator:
David Heber, Founder and Director, Center for Human Nutrition, University of California, Los Angeles

Would it surprise you to learn that dark chocolate can lower blood pressure? Or that almonds can reduce inflammation in the vessels as much as first-generation statins? Or that echinacea may not really either prevent colds or ease cold symptoms? Or that a low-fat diet by itself does not have the benefits once attributed to it? We will ask the experts to comment on such shifts in popular thinking, and guide us as we navigate our way to sound eating habits.

Preregistration for this invitation-only event, which will be held at the Milken Institute, is required. For information, contact the Events Department at 310-570-4605.

Participants at this session will receive an update on the multifaceted economic and other contributions of the biopharmaceutical industry to California. This interactive discussion will focus on current and future developments in the state. The modern biotechnology industry was created out of California′s universities in the 1970s. Many pharmaceutical firms looking to stay abreast of the latest therapeutic developments matched up with biotech firms seeking external resources, additional expertise, the ability to scale-up production and global marketing capabilities. A pattern of increasing interdependence developed, and nowhere is that relationship more embedded than in California. The biopharmaceutical industry is a significant force in the state′s economy. Several of the world′s leading clusters are in California. Gain firsthand information on the extent the industry′s role in the state′s economy in terms of jobs, earnings, output and the products that are delivered to improve health and the quality of life to residents. Find out how the state is positioned for future growth in this industry.

Preregistration for this session is required. Please send your requests to Joe Meehan at jmeehan@milkeninstitute.org.

Moderator:
Daniel Perry, Executive Director, Alliance for Aging Research

Since 1965, the population of those aged 65 and older has doubled, explained moderator Dan Perry, and it is expected to double again in the next 25 years. Although the panelists' discussion addressed the need for greater training for physicians who will face increased numbers of older patients, the conversation repeatedly returned to the theme of prevention.

Robert Butler said he deplored the lack of training in aging that doctors receive. In Great Britain, he said, gerontology is the second- or third- largest specialty, but in the United States, only 10 percent of medical schools require gerontology courses or rotations at nursing homes. He recommended the creation of a blue-ribbon commission on health care for aging, as well as increased funding for aging research, to perhaps 1 percent of the Medicare budget.

Research has shown that older people respond differently to treatment, but this knowledge has often not been put into practice, noted Samuel Klein. He said that even obesity, which is found in all age groups, should be treated differently in the old.

Sandra Gadson said that older people would be better served if more of them were involved in clinical trials.

Butler explained that the elderly, who often suffer from several diseases or chronic illnesses, use 40 percent of all prescription medications. Yet no requirements exist for their inclusion in clinical trials; in fact, most trials involve 35- to 45-year-olds suffering from a single illness. This problem is exacerbated because in general clinical trials use 3,000 subjects; yet about 30,000 subjects are required to determine liver toxicity.

Prevention of the chronic diseases that require these drugs was also a strong theme. Butler explained that many classic diseases of old age really start in childhood. Osteoporosis, for example, is caused by inadequate calcium intake throughout life. And Perry noted that "aging is a lifelong process." Lewis Kuller stressed the failure of the medical profession to apply the knowledge of prevention. Given that the majority of men 65 and older have some form of vascular disease, he recommended that they all receive treatment for it as a matter of course.

Prevention of obesity, in particular, was a concern among the speakers. Butler emphasized the importance of physical education in schools, drawing a parallel between the 8 percent of children on Ritalin and the possible lack of outlet for their energy. Klein countered that obese baby boomers had physical education in school, and that it′s not a lack of knowledge that makes people obese, but rather an environment that makes it difficult for most people to follow low-fat diets. Kuller agreed; most of our earlier advances in mortality and morbidity came from environmental changes that made healthy living easier. For instance, people no longer have to boil water to avoid dysentery, he said. Gadsen offered the example of poor neighborhoods that tend to have plentiful fast-food restaurants and few grocery stores -- making healthy eating difficult.

Although David Lipschitz agreed with the other speakers on the importance of medical education and prevention, he rejected the general pessimism that accompanies aging. His own life has only improved with age, he said, and he insisted that "the best is yet to come." He offered three keys to a long and healthy life: love, faith and purpose. Given the example of first-generation Latinos, who despite their disproportionate poverty tend to be healthier than native-born Americans, most of the speakers blamed American diet and a "fitness-negative culture." However, Lipschitz pointed to Latin culture, which is family-centered and often quite religious as a cause of health.

All the speakers agreed that the medical profession must adapt to a "graying" America. However, most of them spoke more strongly on how the culture as a whole must shift to make people healthier longer. Recalling a discussion he′d had the day before, Perry explained that physical activity and good nutrition are key to a long life. The challenge is to enable these behaviors.

Moderator:
Greg Simon, President, FasterCures / The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions

The health-care industry is the largest segment of the global economy, totaling a staggering 4.6 trillion dollars, or 10 percent of world GDP. The cost of health care in the United States constitutes almost half of this figure, at 2 trillion dollars and 16 percent of domestic GDP. And the demand for health care is growing, fueled by an aging population in the developed world and improved living standards in the developing world, noted moderator Michael Milken.

The challenge of providing quality health care to everyone at a reasonable cost in the face of these trends was the focus of discussion by a diverse panel representing the perspectives of patient advocates, medical providers, pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry sectors, and the federal government.

Joe Hogan of Healthcare noted that the balancing act of optimizing quality, access and cost is the main challenge in making health-care policy decisions. Universal health-care systems may optimize access, but they do not necessarily guarantee quality. In contrast, private U.S. health-care systems that aim to optimize quality do not necessarily correlate with better quality. The panelists suggested several ways to improve the current state of affairs, as well as how various groups can work together to bring about change.

Decreasing the cost of health care was at the forefront of the discussion. Hogan suggested that since illness management accounts for a high cost of medical expenditures, early detection and treatment could help reduce the health-care costs dramatically. New medical imaging technologies have the potential to provide early diagnosis, he added, but they need to be provided at reasonable costs to primary-care physicians in order to make an impact.

James Greenwood of BIO added that introducing financial incentives to get checkups is one way to ensure that primary-care physicians can monitor patients on a regular basis. The AMA's Ed Hill remarked that several preventable behaviors, such as drug and alcohol abuse and improper weight management, result in a trillion dollars of medical costs. He suggested that a new look at health-focused K-12 education could create an effective way to educate the young people about the consequences of their choices.

The speakers agreed that the quality of health care could be improved dramatically with the concept of "personalized care." Myrl Weinberg of the National Health Council said that personal health records are a critical component in empowering patients to take responsibility for their health-care decisions. Many patients already use Internet sites to educate themselves about health-care options and provider options. Personalized health records could drive greater patient involvement in decision-making about their treatments.

Weinberg noted that personal health records could be implemented in the next two to three years, given collaboration between key players. Hill and Hogan were more hesitant, pointing out that only 23 percent of physicians are currently using digital records and that the adoption of these technologies tends to be challenging and slow in such workflow-centric environments. In addition, Hogan noted, it is not enough to focus on increasing lifespan as a measure of health-care quality. Instead, he said, we need to focus on increasing the "health span," the length of people′s healthy and productive lives.

Various philosophies about how to improve access to health care compete in the political area, which is part of the reason why change is difficult, even though many agree that the status quo is inadequate. In discussing the recent Massachusetts decision to legislate mandatory health insurance coverage on the state level, the panelists agreed that it is an interesting and brave experiment, and that more action on the legislative front in order to encourage better access to health care. However, Andrew von Eschenbach, the acting FDA commissioner, cautioned that simply having insurance does not guarantee adequate coverage. Personalized insurance plans are needed in order to improve access to specific treatments.

The panelists concluded was their representative groups need to continue working together. Fostering better communication and understanding of common objectives is critical to establishing lasting relationships needed to produce positive change.

Moderator:
Ron Loeppke, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategic Officer, Matria Healthcare Inc.

How does a company enhance both health and productivity in the workplace? It's possible to do so, and to reduce health-care costs, through an integrated, employer-based approach, the panelists agreed.

"An integrated approach is essential to reaching individual (internal) customer markets," noted Pamela Hymel of Cisco Systems. Corporate culture, employee incentives/disincentives, trust between employees and employers, and innovative prevention-oriented tools are some of the essential elements of an integrated, multi-pronged system that can ensure employee health and maximize business productivity.

The overall picture of mounting health-care costs is well documented: For many companies, health-care costs are rising faster than corporate profits. Less widely discussed is the loss in productivity associated with health-care issues, which also hits companies' bottom lines. Moderator Ron Loeppke of Matria Healthcare explained for every dollar a company spends on an employee's medical and pharmaceutical costs, the company spends two to three dollars on health-related productivity costs. This loss of productivity is naturally more acute for employees with more than two risk factors, he said. Research shows the converse is also true: Decreasing risks employees′ factors results in increased productivity.

Panelists shared their experiences in reducing employee risk factors, improving employee health and decreasing employer costs across different industries. A focus on prevention and wellness is central to their companies' approaches, they said.

Steven Burd of Safeway cited a new consumer-driven health-care program that included full coverage for all preventative care, and which his company implemented with about half its 23,000 non-union employees. The results were remarkable: an 11 percent decrease in health-care costs and a decrease in employees' emergency room visits by a factor of 7. These accomplishments are particularly important to an industry with low profit margins (1.5 percent for Safeway), he said, so decreasing health-care costs can have a significant impact on the company's bottom line. He revealed three keys to Safeway's successful health-care program: (1) ensuring that employees had some "skin in the game," so that health care did not appear to be free to them; (2) employee incentives and disincentives that correspond to health behavior; and (3) transparency of cost and quality information.

Hymel echoed the importance of these features and added that Cisco Systems has been innovative in using information technology to mitigate its upward trend in health-care costs. Cisco's approach leverages both its technology expertise and its corporate culture and demographics, specifically, its IT-savvy, youthful (the average age is 39) employee base. The company uses animation and health-oriented video games to engage employees in improving their health.

Panelists agreed that companies must use their corporate culture to implement change. Creating an atmosphere of trust is essential: Employees must trust their employers with confidential data, and the work environment regarding health-care issues (particularly those such as obesity and disease) must be supportive rather than punitive. Ron Loeppke observed that "culture eats policy for lunch every day," and that companies must thus model and believe in the behavior they encourage their employees to demonstrate. As Caroline Kovac of IBM noted, "You have to do things to build trust, to build this kind of program. If you do this right, it's a win-win for everyone, shareholders, companies and employees."

Speaker:
Mireille Guiliano, Author, French Women Don't Get Fat; President and CEO, Clicquot Inc.

Mireille Guiliano will sign copies of her book,"French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasure," in the aol.com CyberPavilion.

Moderator:
Margaret Anderson, COO, FasterCures / The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions

A global market is emerging in health research as nations compete for human capital, intellectual property and research resources, such as databanks, bio-banks and patients themselves. This globalization of the health-research/health-care continuum raises issues of how and where human and financial capital are best deployed to produce maximum gains in the acceleration of medical solutions. This session will focus on a FasterCures-commissioned white paper by David Meltzer and related issues.

Introduction By:
Geoffrey Moore, Senior Vice President, Knowledge Universe Inc.

Moderator:
Harvey Rubin, Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Computer Science; Director, Institute for Strategic Threat Analysis and Response, University of Pennsylvania

When the next flu pandemic occurs, how bad will it be? The 1918 flu pandemic killed between 50 million and 100 million people. Influenza deaths far exceeded total deaths during World War I. In fact, it may have been the worst disaster since the Middle Ages.

The most obvious lesson to be drawn is the need to "take the disease seriously," argued John Barry, author of The Great Influenza and Rising Tide. The next most important lesson is to "tell the truth," he said. Public officials should not tell people they are facing ordinary influenza when it may debilitate 30 percent of the work force. This means owning up to the possibility that a modern flu pandemic could be worse than the flu pandemic of 1918, which occurred in a world with 30 percent of today's population and in a world without air travel.

Although the disease could spread faster in today′s world of rapid global travel, Barry explained that a flu pandemic would likely come in waves rather than all at once. Because of this wave phenomenon, Barry proposed trying to monitor the disease. With early detection, it might be possible to snub out the disease before it turns into a pandemic.

But if the flu truly becomes a pandemic, the economic costs may be tremendous. Sherry Cooper of Global Economic Strategist at Harris Bank had estimated the economic cost and predicted that global economic growth would be cut by 2 percent annually for approximately three years if the next pandemic were similar in scale of the 1918 flu pandemic. Because companies keep razor-thin inventory and labor margins, a shock to the economic system might be enough to break it. Most businesses would find their supply chains completely broken if they lost 30 percent of their labor force for some period of time.

As for the effects on demand, Cooper said that people would no longer buy nonessential goods. Meanwhile, there would be panic buying of water, food and essentials, resulting in shortages. Furthermore, the market for discretionary spending would suffer massive deflation.

In fact, the pandemic′s effects on trade could be more problematic than the disease itself. "Trade and travel will screech to a halt." said Michael Osterholm of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. That is dangerous in an interdependent world. When a single region becomes infected, the entire supply chain is affected. Osterholm predicted that hospitals would be fighting the disease with 1918 medicine and equipment because virtually all imports would be cut off.

Since modern medicine will probably be of limited availability, Osterholm suggested that the "developing world will be better off" because these countries are self-sufficient, relative to the developed world, where people are used to having water delivered and having others bury the dead. "We'll run out of caskets overnight," he said. "In a time-to-order world, we′ll have trouble."

Although these scenarios are bleak, one panelist offered hope. Tara O′Toole of the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburg Medical Center, claimed that scientists could fix the flu problem within six years. She called for a new Manhattan Project that would gather scientists in an effort to find a quick treatment and a cure for the virus.

All the panelists seemed doubtful that a cure could be achieved within a six-year time frame, especially given the nation's inability to provide effective leadership to prepare for natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina. Even if a cure could be found within six or seven years, the panelists thought the chances of another flu pandemic occurring well before then were quite high. So the overall conclusion remained grim: The world will probably be underprepared for the heavy health and economic toll of the next major flu outbreak.

Moderator:
Greg Simon, President, FasterCures / The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions

The potential value of medical-records data to clinical research could be magnified by the computing power associated with an interoperable system of digitized, or electronic, medical records (EMR). Widespread adoption of EMR systems is an important step toward delivering on the promise of longer lives and better health. The recognition of the vast benefits EMR systems will provide in the delivery of health care continues to grow. This session will present the benefits of electronic medical records for care and research from the perspective of the health I.T. industry, health-care provider community and employers. It will bring together the groups motivating for change to review and critique the different efforts underway in each sector.

Respondents:
Robert Beall, President and CEO, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Kathy Giusti, President, Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation

Moderator:
Greg Simon, President, FasterCures / The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions

Moderator Greg Simon of FasterCures began by introducing the impressive accomplishments of each of the panel members, all founders and managers of charitable foundations dedicated to medical improvement. In the end, all members agreed that philanthropy ought not to be akin to a "vow of poverty."

A key theme was the shared belief that nonprofit foundations needed a good business model in order to operate in a productive manner. Carl Schramm of The Marion Ewing Kauffman Foundation emphasized the need for entrepreneurship in philanthropy by proclaiming that his foundation recruits businessmen for management positions. Philanthropy is not contrary to capitalism, he said, noting that one of the greatest aspects of the United States is the fact that many of our wealthiest citizens do not horde their wealth but reinvest it and donate it into our economy.

Michael Milken emphasized the need for passion in philanthropy. Although there is little economic incentive driving charitable foundations, he said, a different and major incentive is the belief that one is making a difference and creating productivity in a powerful way. He noted that 50 percent of men will face cancer in their lifetimes, along with a third of all women. One path to reducing this number is philanthropy. Change can only occur through putting up your own money for a cause, he said, or mobilizing a large group of people behind that cause.

Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who is also founding director of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, described his dream of spurring change in the battle against cancer by "creating an army." His "Livestrong" bracelets have raised millions and inspired many to contribute to the fight against cancer. He criticized the Bush administration′s cancer research funding decisions and said that the easiest way to make a difference is to increase preventive screenings in urban areas. The failure to provide screenings is "saving a dollar today in order to spend a dollar later," he stated.

Near the end of the panel, respondent Kathy Giusti of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and a cancer survivor, said that sharing information was important. The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation tells each donor precisely where his or her money has been invested. The foundation also provides information about all decisions, including less successful endeavors. This involves the donor and provides accountability for the foundation.

Moderator:
Diana Nyad, World-Class Distance Swimmer; Broadcast Commentator

Arguably two of the greatest athletes to ever grace the planet, Lance Armstrong and Andre Agassi, shared some of their stories, their life philosophies and their thoughts on the state of their sports, how nutrition and exercise played a role in their success and the work they do outside their sports.

Both men are known for their die-hard perseverance and athleticism, but the nature of those qualities differs between Armstrong and Agassi, reflecting the differences in the nature of the challenges posed by their respective sports. For Agassi, perseverance can be likened to a transcendence of time. "For me, it′s always been about the process," he said. "Every day I just try to get one day better."

By focusing on the conditions and challenges immediately before him, he said, he has grown and evolved, adapting his game to new opponents and technologies, and enjoying a 20-year career in a sport where most winners only briefly shine. "In tennis, you don't have to be good," he noted. "You just have to be better than one person (at a time)." Agassi is currently gearing up to compete in Wimbledon and the U.S. Open later this year.

The challenges Armstrong has faced give his style of perseverance a slightly different flavor. In the early 1990s, he was emerging as a competitive cyclist. He won the 1990 U.S. Pro Championship and, by 1996, was ranked the No. 1 cyclist in the world. But that same year, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which had spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain. The doctors said his chances were less than 50-50. He underwent intensive chemotherapy, was able to fight back to health after two years and then kept the victory streak alive by winning seven consecutive Tour de France titles.

Determination comes naturally, he said, whether it's used to pedal up a hill or fight back a deadly disease. To be a great athlete, he said, you need both favorable genetics and the right attitude, but he was quick to add, "I think that the mental part of it is greater than the physical part."

Armstrong doesn′t regret his decision to retire. "My kids don't live in France," he said, and he is tired of missing important moments in their development. He also has more time for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which supports the cancer community's battle with their illness. "Athletes are forgotten," he said. "Sports fans move on to the next athlete, but cancer patients will be there forever. ... When you have to divvy up the time in the day, those (cancer patients) are the people you've got to focus on."

In 1994, Agassi founded The Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation to help provide recreational and educational opportunities for at-risk children. "I hope to leave tennis in a better state than I found it," he said, "and I hope to leave the world in a better state and make a difference."

Moderator Diana Nyad asked how the two men stay focused on their sports, and Agassi replied that he has a wife and business partners whose support allows him to concentrate on tennis. "At the end of the day, I'm a tennis player," he said, "and I′m going to do that until I don't feel like I'm performing my best anymore."

"There are many winners, in cycling and in tennis," concluded Nyad, "but champions are people who've stepped out of their sport and touched humanity."

Moderator:
Maria Livanos Cattaui, Secretary General, International Chamber of Commerce

By now, the outsourcing of production and services by U.S. companies to countries like China and India has become commonplace, much studied and much debated. But while most of the focus has been on manufacturing and, more recently, the service sector, the new frontier also encompasses medical research. This might result in lower costs for research, but it will certainly affect U.S. scientific competitiveness. Imagine being able to live longer thanks to clinical trials in India that led to the discovery of a new cancer treatment. Or having your life saved by a new heart valve that was developed in China. What are the opportunities and pitfalls of doing medical research in developing economies? Will this trend further research into global health issues? Will it help or harm U.S. innovation and competitiveness in biomedical research? More importantly, how will this trend affect people's health care?

Moderator:
Howard Soule, Senior Fellow, Milken Institute; Managing Director of Knowledge Universe Health and Wellness LLC

Moderator Howard Soule of the Milken Institute and Knowledge Universe Health and Wellness LLC, introduced the panel of health professionals, allowing each to speak on what he or she believes to be the most important aspect of improving the health today.

Francine Kaufman of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles emphasized the need for a change in school and family environment. Obesity prevention, she said, is especially challenging in urban areas, where poverty, a lack of safe places to exercise and poor education lead to malnutrition among young people. She predicted that one in three children in the 21st century will suffer from diabetes if things do change. Educating children early in life about health benefits through phys-ed and other programs, and improving the nutrition offered in school lunches and vending machines, could make a significant difference, she stated.

Samuel Klein of the Washington University School of Medicine spoke about the benefits of weight reduction. While we have expensive procedures and medication for treating diabetes, coronary heart disease and other chronic conditions, the best way to target all cardiovascular and other obesity-related diseases is through weight loss. More specifically, he said, this weight loss must be achieved through calorie reduction and exercise, not shortcuts, such as liposuction, in order to achieve the health benefits.

Klein also spoke to the possibility that the ideal body mass index (BMI) may be much lower than previously thought. He mentioned an experimental group of middle-aged people, with normal weight, who reaped significant health benefits by lowering their BMI to around 19.

Caldwell Esselstyn Jr. of the Cleveland Clinic weighed in on the benefits of a plant-based diet. He provided the audience with a slide of chronic illnesses related to obesity in Norway during World War II. The slide showed a staggering drop in the incidence of these illnesses during the 1940s, when the Axis powers confiscated Norwegian livestock, and suggested that the drop was directly related to the decreased ingestion of meat and dairy foods. He maintained that the only thing Americans need to do in order to fight the vast majority of chronic diseases is to replace unhealthy fats (mainly found in animal products) with fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Dean Ornish of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute also spoke about the need to change the way people think about food. Rather than turning nutrition into a guilt campaign, he said, we ought to make nutrition "fun, sexy, hip, crunchy and convenient." There is room for entrepreneurship and private interests in nutrition, he added, noting that two-thirds of Pepsi Cola's profits last year came from its healthier foods.

Finally, Harold Schmitz of Mars Inc. provided some of the company's recent nutrition research regarding chocolate. While he focused mainly on the improved blood flow that studies have shown comes from certain cocoa beans rich in phytochemicals, he also spoke to the two more general aspects of health that he believes need to change. First, he said, he would like to see nutrition science embrace the chemistry of food groups. Second, he would like to see a system that rewards the business sector for investments in nutrition as much as it reward them for pharmaceutical research. With these two aspects in place, he said, the private sector could accomplish much in the field of nutrition.

The power of information shared instantly and seamlessly over computer networks has fundamentally transformed virtually every aspect of our lives, from how families communicate to how we wage war. Why, then, haven't we been able to use that power more effectively to win the war on diseases like cancer? The cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG), created by the National Cancer Institute, is beginning to change that by establishing a "World Wide Web of cancer research." This voluntary network or grid connects individuals and institutions in a way that enables them to share data and tools, speeding the delivery of innovative approaches for the prevention and treatment of cancer. The infrastructure and tools created by caBIG are applicable to other disease areas as well, holding the promise of revolutionizing the way traditional medical research is conducted. What are the possibilities if we could achieve such efficiency and transparency? What are the barriers to achieving the promise?

The rising cost of employee health care is a daunting issue facing corporations of all sizes. Exacerbating the problem are employees with chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma and cancer. Frustrated by double-digit premium increases and the high cost and delivery of health care, corporations are taking steps to proactively manage health care by implementing programs for disease management and health and wellness to optimize and standardize care. Participants at this session will get an in-depth look at how disease management programs are improving employee well-being and creating cost savings for several Fortune 500 companies.

Moderator:
Michael Milken, Chairman, Milken Institute; Chairman, FasterCures / The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions

At the final lunchtime session of the 2006 Global Conference, chairman Michael Milken joined Nobel Prize winners F. Sherwood (Sherry) Rowland, Alan MacDiarmid and Steven Chu for a discussion of pressing scientific issues, including global warming and the global supply of energy and water. While the scientists did not refute Gary Becker's assertion from earlier in the week that "scientists are not very good at predicting the future," they showed the crowd that they have put considerable thought and research into solving the world′s most pressing issues.

All three distinguished scientists agreed that global warming was a real phenomenon. The year 2005 was the warmest of the last 150 years, and there has been a considerable increase in global surface temperatures, particularly in the Arctic region. Human activity has been instrumental in creating these effects, with increasing levels of atmospheric pollutants and carbon dioxide levels as a result of fossil fuel use and deforestation. Chu impressed the crowd with his clear explanation of increasing Arctic surface temperatures, and many were surprised to learn that non-carbon dioxide pollutants have increased temperatures by making Arctic ice dirty. This dirty ice is less reflective, increasing the amount of light absorbed by the polar ice caps. If Arctic ice melts and causes a change in ocean currents, said Rowland, it will "take over a thousand years to reverse the effects," which will include widespread changes in global temperature patterns.

Global warming may have a far-reaching impact on the global water supply, another of the Earth′s most pressing problems. While there is a tremendous supply of water on the planet, most of this is saltwater, which cannot immediately be used for irrigation or human consumption. Current desalination processes are too energy-intensive to be relied upon, forcing humans to improve water conservation. But global warming, said Chu, has the potential to impact the Earth's freshwater storage capacity. Most of the world′s freshwater systems are fed by the natural storage capacity of mountain snow and glacial ice. Should higher temperatures cause these to disappear, the state of California and other places throughout the world could face tremendous water shortages.

Alan MacDiarmid noted that he believes the world′s energy crisis to be the greatest scientific problem today. All the energy we use, he said, fundamentally comes from the sun′s energy. Through photosynthesis, plants and trees convert the sun's energy to our other forms of energy. With this in mind, he said he intends to spend the upcoming years trying to answer the question of whether the plants and plant wastes in the United States can efficiently generate enough ethanol to fully replace gasoline in automobiles. If so, this will reduce U.S. dependence on gasoline and global warming.

Chu offered a final cautionary note on global warming when he said that "the warmest period in the Earth's history was followed by the greatest mass extinction in human history." Scientists will play an important role in informing public policy and driving the technological innovations that will prevent our extinction and allow humankind to continue to thrive.

Moderator:
David Heber, Founder and Director, Center for Human Nutrition, University of California, Los Angeles

Only 30 percent of how we age is determined by genetics. The other 70 percent depends on factors under our control, such as nutrition and personal exercise habits, explained David Herber of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of California, Los Angeles. That is good news for the individual concerned about his or her health.

Some health improvements are quite simple. For example, Susan Trimbo of GNC talked about the health benefits of taking Vitamin D and fish. Such daily supplements are a big industry, with $20 billion in annual pill sales. Trimbo noted that 35 percent to 45 percent of Americans take a daily vitamin supplement, and when she polled the audience, she found that more half the listeners had taken a vitamin supplement that day. This above-average participation rate was not too surprising; affluent and educated people tend to be better informed and take better care of their health, she said.

But other Americans are jumping on this healthy nutrition bandwagon, too. In the past, people indulged in foods high in fat and sugar. But recently, said Brian Cornell of Safeway Inc., "organic has become much more of a mainstream item." Foods in high fat and sugar are not where Safeway sees growth potential. Rather, the five fastest-growing food categories in Safeway stores include organic fruit and juice, fresh juice, berries, fresh-cut fruit and packaged salads. And for those consumers who are unwilling to give up their favorite junk foods, grocery stores are now selling "portion-control packs." These 100-calorie packs of snack food are probably the fastest-growing segment in the packaged-foods sector of the grocery market, he said.

Cornell said he found it encouraging that "people are making smarter choices" at the grocery stores and retail food stores. Yet he stressed the importance of three variables when addressing the consumer: simplicity, convenience and taste.

One small startup firm, Eaturna LLC, has risen to this challenge. Eaturna strives to offer healthier, better-tasting, according to its chairman, Robert Fell, adding that, "You're not going to change the eating habits of most Americans." Therefore, the challenge is "to find food that people will like."

Fell argued that there has been "too much emphasis on science and diets." He said food should be fun. With the slogan, "love food, love life," Eaturna has set its goal to become the "Starbucks of the prepared food market."