The third annual Fortune Brainstorm HEALTH conference kicked off today in Laguna Niguel, California, bringing together leaders from a range of industries to share ideas and insights on “the revolution that is underway in 21st century healthcare.”
The two-day event will take an expansive approach to healthcare and examine what it truly takes for individuals, communities, companies and countries to flourish in today’s world. In panel discussions, keynotes and interviews, participants will discuss the shifting landscape of pharmaceutical development, the importance of sleep, the problem of burnout among physicians, the state of the U.S. healthcare system, the role of creativity in healthcare, why we should talk about death, and the global prevalence of mental health disorders.
Technology—from the robots that can perform surgery to the smartphones and wearable devices we have with us every day—has clearly become inextricable from the discussion of healthcare and features prominently in many of the panels. Speakers will discuss topics including AI’s potential to change healthcare, big data’s effect on agriculture, and brain development in teenagers (including the dangers of technology addiction.) Additionally, a session titled “Gun Violence as a Public Health Crisis” will bring together a range of speakers to discuss “how reframing gun violence as an urgent matter of public health might at last lead us to a cure.”
Participants include Tristan Harris, co-founder of Time Well Spent; basketball star Kevin Durant; Andrew Puddicombe, co-founder of Headspace; Cheri Mah, Research Fellow at UC San Francisco’s Human Performance Center; and Arianna Huffington, CEO and Founder of Thrive Global and conference co-chair. Mark Bertolini, Chairman and CEO of Aetna Inc., will be interviewed by Fortune’s Editor-in-Chief and another of the event’s co-chairs Clifton Leaf, and Dr. David B. Agus (also a co-chair and a member of Thrive Global’s Board of Directors) will speak with author and entrepreneur Tony Robbins about his journey from a troubled upbringing to a wildly successful and influential career.
Thrive Global will be covering key sessions throughout the week. You will find this year’s agenda here, and you can livestream many of the conference’s sessions here.