Senior Director, International, Milken Institute Health
Brenda Huneycutt, PhD, is a senior director at the Milken Institute, where she oversees Milken Institute Health work internationally across all four Milken Institute Health portfolios – FasterCures, the Future of Aging, Feeding Change, and Public Health.
The 12th annual Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore convened global leaders transforming business, finance, government, health care, technology, and philanthropy to discuss critical topics of importance within the Asia-Pacific region and around the world. All public panel recordings are available for viewing. For the second consecutive year, Milken Institute Health convened a Future of Health in Asia track of programming linked to the Milken Institute’s US-based Future of Health Summit in Washington, DC.
Here are some of the key perspectives, insights, and solutions shared during the Future of Health in Asia:
Mainstreaming women’s health in technology is possible with increased research, increased investments, and partnerships. Venture capital investments in women’s health still represent less than 4.5 percent of spending in health care, resulting in a significant lack of robust scientific data on women and technology (e.g., artificial intelligence (AI), precision medicine, genomics) to support clinician and patient shared decision-making. Women's health investment is not just philanthropy; it is a strategic necessity for economic growth and healthier societies with the potential to be a trillion-dollar market. Research that includes women and gender-stratified data reporting is needed to create innovations. Partnerships are essential to mainstreaming women’s health and integrating technology into women’s health. Engaging patients on pain points can lead to the development of essential technologies; investors connecting with consumers can lead to a better understanding of women's health needs and solutions; start-ups and academic institutions collaborating can ensure validation of innovations; and health-care providers and patients working together can optimize care. Ultimately, through investments, research, innovations leveraging technology, and partnerships, personalized women's health care is possible.
Employers are supporting employee mental health by embedding health strategies into business plans and leveraging technology in organizational planning. Employers are committing to the importance of supporting mental health for all employees, with leadership taking the first step and demonstrating a broader commitment. Technology continues to play a crucial role in integrated health and business strategies. Employers need to pursue an integrated approach to mental health, where technology supplements and advances preexisting leadership culture, using technology-oriented tools to help scale and ensure that all employees have access to mental health education and treatment. For example, Norway’s Norges Bank is incorporating strategies related to psychological safety and resilience among employees to strengthen performance culture, whereas British Petroleum is assessing health risks for employees working offshore, including evaluating how technology may impact utilization rates for the company’s Employee Assistance Program.
The need for employers to integrate mental health is only rising, with one in two people estimated to experience a mental illness in their lifetime. In a recent survey, mental health and well-being were the number-one driver of quality of life for Singaporean residents, eclipsing financial security, job security, and physical health. The public is prioritizing and seeking leadership in the space of mental health and well-being. The need is there, the demand is clear, and the priority is now.
AI is reshaping biomedical research, clinical practice, entrepreneurship, and investment. Three key takeaways emerged. First, AI is an enabler, not a replacement; it augments clinicians through faster diagnostics, personalized insights, and improved workflow support, but clinician judgment informed by the patient relationship remains irreplaceable. Second, AI is enabling new capabilities in health, including accelerating cardiac CT scan processing time from hours to minutes, designing next-generation mRNA therapeutics, and turning simple, low-cost sensors into diagnostic tools that can expand access to diagnostics in underserved communities. Third, to scale AI’s potential gains in health, panelists called for more flexible regulatory and reimbursement models, greater data sharing by both government and private institutions, and societal investments to increase AI literacy.
School meals go beyond serving food. More than 400 million primary- and secondary-school-aged children receive food at school globally. Organizations delivering these meals can play a role in engaging and educating children (and parents) on nutrition and reducing food waste through workshops, cooking classes, cooking competitions, social media, public ambassadors, and gamifying the online ordering of menu options (e.g., offering incentives for choosing healthy dishes). Providing meals in school boosts enrollment and disproportionately benefits girls worldwide by delaying marriage and childbirth, supporting school attendance, and positively shaping long-term opportunities. In addition, school meals help address both malnutrition and obesity by modeling healthy food choices while supporting local farmers, creating jobs in communities, and strengthening local economies.
Cross-border collaborations and self-care help address global health challenges of access and workforce. With 52 percent of the world lacking access to essential health services and a health-care workforce crisis, collaborations and self-care play an important role in enhancing global health. For example, the Healthway Cancer Hospital in the Philippines and the National Cancer Centre of Singapore, part of SingHealth, are partnering to bring health-care providers together to discuss complex cancer cases, leveraging the volume and diversity of cases from the Philippines and the experience with new technologies and treatments from Singapore to learn from each other and build capacity. In addition, early screening and self-care practices can help prevent disease, improve individual health, and reduce burdens on health care systems. Companies, governments, and health care systems are partnering to increase health literacy, individual awareness of disease risk, and public awareness of evidence-based self-care practices.
Milken Institute Health continues to expand its impact around the world by bringing together leaders to advance discussions, identify solutions, and amplify great work that addresses significant health challenges around the world. Contact [email protected] for more information about our projects, partnership opportunities, and more.
Senior Director, International, Milken Institute Health
Brenda Huneycutt, PhD, is a senior director at the Milken Institute, where she oversees Milken Institute Health work internationally across all four Milken Institute Health portfolios – FasterCures, the Future of Aging, Feeding Change, and Public Health.
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Chad Clinton is the director of media relations for the Milken Institute. Hired to this role in August 2021, Clinton develops and executes strategies to amplify the Institute’s core messages by generating coverage of its pillar workstreams, experts, and events.
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