In This Newsletter

Improving Dementia Care
Advancing Healthy Longevity
Strengthening Financial Security
Convening in DC and Abu Dhabi
Building the Center’s Team
Amplifying the Vital Work of the Center’s Advisory Board

Improving Dementia Care

• Senior Director Diane Ty, Associate Director Rajiv Ahuja, and Advisory Board member Jennie Chin Hansen make the case in the American Society on Aging's Generations journal that a single Asian-American or AAPI classification masks underlying variations in dementia risk.

• Adult day services are a valued but underutilized resource for many families, especially those affected by dementia. These services can improve older adults’ quality of life through social engagement and provide family caregivers with periods of respite, allowing them to focus on work and personal needs. Learn more from Rajiv Ahuja and Senior Associate Mac McDermott.

• Despite progress in dementia risk reduction, testing, and treatment, the costs of care in the United States continue to rise alongside dementia prevalence, putting the onus on health-care providers and other stakeholders to increase access to high-quality dementia care services. That’s according to a new report by Claude Lopez, Bumyang Kim, Diane Ty, and Raj Ahuja.

Advancing Healthy Longevity

• Director Lauren Dunning presented our work to integrate health and home care through technology at the Gerontological Society of America’s annual conference, November 2–6, 2022, and on the AARP AgeTech Stage at CES 2023. She covered the policy and regulatory landscape, the importance of designing for equity and access, and the opportunities with value-based payment models. Learn more by reading our latest fact sheets:

  • Collaboration and Coordination to Accelerate Efforts

  • Development of a Systems Approach to Bridge Gaps and Bolster Equity

  • Policy Changes to Facilitate and Support Integration

• Given that we’ve been talking about chronic diseases for decades, Michael Milken asked, “When will we finally realize some progress?” Anand Parekh, the chief medical advisor for the Bipartisan Policy Center, shared his lessons learned from the Milken Institute Future of Health Summit in Forbes.

• Nir Barzilai, scientific director for the American Federation for Aging Research, contributed to our Power of Ideas essay series with “The Transformative Promise of Geroscience.” Roberta Brinton, director of the Center for Innovation in Brain Science at the University of Arizona, also contributed to the series with an essay about “Shifting the Paradigm of ‘Winner Drug Takes All’ for Neurodegenerative Diseases.”

• Lauren Dunning teamed up with James G. Hodge, Jr. and Jennifer L. Piatt of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law to analyze state public health emergency powers in response to COVID-19 for the American Journal of Public Health. One of their key takeaways: To reinforce health infrastructure, states can create advisory bodies, strengthen local public health authority, and increase transparency.

Strengthening Financial Security

• “Recruiting and retaining older workers can solve immediate workforce challenges for many global organizations.” Senior Advisor Paul Irving shares his thoughts in WorkingNation on the challenges facing the workforce and the labor market in the coming year.

• Paul Irving and his co-authors Bob Kramer, Jacquelyn Kung, and Ed Frauenheim analyzed survey data and interviews with older frontline workers to gather seven strategies for organizations to attract and retain older frontline workers in the Harvard Business Review.

Convening in DC and Abu Dhabi

The Milken Institute Future of Health Summit, December 6–8, 2022, in Washington, DC, convened the world’s brightest minds to confront the most significant health challenges by matching human, financial, and scientific resources with the most innovative, inclusive, and impactful ideas.

During the Summit, the Center hosted four public sessions available to watch (or rewatch) any time, on demand. We also co-hosted a convening with UsAgainstAlzheimer’s about “Action for Healthy Aging: A Private-Sector Initiative to Reduce Risk Factors for Dementia and Other Chronic Conditions.”

High-Tech and High-Touch: Solutions to Support Caregivers

Moderator Amy Goyer of AARP led our expert panelists through a discussion about improving long-term care options, broadening access to paid family leave, and developing tech to assist with juggling life, work, and caregiving.

Panelists included Joseph Coughlin, founder and director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab and CFA Advisory Board member; Jisella Dolan, chief global advocacy officer of Honor and CFA Advisory Board member; Micky Tripathi, national coordinator for health information technology, US Department of Health and Human Services; and Monique Woodard, founder and managing director, Cake Ventures.

The Future of Senior Housing: Building for Health, Engagement, and Accessibility

Moderator Kimberly Smathers of ATI Advisory asked our expert panelists: How do we build communities for health, engagement, and accessibility? Watch the full session on demand.

Panelists included Bob Kramer, co-founder of the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, founder of Nexus Insights, and CFA Advisory Board member; Tom M. Moriarty, executive vice president, chief policy and external affairs officer, and general counsel for CVS Health; Jake Rothstein, CEO of Upside; and Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge and member of the Alliance to Improve Dementia Care.

Harnessing the Power of Human Connection

Jennifer Wong, director of the Wallis Annenberg GenSpace, moderated a lively discussion covering everything from the health system to culture change that will encourage connection and stave off social isolation and loneliness.

Panelists included Anand Parekh, chief medical advisor of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Brian Robinson, global chief strategy officer of Havas Health & You; Mona Siddiqui, senior vice president of Home Clinical Operations, CenterWell, and Humana; and Trent Stamp, CEO of The Eisner Foundation and member of the CFA Advisory Board.

A Revolution in Longevity Science

Anne Thompson of NBC News facilitated a discussion that explored new evidence regarding the best ways to extend healthy longevity and possibly reverse the aging process.

Speakers included Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging Research; Roberta Brinton, director and regents professor in the Center for Innovation in Brain Science at the University of Arizona; Martin Dewhurst, global co-leader of the McKinsey Health Institute; Howard Fillit, co-founder and chief science officer of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and steering committee member of our Alliance to Improve Dementia Care; and Dean Ornish, founder and president of Preventive Medicine Research Institute.

The 4th annual Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit, November 17–18, 2022, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, centered on the theme of “Celebrating the Power of Connection.” Our catalytic community of global thought leaders, senior executives, investors, government officials, and philanthropists shared the adversities and achievements of living through this moment in history—translating lessons learned into rebuilding meaningful, healthy, and prosperous lives for all.

Rajiv Ahuja interviewed Deepak Chopra about the mind-body connection as a precursor to a panel discussion with researchers and innovators on extending healthy longevity.

Panelists included Alexandra Bause, co-founder and head of venture of Apollo Health Ventures; Amit Etkin, founder and CEO of Alto Neuroscience; Mehmood Khan, CEO of Hevolution Foundation; and Sergey Young, founder of the Longevity Vision Fund.

Building the Center’s Team

• We are hiring a director for the Alliance to Improve Dementia Care who will work with the 100+ members driving change to the complex health- and long-term care systems that people at risk for or living with dementia and their caregivers must navigate. The position will be available soon on our Careers page.

Amplifying the Vital Work of the Center’s Advisory Board

• Elizabeth Blackburn discussed how we can improve mental health and slow aging with Elissa Epel in “Stress, Resilience, and Healthy Aging” at the Commonwealth Club of California.

• Laura Carstensen and the Stanford Center on Longevity hosted a conference that challenged attendees to shift the focus toward “health span” rather than just life span, according to Palo Alto Online.

• Hassy Cohen, dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, spoke to CBS Los Angeles about his discovery that presents a potential new avenue for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

• Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of Transamerica Institute, spoke to Yahoo Finance about their research into US workers’ retirement outlook.

• The MIT AgeLab, led by Joseph Coughlin, is featured in the new Disney and National Geographic original series called Limitless with Chris Hemsworth.

• Ken Dychtwald, CEO of AgeWave, wrote about five course corrections needed to optimize longer lives in the US.

• Ric Edelman launched a daily podcast called “The Truth About Your Future,” focusing on longevity, retirement security, exponential technologies, blockchain and digital assets, and health and wellness.

• Ruth Finkelstein, executive director of the Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging, testified in support of a fair elder parole process in New York State.

• Marc Freedman, founder and co-CEO of Cogenerate, spoke to the Wall Street Journal about the importance of friendships and hobbies in retirement.

• Linda Fried, dean of the Columbia School of Public Health, spoke about her work to guide a global quest to enhance health as the world’s population ages.

• Scott Frisch, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of AARP, spoke at CES 2023 about the growing opportunity for tech solutions designed to meet the needs of the world’s aging population.

• The John A. Hartford Foundation, led by Terry Fulmer, supported the release of a new messaging toolkit to improve public understanding about care for serious illness.

• Lynn Goldman, dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University, celebrated the school’s 25th anniversary in October 2022, GW Today reports.

• Michael Hodin, CEO of the Global Council on Aging, released a Health Affairs Forefront article about the threat of antimicrobial resistance to the promise of healthy aging.

• Cinny Kennard, executive director of the Annenberg Foundation, hosted a media preview and roundtable discussion to debut an action plan to strengthen LA’s food system.

• Bob Kramer, founder of the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and founder of Nexus Insights Care, was named McKnight’s Pinnacle Career Achievement Award Winner.

• Abby Levy, managing partner and co-founder of Primetime Partners, spoke at the Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity Report Summit along with other board members. Watch the summit to understand more about enabling a virtuous cycle for healthy longevity in the US.

• Becca Levy, professor at the Yale School of Public Health, was named a 2022 Next Avenue Influencer in Aging and released a book Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long and Well You Live.

• Nancy Lynn, senior vice president at BrightFocus Foundation, continues the Brain Info Live community outreach series in 2023.

• Jim Mellon, chairman of Juvenescence, spoke to Longevity Technology about why he believes the time is right to invest in longevity.

• Jennifer Molinsky, project director of the Housing an Aging Society Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies, released a report on pandemic innovations and policy ideas to advance housing and health equity for older adults.

• Penny Pennington, managing partner of Edward Jones, spoke to Fortune about the recent crypto meltdown and her advice to clients.

• Rodney Slater, former US Transportation secretary and a partner at Squire, Patton, Boggs, discussed the Federal Aviation Administration outage that prompted a nationwide flight halt on Bloomberg’s Balance of Power podcast.

• Trent Stamp was featured in Inside Philanthropy for his transformational leadership as CEO of the Eisner Foundation.

• Fernando Torres-Gil, director of the Center for Policy Research on Aging at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, was elected as a 2023 fellow by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.

• Kai Walker, head of inclusion and transformation, retirement, and personal wealth solutions for Bank of America, released a new report about the importance of planning for career interruptions.