Power of Ideas

Explore 18 thought leadership essays from the Milken Institute's Future of Health Summit 2026, examining how health-care leaders and innovators are advancing medical research, improving access to care, and addressing challenges in cancer, dementia, nutrition, women's health, and healthy aging.

Each contributor answers a central question: How can we bring better health to more people? Their answers range from the kitchen to the clinic and from the pharmacy to the policy arena. Contributors argue that food is medicine, that trust and collaboration matter more than more data, and that we need to understand people as deeply as we understand disease. They look at ways to improve cancer survival, detect dementia earlier, expand access to clinical trials, speed up rare disease therapies, and put women’s brain health first. Together, they call for a proactive, affordable, and accessible health-care system. It would start at home, connect nutrition with the safety net, and treat age as something other than a diagnosis.