Symposium Schedule

Morning Session:
The State of Health Equity Research: Perspectives from Multi-Sector Leaders

8:30—9:00AM

Registration and Light Breakfast

9:00—9:20AM

Welcome and Opening Remarks

  • Carol Horowitz, MD, MPH, Director and Lynne Richardson, MD, FACEP, Co-Director, Institute for Health Equity Research (IHER)

  • Eric Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS)

  • Pablo Legorreta, Founder & CEO, Royalty Pharma

9:20—9:45AM

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Nicole Lurie, MD, PhD, Executive Director, CEPI-US
Envisioning Tomorrow: Charting the Path for Health Equity Research in an Era of Shifting Priorities

FIRESIDE CHAT

9:45—10:05AM

Susan Polan, PhD, Associate Executive Director, APHA
Fighting for Science: APHA's Advocacy Efforts to Protect the Public’s Health

Moderator - Lynne D. Richardson, MD, FACEP, Co-Director, IHER 

10:05—10:25AM

FIRESIDE CHAT

Joseph Betancourt, MD, MPH, President, Commonwealth Fund
Navigating Challenges: Advancing Health Equity Research Through Strategic Philanthropy

Moderator - Carol R. Horowitz, MD, MPH, Director, IHER

10:25—10:45AM

FIRESIDE CHAT

Dan Todd, JD, Founder and Principal, Todd Strategy Group
Health Equity and Government Affairs: A View From The Hill

Moderator - Marshall Urist, MD, PhD, EVP, Royalty Pharma  

10:45—11:00AM

Refreshment Break

11:00—11:20AM

FIRESIDE CHAT

Brendan Carr, MD, MA, MS, CEO, Mount Sinai Health System and Pablo Legorreta, Founder & CEO, Royalty Pharma Partnerships for Progress: When Research Meets Real-World Impact

11:20—11:40AM

SHORT TALK

Linda-Eling Lee, PhD, Founding Director & Head, MSCI Sustainability Institute, MSCI Inc.
Why Sustainability Matters to Global Investors

11:40—12:00PM

FIRESIDE CHAT

Josette Gbemudu, MSc, AVP, Patient Health Innovation, Merck and Margaret Crotty, MBA, MPH, Chair, Board of Trustees, Northwell Health
Quality, Value and Patient-Centered Care: Health Equity as a Pharma and Healthcare Cornerstone

12:00—12:20PM

short talk

Dinushika Mohottige, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Institute for Health Equity Research and Robert Sanchez, MPS, Director, The Jentosy Project 
We Are Return on Investment: The Essential Role of Patients and Advocates as Partners in Equity Research

12:25—1:30PM

Lunch

Afternoon Session:
AI + Health Equity

1:30—1:50PM

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Marzyeh Ghassemi, PhD, Associate Professor, Institute for Medical Engineering Sciences, MIT
The Power and Promise of AI for Health Equity

1:50—2:10PM

FIRESIDE CHAT

Judy Gichoya, MD, MS, Associate Professor, Interventional Radiology and Informatics, Emory University
Harnessing AI for Health Equity in Clinical Practice 

Moderator - Alexander Kagen, MD, Professor, Diagnostic, Molecular and Interventional Radiology, ISMMS

2:10—2:30PM

FIRESIDE CHAT

Irene Dankwa-Mullan, MD, MPH, Co-Founder & COO, Protea Global Solutions
Designing for the Future That’s Already Here: Equity, AI, and the Systems We Choose to Build

Moderator - Girish Nadkarni, MD, PhD,  Professor and Chair, Windreich Department of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, ISMMS

2:30—2:50PM

SHORT TALK

Crispin Goytia, MS, Program Manager, Institute for Health Equity Research
If we're not at the table, we're on the menu: how community partners can foster AI equity and innovation

2:50—3:10PM

Refreshment Break

3:10—3:30PM

FIRESIDE CHAT

Maia Hightower, MD, MPH, MBA, Founder & CEO, Veritas Healthcare Insights, LLC
Dismantling Structural AI Bias and Building an Equity Minded AI Ecosystem

Moderator - Lea Davis, PhD, Professor of AI & Human Health, Medicine, Psychiatry, and Genetics and Genomics, ISMMS

3:30—3:50PM

SHORT TALK

Marshall Chin, MD, MPH, Professor of Healthcare Ethics, University of Chicago

Advancing Health Equity in 2025-26: Research, Action, and Advocacy  

3:50—4:10PM

SHORT TALK

Joshua Fessel, MD, PhD, Former CMO and Director of the Office of Translational Medicine, NCATS, NIH
Finding Our Footing When the Earth Shakes: Thoughts From a Former Fed

4:10—4:30PM

Closing Remarks

4:30—5:30PM

Networking Reception