AI for Healthy Cities

Dr. Ashwin Vasan is the 44th Health Commissioner of New York City. He is a practicing primary care physician, epidemiologist and public health expert with nearly 20 years of experience working to improve physical and mental health, social welfare and public policy outcomes for marginalized populations in New York City, nationally and globally. In his role as Commissioner since early 2022, Dr. Vasan has reshaped the city’s public health system to focus on addressing the main drivers of declining life expectancy in the post-COVID emergency era, including overdoses, chronic and diet-related diseases, birth inequities, climate change, and gun violence, while simultaneously strengthening the Health Department’s emergency response-readiness capacities. Throughout this work, he has brought in a unique, unparalleled focus to combating the mental health crisis, releasing a comprehensive citywide mental health plan addressing the second pandemic – a crisis of mental health plaguing youth, vulnerable New Yorkers with severe mental illness, and those impacted by the overdose epidemic. Dr. Vasan has concurrently led several other key health priorities, such as leading the ongoing response to COVID-19 as the first American jurisdiction to kickstart vaccination efforts, combatting the 2022 mpox outbreak and pioneering readiness and response to the first case of polio in the US in a decade. Under his leadership, the city also took charge on protecting reproductive rights by launching the NYC Abortion Access Hub, connecting people from New York and nationwide to providers and becoming the first jurisdiction in the US to offer free medication abortions in its clinics. Having begun his career in global health working at Partners in Health and the HIV Department of the World Health Organization, he most recently served as the President and CEO of Fountain House, a US-based mental health nonprofit. He currently serves as faculty at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Ann Aerts is Head of the Novartis Foundation, an organization committed to transform the health of low-income populations, by leveraging the power of data, digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to reimagine health and care around the world. Ann holds a Degree in Medicine, a Masters in Public Health from the University of Leuven, Belgium, and a Degree in Tropical Medicine from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. Passionate about improving population health through data, digital and AI, Ann applies her relentless commitment to overcoming health inequities to pioneer solutions that can advance health and care globally. Ann chairs the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development Working Group on Digital and AI in Health and is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Commonwealth Centre for Digital Health. In 2018, Ann served as a member of the US National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine Committee on Improving the Quality of Health Care Globally and sits on the US National Academies of Medicine Commission on Healthy Longevity. Ann has authored numerous publications on digital health, innovative approaches and multisector partnerships to address global health challenges. Before leading the Novartis Foundation, Ann was Franchise Medical Director Critical Care for Novartis Pharma in Basel and Therapeutic Area Head Cardiovascular and Metabolism for Novartis Pharma Belgium. Prior to joining Novartis, she served as Director of the Lung and Tuberculosis Association in Belgium and as Head of the Health Services Department of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva. She has also worked as Health Coordinator for the ICRC in several countries.

Salima Monorma Bah is the Minister of Communication, Technology and Innovation in Sierra Leone. As a cabinet minister, Ms Bah’s mandate includes leading the government’s digital transformation agenda as well as the country’s digital economy and innovation entrepreneurship strategic development while also supervising the telecommunication sector. Ms. Bah is most passionate about the potential of technology and innovation to accelerate the national development of developing countries and prior to her appointment she lead the design, development and implementation of such programs as the Head of Project Coordination at the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation in Sierra Leone. Ms Bah holds a Bachelors of Law Degree from the University of Wales in the United Kingdom as well as a Masters of Law from Columbia Law School In the United States.

Allison Carlson is the Executive Vice President of FP Analytics & Events at Foreign Policy. She oversees FPA’s cross-cutting research at the intersection of policy, technology, and global markets as well as Foreign Policy’s global dialogues and convenings. Prior to these roles, Carlson led FP Analytics’ energy and technology team for more than a decade, evaluating evolving climate and emissions policies and identifying opportunities for advanced technology deployment internationally. Before joining FP, she led the Latin America program for a boutique consulting firm assisting European companies on investing in emerging markets’ energy and financial sectors. Carlson has presented her work at a variety of international conferences and before the U.S. Senate. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, where she received a master’s degree in international relations and international economics.

Daniel E. Dawes, is a widely respected healthcare and public health leader, health policy expert, educator, and researcher who serves as Senior Vice President of Global Health and the Executive Director of the Institute of Global Health Equity at Meharry Medical College. Prior to this, he served as Executive Director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute and a Professor of health law, policy, and management at Morehouse School of Medicine. He is the author of two groundbreaking health policy books, 150 Years of ObamaCare and The Political Determinants of Health, both published by Johns Hopkins University Press. Among his many achievements, he was an instrumental figure in developing and negotiating the Mental Health Parity Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act, and the Affordable Care Act’s health equity-focused provisions, among other landmark federal policies, as well as the principal investigator for the nation’s first health equity tracker, co-founder of the Health Equity Leadership and Exchange Network (HELEN), and a principal investigator of the HHS National COVID-19 Resiliency Network. Professor Dawes is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and an elected fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. He serves as an advisor to The White House COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, an appointed member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee to the Director where he co-chairs the CDC’s health equity work, and the NIH’s National Advisory Council for Nursing Research.

Victor Dzau is President of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), Vice Chair of the National Research Council, Chancellor Emeritus of Duke University, and past CEO of Duke Health System. Previously, he was Professor and Chairman of Medicine at both Harvard and Stanford Universities. Dzau is recognized globally for a long and highly decorated career as a scientist, administrator, and leader. His seminal research in cardiovascular medicine and genetics laid the foundation for development of the class of lifesaving drugs known as ACE inhibitors, used globally to treat high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. Under Dzau’s tenure, the NAM leads important initiatives, including a Global Health Risk Framework; the Human Genome Editing Initiative; the Grand Challenge on Climate Change, Human Health, and Equity; the Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity; and the NAM’s signature program on Emerging Science and Technology in Health & Medicine. The NAM has played a leadership role in emphasizing health promotion and disease prevention as key strategies to enhance community and population health. In considering its mission – to improve health for all by advancing science and accelerating health equity – the NAM has focused on the importance social, behavioral, and environmental determinants of health; the need to consider social equity in designing policies and programs to improve health outcomes; and the importance of integrating social determinants and multisectoral data into health care delivery and decision making. In its efforts to help achieve the Public Health 3.0 vision – of a nation capable of leveraging big data across multiple sectors to improve the societal conditions which affect health – the NAM has played a key role in advancing the use of social, environmental, and economic data across our health system. Recent NAM publications, Sharing Health Data: The Why, the Will, and the Way Forward, and Health Data Sharing to Support Better Outcomes: Building a Foundation of Stakeholder Trust, argue that effective use of data is foundational to transforming health, health care, and health equity.

TechPlomacy is a pioneering initiative elevating technology and digitalization to a crosscutting foreign and security policy priority of the Danish government. Anne Marie and her team have a global mandate and a physical presence in Silicon Valley, Copenhagen and Beijing, transcending borders and regions in rethinking the traditional understanding of a diplomatic representation. Prior to her appointment, Anne Marie worked at the World Economic Forum in Geneva (2017-2020) where she led the World Economic Forum's work on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Global Public Goods. Her focus was on mobilizing technology companies, governments and civil society to collaboratively tackle the barriers that prevent emerging technology from scaling responsibly to help solve society’s biggest challenges. Before joining the World Economic Forum, Anne Marie co-founded an innovation house for student entrepreneurship; co-founded Democratic Capital; worked as political advisor in the Danish Parliament; and served on the Board of Directors of Copenhagen Business School and The Danish Consumer Council. Anne Marie Engtoft Larsen holds a M.Sc. in International Development from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in International Business & Politics from Copenhagen Business School and is a 2017 Global Leadership Fellow with the World Economic Forum.

Andrew Sollinger is the publisher and CEO of Foreign Policy, which he joined in 2018. Previously, he was executive vice president at Business Insider, executive director of Capital New York (now Politico NY) and managing director of the Financial Times Americas. Sollinger was part of the executive team that built Money-Media, a digital news startup focused on the fund management industry, and sold it to the FT. A former reporter and editor for Institutional Investor magazine's newsletter division, Andrew has lived in London, Hong Kong and New York. He is a graduate of Clark University, where he was executive editor of The Scarlet.