An Update from MI Health—July 2024

In This Issue:

Read Program Highlights
View our Latest Reports
Review Policy Update
Learn from MI Health Experts
Join Us at Upcoming Events

Program Highlights

National Action Plan to Improve Representation in Clinical Trials

Despite recent legislative efforts to improve diversity in clinical trials and many individual organizational efforts, a national plan to include diverse patients has not yet been developed. Over the last year, the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative, the Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard, and FasterCures coordinated a series of convenings to investigate this issue and inform the publication of a National Action Plan for increasing diversity in clinical trials. Toward a National Action Plan for Achieving Diversity in Clinical Trials, a call for collective action to achieve representation in US clinical trials, is now available. It includes eight domains and key collective actions necessary for realizing a diverse, equitable, and accessible clinical trial enterprise. The work of these organizations continues to raise awareness of the Action Plan and advocate for the advancement of progress in one or more of the domains and action steps.

Food Is Medicine

Feeding Change responds to emerging needs in the Food Is Medicine (FIM) landscape through research, thought leadership, policy, financing, and leadership of the Food Is Medicine Task Force. As part of a joint commitment to the White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities, Feeding Change released a report in collaboration with the National Association of Chain Drug Stores on Catalyzing Action for Pharmacist-Provided Food Is Medicine Care, highlighting the role of pharmacies in supporting FIM care, the holistic care that accompanies the provision of FIM interventions. Alongside the report's release, Feeding Change convened a Policy Dialogue among diverse stakeholders representing federal agencies, policymakers, pharmacies, food retail, and payers to advance the policy and regulatory agenda related to the report’s recommendations.

Employers Advancing Health

The Public Health team works with employers as critical public health partners who are uniquely positioned to reach employees, their families, and their surrounding communities and provide employer-sponsored health insurance to 180 million people (roughly half the US population). We recently released several employer-focused publications, including a report highlighting ways that employers can deploy a whole-person health approach to substance use disorders, a how-to guide for employers to accelerate the shift toward comprehensive, person-centered approaches to obesity care, and a report capturing insights about employer-sponsored health insurance to drive value in health-care quality, affordability, and equity. An executive insights series posted from Public Health at the Milken Institute LinkedIn features written interviews with C-suite leaders across a variety of industries and sectors sharing their perspectives on ways to advance whole-person health for their employees and in their surrounding communities. Highlights and takeaways from two recent convenings are included in these articles: “An Evolving Workplace for Next-Gen Employees" and “Employers at the Intersection of Public Health and Public Safety.”

MI Health International Updates

MI Health recently hired Brenda Huneycutt, PhD, senior director, to direct the expansion of MI Health programmatic work internationally across all MI Health portfolios. Here are two of the programs underway in 2024.

• MI Health launched an initiative, “Coalition-Building between the US and China on Women’s Cancer Detection, Treatment, and Care,” to harness the power of the nonprofit, public, and private sectors to address barriers to improving outcomes for cancer patients. To kick off the initiative, MI Health, in collaboration with the US–China Business Council, hosted a day-long roundtable in Hong Kong to identify potential opportunities for US-China bilateral cooperation. The roundtable brought together 40 delegates from China and the US across the biomedical ecosystem to surface actionable ideas for collaboration that can advance solutions to the most vexing challenges facing the elimination of women’s cancer. We recently published a summary with key takeaways and opportunities for collaboration from the roundtable.

• By invitation of the minister of health of Nigeria, Esther Krofah, executive vice president of health at the Milken Institute, Huneycutt, and Hadly Clark, director at FasterCures, traveled to Abuja to provide strategic guidance to the Nigerian National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT). With NICRAT and the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, MI Health co-organized an expert roundtable bringing together over 50 cancer researchers, cancer care providers, and other stakeholders from the US and Nigeria. The roundtable participants discussed best practices and opportunities to bring public, private, and nonprofit sectors together to ensure the successful implementation of Nigeria’s National Strategic Cancer Control Plan 2023-2027 and National Cancer Research Agenda 2024-2028 to reduce the burden of cancer in Nigeria and improve health outcomes for patients with cancer through research, prevention, screening, and treatment. The convening received news coverage from several outlets, including TVC News Nigeria and KAFTAN TV. A report on the insights and opportunities surfaced during the roundtable discussion will be released this year.

Caregivers in the Workplace

The Future of Aging and the Johns Hopkins University Business of Health Initiative (HBHI) brought together prominent employers, researchers, caregiving advocates, and representatives of the business community for a convening on April 8 at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington, DC, as part of the Future of Aging’s “Caregivers in the Workplace” initiative sponsored by Edward Jones. The group discussed the need to raise private-sector employers’ awareness of the unique hurdles faced by working family caregivers, especially those caring for older adults, and opportunities to identify, offer, and advocate for impactful and valued employer benefits, policies, and supports aimed at improving their lives. The outcomes of this convening and research partnership with HBHI will be shared later this year.  

The Alliance to Improve Dementia Care

The Alliance to Improve Dementia Care (the “Alliance”), convened by the Future of Aging, brings together a multi-sector coalition of over 130 leaders and organizations to advance timely detection, improve access to treatment and coordinated care, and address health equity for people at risk for or living with dementia and their caregivers. Through expert workgroups, convenings, and collaborative initiatives, the Alliance amplifies and promotes the adoption of evidence-based solutions, policies, and promising innovations. Guided by a Steering Committee of diverse organizations, the Alliance aims to reduce health and economic inequities in dementia care, build a dementia-capable system and workforce, and advance comprehensive dementia-care models. We are excited to welcome two new members to the Alliance Steering Committee: Lundbeck and Craniometrix. Check out our most recent report, Guiding the Care Journey: Building Dementia Workforce and System Capacity through Care Navigation.

Building the Capacity of Nonprofit Organizations

• FasterCures’ LeadersLink program announced a new cohort of nine exceptional individuals selected from a competitive pool of applicants. LeadersLink aims to empower emerging leaders in patient-centered nonprofits that fund or participate in biomedical research. This year’s cohort will focus on engaging diverse patients throughout the research and development process. Meet the new cohort.

• FasterCures’ The Research Acceleration and Innovation Network (TRAIN) hosted the Research Partnership Maturity Model Interactive Workshop in Boston on April 5. The workshop convened patient organization leaders to discuss how they can utilize FasterCures’ Research Partnership Maturity Model to develop strategies for advancing research partnerships and catalyzing biomedical research. FasterCures will share additional updates and resources coming out of the workshop with our community.

Latest Reports

• Advancing Innovative Treatments for Mental Health Care

• Catalyzing Action for Pharmacist-Provided Food Is Medicine Care

• Employer Investments in Digital Whole-Person Health for Substance Use Disorders

• Financing Early Warning Systems: in Brazil, Indonesia, and Kenya

• Key Trends in Health at the Milken Institute Global Conference 2024

• Innovative Financing and Care Models to Scale Affordable Housing Solutions for Middle-Income Older Adults

• Market Solutions for Scaling Food Is Medicine Prescriptions

• Modernizing Care for Obesity as a Chronic Disease: A How-To Guide for Employers

• Reimagining the Future of Employer-Sponsored Health Care to Drive Value: Survey Insights

• Toward a National Action Plan for Achieving Diversity in Clinical Trials

• Transcending Age-Based Divides: The Case for Scaling Intergenerational Solutions

Policy Update

MI Health shapes and advances innovative policies that solve pressing health challenges spanning biomedical innovation, public health, food systems, and aging. To learn more, read this overview of the Milken Institute 2024 policy priorities and solutions.

Recent comment letters and statements include:

• Statement on the UNGA Zero-Draft Resolution on AMR (January 18, 2024)

• Request for Information on Improving Americans’ Access to Gene Therapies (January 22, 2024)

• Statement on Participation in White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities (February 27, 2024)

• Request for Information on Reauthorization of the Older Americans Act—US Senate HELP Committee (March 21, 2024)

• Race and Ethnicity Data Collection in Clinical Trials and Clinical Studies for FDA-Regulated Medical Products (April 29, 2024)

• Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program (June 25, 2024)

• Statement on Newly Released FDA Guidance on Diversity Action Plans to Improve Enrollment of Participants from Underrepresented Populations in Clinical Trials (July 1, 2024)

Learn from MI Health Experts

Select External Speaking Engagements

• Esther Krofah, executive vice president of health at the Milken Institute, was interviewed by GSK CEO Emma Walmsley in a video about Project Prevent and the need to shift health-care systems toward prevention of disease to achieve better health outcomes.

• Holly Freishtat, senior director, Feeding Change, was interviewed by Steven C. Anderson, president and CEO, National Association of Chain Drug Stores, in a conversation about the vital role of the pharmacy in advancing Food Is Medicine, and the actionable steps that public and private stakeholders should take to leverage pharmacist-provided Food Is Medicine care to address nutrition, hunger, and health effectively.

• Hadly Clark, director, FasterCures, spoke on patient preferences and perspectives on AI in clinical trials at a DCRI Think Tank session on “Embracing Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Clinical Research and Beyond.” Read a summary of the event.

• Yasmeen Long, director, FasterCures, spoke at the Association of Black Cardiologists 50th Annual Summit on a panel focused on the economic case for advancing health equity. View the event summary.

• Amanda Wagner Gee, associate director, FasterCures, spoke on a panel focused on building and scaling a new clinical trial infrastructure at the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy virtual meeting on “Fostering Collaboration to Advance Representative Enrollment in Clinical Trials.” View her session, starting at 1:34:35.

• Diane Ty, managing director, Future of Aging, spoke at the Global Healthspan Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, hosted by the Hevolution Foundation. In her panel, “Navigating Time—Healthspan’s Impact on Public Perception, Consumption Patterns and Aging Societies,” speakers reviewed public attitudes on health span and aging, highlighting the importance of fostering a “longevity mindset.” Ty also spoke to Al Arabiya English at the summit, cautioning that the burden of Alzheimer’s disease is likely to fall on women as the predominant family caregivers in the coming decades.

• Ty and Avery Wallace, senior associate, Future of Aging, spoke on panels at the NIC 2024 Spring Conference about meeting the housing and care demands of a growing population of middle-income older adults. Ty was a speaker on “NIC Research & Analytics: Demonstrating the Value of Senior Housing and Care," discussing the methodology and recommendations from our 2024 report Innovative Financing and Care Models to Scale Affordable Housing Solutions for Middle-Income Older Adults. Wallace was a panelist on “Innovation Lab on Navigating the Middle Market: Strategies for Capital Success.”

• At the 2024 South by Southwest Conference on March 12 in Austin, Texas, Rajiv Ahuja, director, Future of Aging, moderated a panel on “Longevity Cities: Optimal Environments for Healthy Aging.” From health services to connected communities, this panel explored the power of age-inclusive cities to foster healthy, more resilient lives. Read Ahuja’s takeaways from the panel.

Select Media Mentions

• Articles in Clinical Trials Arena and Clinical Research News extensively quoted Krofah on the US Food and Drug Administration draft guidance on Diversity Action Plans for clinical trials and considerations for sponsors and drug developers. 

• A Pharmacy Times article highlighted the key findings of Catalyzing Action for Pharmacist-Provided Food Is Medicine Care and the crucial role of pharmacists in advancing food is medicine care, with quotes from Freishtat.

• Articles published in Fierce Healthcare and MedCity News reiterated the critical role of employers in advancing comprehensive obesity care, referencing Modernizing Care for Obesity as a Chronic Disease: A How-To Guide for Employers and quoting co-author Sarah Wells Kocsis, director, Public Health at the Milken Institute. The MedCity News article quoted Wells Kocsis as saying, “We need folks to be healthy and happy and thriving. I think employers can really play an important role in being a part of the solution.”

• An article in MedCity News highlighted the findings of Reimagining the Future of Employer-Sponsored Health Care to Drive Value: Survey Insights, including that approximately one-third of employers are integrating value-based care into their employer-sponsored insurance and that another third are determining the “best-fit strategies for their organization” when it comes to accountable care.

• An article co-authored by Victoria Cargill, MD, senior director, Public Health, appeared in Health Affairs’ theme issue on Reimagining Public Health. “Colocating Syringe Services, COVID-19 Vaccination, and Infectious Disease Testing: Baltimore’s Experience” describes a collaborative effort to colocate infectious disease testing and COVID-19 vaccination with a syringe services program. The authors’ evaluation demonstrated that the colocation of important services with trusted community partners can facilitate engagement and is essential for service uptake.

• A McKnights Senior Living article highlighted the opportunities for addressing the unmet housing needs and wants of older adults from the report Innovative Financing and Care Models to Scale Affordable Housing Solutions for Middle-Income Older Adults, with quotes from Lauren Dunning, director, Future of Aging. Additionally, learn how the report has contributed solutions to the ways in which the senior living sector can overcome middle-market paralysis in Senior Housing News. Dunning and Wallace also co-authored “Innovation and Integration: Pathways to Serve the ‘Forgotten Middle’,” for the American Society on Aging’s Generations, highlighting the report solutions for middle-income older adults that meet their evolving preferences and care needs.

• An article for the National Council on Aging highlighted the brief Transcending Age-Based Divides: The Case for Scaling Intergenerational Solutions. In the article, Dunning shared the ways everyone can play a role in launching intergenerational solutions that foster community and break down silos. Dunning was also featured on the Aging Matters podcast along with Future of Aging Advisory Board member Trent Stamp, CEO of The Eisner Foundation, to discuss the importance of intergenerational relationships, how people of different ages are working together to address societal challenges, and intergenerational strategies to achieve a common social good.

• Ahuja wrote the foreword for the 2023 Annual Longevity Investor Report from Longevity.Technology. As aging research evolves, this report provides information to guide investors, policymakers, and industry leaders in shaping the future of healthy aging. “The emerging longevity ecosystem is attracting substantial investment, indicating a shift towards proactive wellness strategies and innovative aging-related therapeutics,” said Ahuja.

• Ty penned an article for AARP International titled “Older Workers: America’s Surging Asset,” which highlighted the benefits of hiring and retaining older workers. In the article, she emphasized the need to overcome society's pervasive ageism toward older adults and leverage their knowledge and experience in the workplace.

Upcoming Milken Institute Events

• September 18–20, Asia Summit in Singapore

• October 24, Global Investors’ Symposium in Mexico City

• November 13–14, Future of Health Summit in Washington, DC

• December 5–6, Middle East and Africa Summit in Abu Dhabi