2025 World Medical Innovation Convenes Healthcare and Industry Leaders to Showcase the Future of Patient Care

Day 1 of the forum featured major figures in U.S. health care, starting with Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who sat down with David Brown, MD, president of academic medical centers at Mass General Brigham. They discussed the importance of federal investment in biomedical research and ensuring care for vulnerable Americans.

Patrick Ellinor MD, PhD, head of the Heart and Vascular Institute at Mass General Brigham, then moderated a conversation with former Indiana U.S. Representative Larry Bucshon, MD, and former FDA commissioner Robert Califf MD. The trio discussed regulation, working with industry on innovation, and restoring public trust in science. 

Later, Anne Klibanski, MD, president and CEO of Mass General Brigham, and Kevin Mahoney, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, explored important issues shaping U.S. health care delivery. Their wide-ranging conversation touched on system-wide approaches to treating people with cancer and, more broadly, how expanding home hospital programs and use of AI could positively transform the healthcare landscape.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey opened Day 2 of WMIF by thanking assembled industry leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, scientists and doctors who have helped power innovation in the Commonwealth and beyond.

Leading disease experts outline future of care

Throughout the first two days of the forum, leading clinician-scientists and industry voices participated in panels about innovation in disease and other areas of healthcare. Some examples included:

• “Sleep: Why We Can’t Get Enough | Understanding the Future of a Busy Market.” Afterwards, moderator Aleksandar Videnovic, MD, chief of the Division of Sleep Neurology at Mass General Brigham, and Charles Czeisler, MD, PhD, chief, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, recorded a podcast about emerging innovations around sleep, touching on some of the biggest threats (and myths) preventing a good night’s sleep. Read more and listen to the podcast on Bench Press.
• “Saving Vision and Treating Ocular Disease.” New chair of Ophthalmology at Mass General Brigham, Rishi Singh, MD, moderated a discussion with panelists — primarily comprised of Mass Eye and Ear clinician-scientists — on recent shifts to personalized care for diseases like glaucoma and how AI and other innovations like gene and cell therapy may alter the treatment landscape for blinding diseases. Read more on the panel in Bench Press.
• “Innovations in Disability Technology.” This marked the first time a panel focused on disability innovation took place at WMIF. Afterwards, moderator Sabrina Paganoni, MD, PhD, co-director of the Neurological Clinical Research Institute and Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at MGH and Spaulding Rehabilitation, and Cheri Blauwet, MD, former chief medical officer at Spaulding Rehabilitation and current senior vice president and chief clinical officer at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, recorded a podcast discussion on the panel’s takeaways. They pointed out that disability is something that will touch everyone at some point in life, and how technological innovations are essential to empower such individuals. Read more and listen to the podcast in Bench Press.
• “Gene Editing: Precision Medicine in Practice.” Moderator Benjamin Kleinstiver, PhD, an investigator in the Center for Genomic Medicine at Mass General Brigham called 2025 a “phenomenal year for the gene editing field.” He and fellow panelists highlighted patients who received first-of-their-kind therapies for once untreatable diseases and concluded with a discussion on how to move the field forward with industry. Read more in Bench Press.

Innovation in community health

Leading up to WMIF, Mass General Brigham announced the inaugural recipient of the Kraft Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Community Health. ThriveLink won the $100,000 prize, selected among 150 U.S. applicants, for its telephonic AI enrollment solution that empowers families to verbally complete and submit applications for safety-net programs like health insurance, food stamps and utility assistance. 

At WMIF, Robert Kraft, chairman and CEO of the Kraft Group, offered remarks on the award and the importance of harnessing innovation for community health. He then introduced a panel moderated by Jonathan Kraft, president of the The Kraft Group, featuring Elsie Taveras, MD, chief community health & health equity officer at Mass General Brigham and CEO of ThriveLink, Kwamane Liddell.

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