Past Forum: 2015
Boston
Summary
“We need a clear, cohesive vision of how to link the fruits of innovation with the patients who should no longer have to suffer through painful lives or fear a premature death. We need to bring the best minds in health care together to address how we can encourage and incentivize new neurological discoveries and how we can leverage innovation to make our world a better place.”
With those words, Partners HealthCare CEO David Torchiana, MD opened the first annual World Medical Innovation Forum, an event that led many of health care’s most important leaders and transformative thinkers to converge in Boston this April to share their visions of neurological medicine’s future. The Forum was unique among the nation’s calendar of health care conferences and summits, in the breadth and depth of subject matter discussed as well as the senior standing of those participating. The Forum gathered nearly 1,000 clinicians, researchers, investors, entrepreneurs and health care industry leaders from 25 states and 18 countries. Together, they provided and absorbed information on game-changing technologies, devices, drugs and therapies that will elevate the way we diagnose, treat and care for neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.
Snapshots from the Forum include:
- U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell shared information with Forum participants on the Obama Administration’s new initiative on precision medicine.
- The active participation of leading CEOs from the health insurance, health information technology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries, including Jeff Immelt of General Electric, Robert Bradway of Amgen, Mark Bertolini of Aetna, Mike Mahoney of Boston Scientific, Jeff Leiden MD, PhD of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and George Scangos, PhD of Biogen, who shared details of his company’s exciting progress on treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease.
- Many of the nation’s top journalists served as moderators, asking the probing questions of speakers and panelists that led to illuminating insights. Moderators included former NBC News Chief Medical Editor Nancy Snyderman, MD, Kyra Phillips, CNN Correspondent, John Roberts, Senior National Correspondent, Fox News, Meg Tirell, CNBC Biotech and Pharma Reporter, Alice Park, Writer, TIME Magazine, Jonathan LaPook, MD, Chief Medical Correspondent, CBS Evening News and Michelle Cortez, Reporter, Bloomberg Businessweek.
- Former First Lady of Massachusetts Ann Romney not only discussed her own experience as a multiple sclerosis patient, but also the hope and promise embodied in the new Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
- Medicine’s premier thought leaders, like Brigham and Women’s Atul Gawande, MD, discussed how today’s health care systems can accommodate and encourage emerging, evolving scientific knowledge.
Keynoters

Robert Bradway
- CEO, Amgen

Deborah Dunsire, MD
- CEO, Forum Pharmaceuticals

Atul Gawande, MD
- Executive Director, Ariadne Labs; Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery, HMS
- Surgeon, BWH

Jeffrey Leiden, MD, PhD
- CEO, Vertex

David Meeker
- CEO, Lumicell

Peter Orszag, PhD
- Vice Chairman, Corporate and Investment Banking, Citigroup

Kyra Phillips
- Anchor and Correspondent, CNN

Ann Romney
- Global Ambassador, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, BWH

George Scangos, PhD
- CEO, Biogen

Rudolph Tanzi, PhD
- Vice-Chair, Neurology, Director, Genetics and Aging Research Unit, MGH
- Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology, HMS
Panels
Day One: Monday, April 27, 2015
Welcome
- David Torchiana, MD
CEO, Partners HealthCare - Anne Klibanski, MD
Chief Academic Officer, Partners HealthCare; Laurie Carrol Guthart Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Neurocare, Neuromarkets, and Neuro Challenges
- Jonathan LaPook, MD
Chief Medical Correspondent, CBS News - Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD
Chairman, Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Harvey W. Cushing Professor of Neurosurgery, Harvard Medical School - Merit Cudkowicz, MD
Chairman, Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital; Julieanne Dorn Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School - Scott Rauch, MD
President and Psychiatrist in Chief, McLean Hospital; Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Chair of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Over the Horizon: Witnessing the Disruption of Neurocare
- Alice Park
Writer, TIME Magazine - Ajay Verma, MD, PhD
Vice President of Experimental Medicine, Biogen - Geoffrey Ling, MD, PhD
Director, Biological Technologies Office, DARPA - Moncef Slaoui, PhD
Chairman of Global R&D and Vaccines, GlaxoSmithKline
Transformation and Innovation: Conflict? Collision? Opportunity?
- Nancy Snyderman, MD
Chief Medical Editor, NBC News (ret.) - Jeff Leiden, MD, PhD
CEO, Vertex Pharmaceuticals - Mike Mahoney
CEO, Boston Scientific - Betsy Nabel, MD
President, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School - George Scangos, PhD
CEO, Biogen - Peter Slavin, MD
President, Massachusetts General Hospital; Professor of Healthcare Policy, Harvard Medical School
Gene to Drug: Kansas to Oz, Making it Happen in the Real World
- Jonathan LaPook, MD
Chief Medical Correspondent, CBS News - David Altshuler, MD, PhD
Executive Vice President of Global Research and CSO, Vertex Pharmaceuticals - Mark Fishman, MD
President, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research - Jeffrey Gulcher, MD, PhD
Co-Founder and CSO WuXi NextCODE - Sean Harper, MD
Executive Vice President, Research and Development, Amgen
Welcome Reception
- Dinner Program – Jeff Immelt
- Edward Lawrence
Chairman, Board of Directors, Partners HealthCare - Nancy Snyderman, MD
Chief Medical Editor, NBC News (ret.) - Jeff Immelt
CEO, General Electric
Day Two: Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Clinical Demonstrations: Neuroswitch and AMIGO Suite
- David Storto
President, Partners Continuing Care, Spaulding Rehabilitation Network - Merit Cudkowicz, MD
Chairman, Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital; Julieanne Dorn Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School - Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD
Chairman, Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Harvey W. Cushing Professor of Neurosurgery, Harvard Medical School - Peter Ford
Founder and CEO, Control Bionics - Nathalie Agar, PhD
Neuroscientist, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Assistant Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School - Alexandra Golby, MD
Director, Image-Guided Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Associate Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School
Patient One-On-One — Ann Romney
- Scott Sperling
Co-President, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Brigham and Women’s Hospital - Nancy Snyderman, MD
Chief Medical Editor, NBC News (ret.) - Ann Romney
Global Ambassador, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
The Alzheimer’s Phoenix: New Technologies, New Economics
- Rudolph Tanzi, PhD
Director, Genetics and Aging Research Unit, MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease & Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School - Michael Hutton, PhD
CSO, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Eli Lilly & Co. - Brad Hyman, MD, PhD
Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center; John B. Penney Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School - Roger Nitsch, PhD
Director, Division of Psychiatry Research, University of Zurich - Dale Schenk, PhD
CEO, Prothena - Dennis Selkoe, MD
Co-Director, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Vincent and Stella Coates Professor of Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School
Regeneration, Cell Therapy, and Neurocare: Products? Delivery?
- Alice Park
Writer, TIME Magazine - Ole Isacson, MD
Director, Center for Neuroregeneration Research/Neuroregeneration Laboratories, McLean Hospital; Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School - Martin McGlynn
CEO, StemCells - Doug Melton, PhD
Xander University Professor, Harvard University; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Co-Chair Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology - David Scadden, MD
Director, Center for Regenerative Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital; Gerald and Darlene Jordan Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
CEO One-On-One
- Cathy Minehan
Dean, School of Management, Simmons College, Chair, Board of Trustees, Massachusetts General Hospital - Meg Tirrell
Biotech & Pharma Reporter, CNBC - Robert Bradway
CEO, Amgen
Lunch Program — George Scangos
- Peter Slavin, MD
President, Massachusetts General Hospital; Professor of Healthcare Policy, Harvard Medical School - Kyra Phillips
Anchor and Correspondent, CNN - George Scangos, PhD
CEO, Biogen
Lunch Program – Hon. Sylvia Matthews Burwell
- David Torchiana, MD
CEO, Partners HealthCare - Hon. Sylvia Matthews Burwell
Secretary, US Department of Health & Human Services
Neurostimulation: First Line Therapy?
- Peter Ford
Founder and CEO, Control Bionics - Emad Eskandar, MD
Neurosurgeon, Massachusetts General Hospital; Charles Pappas Professor of Neurosurgery, Harvard Medical School - Frank Fischer
CEO, NeuroPace - Lothar Krinke, PhD
Vice President and General Manager, Brain Modulation, Medtronic - Ben Pless
CEO, ATI - Mark Demitrack, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Neuronetics
Olympus Explained: Neuroinvesting for Mortals
- Meg Tirrell
Biotech & Pharma Reporter, CNBC - Doug Cole, MD
General Partner, Flagship Ventures - Jean-François Formela, MD
Partner, Atlas Ventures - Corey Goodman, PhD
Managing Partner, venBio - Rajiv Kaul
Select Biotechnology Portfolio and Advisor Biotechnology Fund, Fidelity Investments - Sue Siegel
CEO, GE Ventures & healthymagination
National Security Through Neurodevelopment: Country Initiatives to Meet CNS Challenges
- John Roberts
Senior National Correspondent, Fox News - Miri Polachek
Executive Director, Israel Brain Technologies - Michael Hodin, PhD
Executive Director, Global Coalition on Aging; Managing Partner, High Lantern Group - Tom Large, PhD
Senior Vice President, Preclinical Research and Translational Medicine, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals - Luc Truyen, MD, PhD
Vice President, Neuroscience External Affairs, Chair, Johnson & Johnson Global Fight Against Alzheimer’s Disease
Technology, Pathology, Radiology: Changing the Game through Neurodiagnostics
- Jerrold Rosenbaum, MD
Psychiatrist-In-Chief; Stanley Cobb Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School - Jeffrey Golden, MD
Chairman, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Ramzi S. Cotran Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School - Jeff Hersh, MD, PhD
Chief Medical Officer, GE Healthcare - David Louis, MD
Pathologist-in-Chief, Massachusetts General Hospital; Benjamin Castleman Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School - Bruce Rosen, MD, PhD
Director, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital; Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School
Autism and Neurodevelopment: Are Therapies Possible Today?
- Ron Suskind
Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist and Author, Director of the Project on Public Narrative, Harvard University - Randall Carpenter, MD
Translational Medicine Consultant; Research Affiliate, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT - Mark Daly, PhD
Chief, Analytic and Translational Genetics, Massachusetts General Hospital; Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School - Christopher McDougle, MD
Director, Lurie Center for Autism, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children; Nancy Lurie Marks Professor of Autism, Harvard Medical School - Ricardo Dolmetsch, PhD
Global Head of Neuroscience, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research - Bob Wright
Co-Founder, Autism Speaks; Senior Advisor, Lee Equity Partners
Psychiatric Targets: Finally New Mechanisms?
- Gideon Gil
Health and Science Editor, The Boston Globe - Deborah Dunsire, MD
CEO, FORUM Pharmaceuticals - Mike Ehlers, MD, PhD
Neuroscience Chief Science Officer, Pfizer - Maurizio Fava, MD
Executive Vice Chair, Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry; Slater Family Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School - Corey McCann, MD, PhD
Founder and CEO, Pear Therapeutics - David Silbersweig, MD
Chairman, Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Stanley Cobb Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Sleep and Consciousness: Clinical Need Versus Safety
- Martha Bebinger
Reporter, WBUR - Matt Bianchi, MD, PhD
Chief, Division of Sleep Medicine, and Director, Sleep Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital Neurology; Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School - Charles Czeisler, PhD, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital Medicine and Neurology; Baldino Professor of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School - Patrick Purdon PhD
Associate Bioengeneer, Massachusetts General Hospital – Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine; Instructor of Anaesthesia, Harvard Medical School - Darryle Schoepp, PhD
Vice President & Therapeutic Area Head, Neuroscience, Merck Research Laboratories
Parkinson’s: Finally Crossing the Therapeutic Threshold
- Michelle Cortez
Reporter, Bloomberg Businessweek - Frank Bennett, PhD
Senior Vice President of Research, Isis Pharmaceuticals - Michael Schwarzschild, MD, PhD
Chair, Parkinson Study Group (PSG) Executive Committee, MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease; Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School - Clemens Scherzer, MD
Director, Neurogenomics Lab and Parkinson Personalized Medicine Program, Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital; Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School - Todd Sherer, PhD
CEO, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research
New Leaders at the Table: Filling the Gap Through Philanthropy?
- David Shenk
Author, lecturer, filmmaker, Senior Advisor, Cure Alzheimer’s Fund - Meryl Comer
President, Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer’s Initiative - Henry McCance
Chairman Emeritus, Greylock Partners, Co-Founder, Cure Alzheimer’s Fund - Bill Sahlman
Dimitri V. D’Arbeloff – MBA Class of 1955 Professor of Business Administration, Senior Associate Dean for External Relations, Harvard Business School - Steven Tregay
CEO, Forma Therapeutics - Nancy and Pete Frates
The Pete Frates #3 Fund, Champions, ALS Ice Bucket Challenge - Jeff Walker
Vice Chair, United Nations Envoy’s Office for Health Finance and Malaria
Day Three: Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Reshaping Innovation Through Electronic Health
- Gregg Meyer, MD
Chief Clinical Officer, Partners HealthCare - Judy Faulkner
CEO and Founder, EPIC Systems
Gene Editing, Gene Therapy, and the Eye as a Gateway
- Jennifer Joe, MD
CEO, Medstro, Editor-In-Chief, MedTech Boston - Katrine Bosley
CEO, Editas Medicine - Eric Pierce, MD, PhD
Director, Retinal Degenerations Service, Massachusetts Eye and Ear; Solman and Libe Friedman Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School - Philip Gregory, D. Phil
Senior Vice President, Research and CSO, Sangamo BioSciences - David Meeker, MD
CEO, Genzyme
MS Transformed: Harnessing Biology and Inflammation
- Mallika Marshall, MD
Medical Reporter, WBZ-TV Boston - Tim Coetzee, PhD
Chief Advocacy, Services, and Research Officer, National Multiple Sclerosis Society - Al Sandrock, MD, PhD
Group Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, Biogen - Howard Weiner, MD
Founder and Director, Partners Multiple Sclerosis Center; Robert L. Kroc Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School - Michael Panzara, MD
Group Vice President, Therapeutic Area Head, Multiple Sclerosis and Neurology, Genzyme
The Disruptive Dozen: 12 Technologies That Will Reinvent Neurocare
- Rudolph Tanzi, PhD
Director, Genetics and Aging Research Unit, MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease & Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School - David Silbersweig, MD
Chairman, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Psychiatry; Stanley Cobb Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
The Century of the Molecule Becomes The Century of the System
- Marshall Moriarty
Retired Chair, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Board of Trustees - Atul Gawande, MD
Executive Director, Ariadne Labs; General and Endocrine Surgery, BWH; Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
The Builder’s Roundtable: Perspectives of Public/Private Payer Architects
- Tim Ferris, MD
Senior Vice President, Population Health Management - Mark Bertolini
Chairman and CEO, Aetna - Peter Orszag
Vice Chairman, Corporate and Investment Banking, Citigroup
Closing Remarks and Preview of 2016 World Forum
- Duke Collier
President, The Braxton Company - Anne Klibanski, MD
Chief Academic Officer, Partners HealthCare; Laurie Carrol Guthart Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School