Mount Sinai to Lead Aspen Discussions on Youth Mental Health, and Healthspan Science and Practice
Will explore innovative approaches to mental health and new frontiers in healthspan, longevity science, and personalized care during Aspen Ideas: Health and the Aspen Ideas Festival.
Mount Sinai Health System experts will lead discussions on innovative community-based approaches to youth mental health and emerging scientific advances that are transforming how we understand healthy aging and healthspan at the 2026 Aspen Ideas: Health and Aspen Ideas Festival.
The conversations at the festivals, from Monday, June 22, to Wednesday, July 1, in Aspen, Colorado, will explore how collaboration, research, technology, and personalized care can improve health and well-being for people across communities and throughout life.
Mount Sinai is an Official Presenting Sponsor of the Aspen Ideas Festival and Aspen Ideas: Health, and the only underwriter to support both events
“We are excited to return as a health care sponsor to Aspen Ideas: Health and the Aspen Ideas Festival. Mount Sinai’s thought leaders will engage in timely conversations on some of the most important issues shaping the future of health and medicine,” said Brendan G. Carr, MD, MA, MS, Chief Executive Officer, Mount Sinai. “This year’s discussions will explore innovative approaches to healthy aging, longevity, mental health, personalized care, healthcare costs, the use of psychedelics in healthcare, artificial intelligence, and the future of medical education. Aspen provides a unique forum for bringing together leaders, innovators, and changemakers, and we look forward to contributing ideas that can help advance health and improve quality of life for people around the world. We invite attendees to join these conversations and explore the breakthroughs and solutions that will define the future of care.”
Featuring discussions on festival themes that include artificial intelligence, digital health, neuroscience, mental health, longevity, and other emerging areas of medicine, Mount Sinai’s programming highlights how scientific discovery, collaboration, and innovation are helping advance health and improve lives. Event time and location details are subject to change; visit www.mountsinai.org/aspen for the most up-to-date details.
Kicking off Mount Sinai’s events during this year’s festival, Dr. Carr will moderate a panel with Russell Wilson and Sandra Brunson and key Mount Sinai physicians on how creative expression, sports, and community engagement can strengthen youth mental health, build resilience, and improve well-being. The panel will take place on Monday, June 22, from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm MDT in the East Lawn Tent. Panelists will include leaders from medicine, community-based programs, and professional sports. The conversation will explore how sports, play, and creative arts can serve as powerful, evidence-based interventions to build psychological safety, foster trust, reduce stress, and strengthen resilience. Panelists will also discuss how Mount Sinai and its partners are scaling culturally relevant, community-driven models—from locker rooms to clinics—that meet young people where they are. Panelists include:
- Sandra Brunson, Co-Founder and CFO of the Second Round Foundation, Inc.
- Sidney Hankerson, MD, MBA, Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Community Engagement in the Department of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Russell Wilson, philanthropist, Super Bowl champion, and Founder of the Why Not You Foundation
- Sarah Wood, MD, Division Chief of Adolescent Medicine, Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai will also host a panel discussion on how advances in genomics, imaging, cardiovascular science, neurology, and data-driven health monitoring are helping translate scientific discovery into healthier aging and longer healthspan. This session will also be moderated by Dr. Carr, who will be joined by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai participants Fanny Elahi, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, and Director of the Glickenhaus Center for Successful Aging; Eimear E. Kenny, PhD, Professor of Medicine (General Internal Medicine), and Genetics and Genomic Sciences, and Founding Director of the Institute for Genomic Health; Anuradha (Anu) Lala-Trindade (Lala), MD, Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), Population Health Science and Policy, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, and Director of Heart Failure Research; and Zahi A. Fayad, PhD, Founding Director of the BioMedical Engineering and Imaging Institute, Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Radiology, and Professor of Diagnostic, Molecular and Interventional Radiology, and Medicine (Cardiology). Panelists will examine how these innovations can bridge discovery and delivery by powering smarter clinical trials, enabling more continuous and personalized care models, and accelerating interventions designed not only to extend lifespan, but also to add years of strength, clarity, and independence. This program will take place on Monday, June 29, from 11 am to 11:50 am MDT in the Koch Building, Booz Allen Hamilton Room.
Other activities in which Mount Sinai Health System experts are participating include:
- Brendan G. Carr, MD, MA, MS, will participate on a panel titled “Reducing Health Care Costs” on Thursday, June 25, 9 am to 9:50 am MDT in the Doerr-Hosier Center, McNulty Room.
- Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Executive Vice Chairman of the Mount Sinai Boards of Trustees, who served as Mount Sinai’s Chief Executive Officer for 20 years until 2024, will participate on a panel titled “Reimagining Medical Education” on Tuesday, June 23, 1:40 pm to 2:30 pm MDT in the Doerr-Hosier Center, McNulty Room
- Fanny Elahi, MD, PhD, will participate on a panel titled “Life, Optimized: What We Gain (and Lose) When AI Takes Over” on Friday, June 26, 11 am to 11:50 am MDT in the Koch Building, Lauder Room.
- Rachel Yehuda, PhD, Chemers Neurstein Family Professor of Trauma and Resilience and Director of The Parsons Research Center for Psychedelic Healing at Mount Sinai, will participate on a panel titled “Are We Ready for Psychedelics?” on Wednesday, June 24, 9 am to 9:50 am MDT in the Greenwald Pavilion.
Mount Sinai clinicians will be onsite to provide complimentary dermatologic screenings, body scans, grip strength assessments, and bio-age retinal scans at the Mount Sinai Healthspan Experience, located in The Grove at Aspen Meadows. Screenings will be available from June 22 through July 1. Sessions can be reserved in advance starting on Tuesday, June 16, by calling 929-829-2881 or sending an email to aspen@mountsinai.org. For more information about Mount Sinai’s speakers, events, and activities at the Aspen Ideas: Health and Aspen Ideas Festival, visit www.mountsinai.org/aspen.
Media interested in speaking with any of the panelists before, during, or after Aspen Ideas may submit requests to: newsmedia@mssm.edu
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the nation’s leading integrated academic health systems and one of the largest in the New York metropolitan area. Its comprehensive system includes seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, over 600 research and clinical laboratories, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing. Together, the Health System comprises approximately 48,000 employees, more than 9,000 physicians, and 8,600 nurses.
As a leading learning health system, Mount Sinai combines clinical expertise with scientific discovery to improve patient care while training the next generation of health care and biomedical leaders. The Health System provides care across every stage of life, from prenatal care through geriatrics, while advancing personalized medicine through artificial intelligence, data science, and biomedical research.
Mount Sinai is consistently recognized among the nation’s leading academic health systems for patient care, research, and education. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 1 in New York by Newsweek and No. 5 on the magazine’s World’s Best Hospitals list. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ranks No. 11 among U.S. medical schools and No. 1 among freestanding medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding, reflecting the strength of its scientific enterprise and leadership in biomedical research.
