Presented by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), the virtual Global Innovator Summit aims to convene, connect, and inspire innovation in the field of healthy longevity. Participants will learn about the bold, pioneering work supported as part of the NAM’s Healthy Longevity Global Competition since 2020. Global Catalyst and Accelerator Awardees from across disciplines and sectors will share their respective innovation journey, fundraising successes, tangible project impacts, and lessons learned since their initial award. International Catalyst sponsors will also showcase their multi-year award competitions and share reflections around how this unique award program has helped spark novel and outside-the-box ideas to improve health as people age.
Agenda Highlights
Healthy Longevity Across the Life Course
This session will begin with a brief presentation on the World Health Organization’s 2025 Framework to implement a life course approach in practice followed by a showcase and discussion with global Catalyst Awardees. Selected for their projects that focus on different life stages—including early childhood, adolescence, working age, and older adulthood—and/or include an intergenerational component, the awardees will speak to how their innovative work supports health throughout the life course.
Moderator: Ritu Sadana, Head, Ageing and Health, World Health Organization
Awardee Speakers:
- Angela Narayan (National Academy of Medicine) – Positive Childhood Experiences to Counteract Childhood Adversity in Marginalized Families
- Ilhem Berrou (UK Research & Innovation) – CHERIE: Community Health Education, screening and prevention
- Yujun Hou (Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China) – Multitarget mechanism and application of small molecule compound PL402 in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease
- Vinod Achutavarrier Prasad (Ministry of Health of Singapore) – Brain-Computer Interface based Neuroenhancement System for Sustaining Short-term Memory, Focused Attention, Visuospatial Attention and Error-related Potentials in Mild Cognitive Impairment Patients
Addressing Social Isolation Through Innovation in Healthy Longevity
This session will feature a diverse group of global awardees who will briefly present their projects and engage in a discussion on the importance of mental health for healthy longevity.
Moderator: Thomas Cudjoe, Associate Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, Johns Hopkins University
Awardee Speakers:
- Jane Chung (National Institute on Aging/National Institutes of Health) – Voice2Connect: Informing the Design of Smart Speakers for Social Connectedness in Low-income Older Adults
- Tot Foster (UK Research and Innovation) – Tabletop Travels
- Paloma Lillo (Agency for Research and Development of Chile) – E-ACTIVE AGING: effects of active exergames programs on muscle strength, lower limb muscle mass and physical fitness in older adults at risk of falls
- Jennifer Stamps (National Academy of Medicine) – Expanding a Multimodality VR Fitness Platform to Remotely Assess, Monitor, and Report Cognitive and Physical Function for Seniors
- Alexander Novokhodko (National Academy of Medicine) – System for Improving Quality of Life and Mobility in Kidney and Liver Failure
Global Collaborator Showcases
International Catalyst sponsors will provide an overview of their Catalyst Award competition, including its design, goals, unique features, and outcomes. The session will also feature one or more awardees that have been particularly successful since receiving the Catalyst Award. Catalyst sponsors include:
- Academia Sinica
- Agency for Research and Development of Chile
- Chinese Academy of Medical Science
- Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
- Ministry of Health of Singapore
- National Academy of Medicine
- UK Research & Innovation
View past Global Innovator Summits.
The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Academy of Medicine—collectively, the National Academies—are independent, non-partisan, and tax exempt. The mission of the National Academies is the provision of trusted, evidence-based advice. It is essential to the execution of the mission that participants in our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. Statements and presentations made are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academies.
