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Register for the fourth installment in the Duke Climate Collaboration Symposia series: Health Reform and Climate Change: Policy Reforms to Improve Health System Sustainability and Population Health.
Climate change has many implications for health and health care. Climate change exacerbates many existing health vulnerabilities and presents new ones, and health systems need to evolve to keep pace. Meanwhile, as one of the largest and fastest-growing sectors of the economy, health care has been a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing these trends is especially daunting given pressures on health care systems to reduce costs, improve access to care, and address population health challenges such as chronic disease and aging.
Join us in-person or virtually to explore potential health policy reforms to these pressing challenges. On October 1, 2025, expert speakers will convene for a Duke Climate Collaboration Symposium co-hosted by the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy and the Duke University School of Medicine. The symposium will focus on opportunities for health care to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and implement reforms to mitigate the health impacts of climate change while simultaneously addressing the challenges of affordability, access, and population health. All panel sessions will be livestreamed; Open to all.
The event will begin with a keynote address from Bill Frist (The Nature Conservancy and Former Senate Majority Leader). Throughout the day, interdisciplinary experts will engage with evidence related to innovative, complementary strategies that can both address climate change burdens and improve health outcomes. Experts will collaboratively examine and imagine how policy reform can yield diverse “co-benefits”: health system sustainability, healthier patients and communities, greater operational efficiency, and a more resilient health care ecosystem. The symposium will conclude with a fireside chat between Bill Frist, Victor Dzau (National Academy of Medicine), and Mark McClellan (Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy).
Duke University is uniquely positioned to convene dialogue on solutions at the nexus of climate change, policy, and health. The diverse, cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research underway across the University can inform real-world expertise across Duke’s world-class health system and network of policy decision-makers. This symposium is designed to help align existing efforts and spark new collaborations across Duke University and beyond.
About the Event Series:
The symposium is the fourth of the Duke Climate Collaboration Symposia, a series of convenings designed to accelerate climate solutions by developing new collaborations among Duke scholars and external partners. Each symposium focuses on identifying opportunities for Duke University to make the most of its interdisciplinary expertise and convening power for meaningful impact on climate challenges.
The series is funded by a gift from The Duke Endowment in support of the Duke Climate Commitment, which unites the university’s education, research, operations, and public service missions to address climate challenges. The Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability manages the symposia series.
