• Press Release

Mount Sinai Leaders Discuss Equity, the Impact of the Pandemic on Healthcare, and the Unprecedented Era and Increasing Interest of Psychedelics on Treating Mental Health at the 2021 Aspen Ideas Health and Aspen Ideas Festival

Reflections on the pandemic, developing innovative solutions to address inequities in health and medicine, and the use of psychedelic drugs to help treat psychiatric disorders are among the topics presented at Aspen Ideas Health and the Aspen Ideas Festival from June 27-July 1, 2021, in Aspen, Colorado.

  • New York, NY and Aspen, CO
  • (June 30, 2021)

Reflections on the pandemic, developing innovative solutions to address inequities in health and medicine, and the use of psychedelic drugs to help treat psychiatric disorders are among the topics presented at Aspen Ideas Health and the Aspen Ideas Festival from June 27-July 1, 2021, in Aspen, Colorado. Presented by the Aspen Institute and sponsored by the Mount Sinai Health System, the festival is a unique forum for the exchange of ideas.

“We are proud to once again participate in the Aspen Ideas festival where great ideas are advanced to bring about societal and systemic changes that benefit everyone,” said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and CEO of Mount Sinai Health System. “The exchange of bold ideas combined with a relentless pursuit of knowledge, understanding, and answers to the world’s most complex problems is one of many ways we are finding a way to healthier world for everyone.”

Unlike previous conferences, this year’s Aspen Ideas Festival will be a virtual gathering where a myriad of experts will share their ideas and insight on several topics. Built around the theme "American Futures," these sessions will focus on the future of democracy, identity, education, the search for meaning, our own mental health, and more.

In a panel titled “The Best Pandemic Big Ideas in Healthcare,” Executive Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Mount Sinai Health System, Gary Butts, MD, will speak on rebuilding a healthcare system with inclusion at its core. From telehealth counseling to mobile clinics, Dr. Butts will weigh in these alternatives alongside other featured speakers. This panel will be broadcast on June 29 at 12pm MDT.

Rachel Yehuda, PhD, Director of the Center for the Study of Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma, the Traumatic Stress Studies Division, and Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine will discuss the use of psychedelics in a panel titled “The Shroom Boom and other Therapeutic Psychedelics for the Win.” Mental-health and substance-use disorders became more prevalent than ever during the pandemic, thus the wonder the clinical use of psychedelic drugs to help treat psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD, is fueling a research renaissance. Join Dr. Yehuda on July 1 at 5pm ET.


About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.

Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.

For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on FacebookTwitter and YouTube.