Despite decades of remarkable medical breakthroughs, population health outcomes have not substantially improved. Chronic diseases continue to rise, and health inequities persist in the United States and around the world. Today public health stands at a crossroads: facing not only existential threats such as climate change, future pandemics, and widening social and economic inequality, but also unprecedented challenges of disinformation, disinvestment, and political polarization. Yet this moment also presents extraordinary opportunities to save lives and improve population health.

How must the field respond? What must we do differently in the decade ahead?

In this keynote, Dr Michael Lu, Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, draws on his experience leading both academic and governmental public health to explore how the field must adapt—and innovate—in a rapidly changing world. He argues that meeting the challenges ahead will require not only rebuilding the foundations of public health, but also reimagining its future: transforming how we do research, how we educate, and how we serve communities, in order to advance health equity and social justice for all.