New report unveils groundbreaking opportunities for U.S. health care transformation

“The Future of Health” — a forward-looking report jointly released Oct. 17 by the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB and the Jacobs Institute — heralds massive potential for improving health care in the United States.

While acknowledging systemic challenges, the report shines a spotlight on advancements and opportunities that promise to revolutionize health care. From individualized cancer treatments to the rise of artificial intelligence in medicine, the report calls for a unified, holistic approach to seize these exciting opportunities.

The report is a follow-up to The Future of Medicine from 2017, which forecast disruptive changes wrought by emerging technologies and social movements on the health care landscape. Among its predictions: a global flu-like pandemic that would spur both political upheaval and a paradigm shift in rapid vaccine development.

The Future of Health explores several areas of advancement that are reshaping the health care landscape:

• Cancer treatment: The report celebrates the remarkable strides and breakthroughs on the horizon in individualized cancer treatment, offering a brighter future for patients and families affected by the disease.
• Artificial intelligence: The advent of high-powered, flexible AI is a game-changer, with the potential to democratize access to world-class medical practices on a global scale.
• Life-extension science: Groundbreaking research is promising not just longer lives, but also late-in-life years filled with health, fulfillment and productivity.
• Phenomics: This emerging field is unlocking new possibilities for targeted health approaches by integrating genomics, proteomics, epigenomics and other biological sciences.
• Bionic prosthetics: The report highlights the increasing accessibility of neuro-connected bionic prosthetics, empowering individuals across all walks of life.
• Personal health technology: Cutting-edge devices and AI technologies are putting the power of health monitoring into the hands of individuals, enabling early action to prevent illness.

Reflecting on the unprecedented global collaboration seen in vaccine production and distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic, the report emphasizes that the same spirit of unity and innovation can solve future challenges.

“We spoke to a lot of people, both within the University at Buffalo and the wider health care innovation community, about new drug discoveries, changes in the way we care for patients, and how basic science research is going to influence the brain and mental health,” said Allison Brashear, UB vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School.

“The Future of Health report is evidence of the cutting-edge work that makes the Jacobs School one of the nation’s top public research institutions. We are thinking about the future in new and creative ways and harnessing those novel approaches to dismantle systemic barriers to achieving health equity. We are reimagining the future through team science, bringing together basic science researchers and doctors to translate discoveries into community impact.”

“The Future of Health is a forum for futurists, doctors, engineers and innovators to come together and predict what they see happening over the next five to 10 years in the health care space,” said Adnan Siddiqui, CEO of the Jacobs Institute and vice-chairman and professor of neurosurgery in the Jacobs School.

“The beauty of the report is that it’s such a holistic look at health care that I think there’s something that will excite pretty much anybody who reads it, even if they’re not a physician or an engineer or a regulator or an entrepreneur, a medical school dean or a hospital administrator. This work embodies the aspirations of the Jacobs Institute: looking forward to a path to better health for all of us.”