Health, Technology Focus of Atlantic Meets Pacific Conference

September 16, 2013 / By Tiffany Fox, (858) 246-0353, tfox@ucsd.edu

San Diego, Calif., Sept. 16, 2013 — The Atlantic magazine is well-known for its editorial mix of politics, entertainment, health and technology —  a mix that for the past three years has been reflected in the choice of speakers for its annual Atlantic Meets the Pacific forum (slated again this year for Oct. 2-4 at the University of California, San Diego).  

Atlantic Meets Pacific logo

But given that the small sliver of the Pacific where the event is held — La Jolla’s Torrey Pines Mesa, home to a multitude of nanotechnology, biotechnology and information technology firms as well as its co-sponsor, UC San Diego — this year’s forum will focus on the two topics that have become synonymous with the “left coast”: technology and healthy living, or more precisely, how technology can help make healthy living possible. 

Larry Smarr

Calit2 Director Larry Smarr

The two-and-a-half day forum takes place at the Scripps Seaside Forum at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography on Wednesday Oct. 2 and Thursday Oct. 3, and on Friday, Oct. 4 at the Qualcomm Institute, the UC San Diego division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2). 

The event, which follows in the tradition of The Atlantic’s prestigious Aspen Ideas Festival and the Washington Ideas Forum, will explore innovations in healthcare-from advances in cancer treatments to breakthroughs in brain mapping. Interviews and panel discussions include:

  • Scanning the Horizon: Accelerating Innovation in Cancer Care
  • Chronic Diseases: How Technology Is Changing the Patient Experience
  • What's Next in Medical IT: Wireless Health and Wearable Trends
  • Living Longer, Living Smarter: Innovations in Longevity Research
  • Brain Mapping: Pushing the Frontiers of Neurology
  • Big Data, Big Disease: Mining for Medical Breakthroughs

Joining the conversations are a number of speakers from the worlds of healthcare and technology, including:

  • Chris Anderson, former editor in chief, Wired magazine and co-founder and chairman, 3DRobotics
  • Deepak Chopra, best-selling author and founder, The Chopra Foundation
  • Mick Ebeling, founder, The Ebeling Group and the Not Impossible Foundation
  • Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health, Council on Foreign Relations
  • Ralph Greenspan, associate director of the Kavli Institute for Mind and Brain, UC San Diego
  • Eric Horvitz, distinguished scientist and managing co-director, Microsoft Research
  • Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" and assistant professor of medicine, Columbia University
  • Larry Smarr, founding director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), a partnership of UC San Diego and UC Irvine
  • Ramesh Rao, director of the Qualcomm Institute, the UC San Diego division of Calit2
  • Halle Tecco, co-founder and CEO, Rock Health
  • Eric Topol, director, Scripps Translational Science Institute
  • Peter Yu, director of cancer research, Palo Alto Medical Foundation and president-elect, American Society of Clinical Oncology
  • Roni Zeiger, former chief health strategist, Google, and CEO, Smart Patients
Ramesh Rao
Qualcomm Institute Director Ramesh Rao

For the complete list of speakers, please visit http://atlanticmeetspacific.com/2013-speakers.html.

The forum also includes behind-the-scenes tours at the Qualcomm Institute, Scripps Oceanography, the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, Sanford Consortium, The Scripps Research Institute, and the La Jolla Playhouse, bringing attendees and some of the world's most creative scientists, thinkers, and artists together.

To register for The Atlantic Meets the Pacific, please visit the registration site. General admission, which includes access to all main-stage programming, a choice of lab tours, and a welcome dinner and subsequent meals, is $495.00. Members of the media interested in obtaining press credentials should contact Natalie Raabe at The Atlantic (nraabe@theatlantic.com).

Join the conversation on Twitter via @Atlantic_LIVE and @UCSDNews using #TAMTP. 

About The Atlantic: Since 1857, The Atlantic has played a central role in shaping the national debate on current affairs and cultural trends. Dedicated to bold, independent, diverse, and highly reasoned perspectives, its writers, bloggers, and critics represent the best in American journalism. The Atlantic's award-winning commentary and coverage can be found in its magazine, on its website at www.TheAtlantic.com, and at more than 70 events a year produced by its industry-leading events division, AtlanticLIVE.

Related Links

The Atlantic Meets the Pacific 

The Atlantic

Media Contacts

 Tiffany Fox, (858) 246-0353, tfox@ucsd.edu