For more than 200 years, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has been a leader in medical discovery. As the nations’ largest hospital system with a significant research enterprise, MGH, ten years ago, launched the World Medical Innovation Forum (WMIF), to discuss research and innovation that represents key medical breakthroughs of the 21st century. This year is the 10th anniversary of the Forum and discussions included more than 20 sessions on cutting edge topics from generative AI, to new cancer paradigms; from weight loss drugs, to use of psychedelic therapy in mental health, from advances in immunology to gene and cell therapy.
The Forum led off, with their unique “First Look,” 14 rapid fire presentations from MGB researchers on breakthrough technologies across a variety of clinical areas ranging from: Lipid abnormalities in the brain, to a mobile app for integrating patient reported outcomes to help clinicians determine when an in-patient visit is needed. AI was a big theme this year, including First Look “AI to streamline cardiovascular clinical trials”. Other First Look research ranged from autoimmune skin disease to development of a robotic bronchoscope to diagnose and treat hard- to- reach lung cancers. A highlight of the First Look was presentation of Virtual Reality Training followed by a Virtual Reality Lab that was open to attendees throughout the three-day program. Equally diverse and interesting were the many panels and fireside chats on topics varying from Gene and Cell Therapy to using AI in various facets of delivering care and analyzing therapeutic results.
What this Forum and so many other meetings continue to prove is that there is so much research and innovation that produce such purposeful results that change how medicine is viewed, evaluated and executed on behalf of the patient. So, instead of looking at the problems we usually discuss, it is sometimes worthwhile to take a breath and look at the amazing strides we are making.