There is little certainty in life, but inevitably, we all become healthcare consumers at some point. Whether it's the birth of a child, catching a sniffle case or caring for a loved one, the health care system touches all of us at some point in our lives. Despite its ubiquity, the system is plagued by inequality and inefficiency, but these challenges also present important opportunities for improvement and innovation.
This was the guide to UCLA Anderson's 11th Vitals Conference, a sold-out event exploring groundbreaking discoveries that define the future of HealthTech. Organized by the Student-Rated Healthcare Business Association, Vitals was established to stimulate conversations and encourage action in response to how data and AI rapidly change what is possible regarding HealthTech innovation.
Student-led Healthcare Business Association will host Anderson's Annual Vital Conference
The MBA journey is full of uncertainty too. One thing I certainly knew when I started was that I wanted to join the HBA, meet like-minded students, and explore what leadership would look like in this sector. As the president of HBA, I have reflected a lot on the type of leader I want to be and the meaning of leadership in the healthcare context. Leadership in this sector is not just about managing teams towards business goals. It is to foster a vision of meaningful change and encourage members to become visionary leaders as they graduate and take on roles in the industry.
We were fortunate to have an incredible array of fantastic leaders joined Vitals. We invited clinicians, entrepreneurs and corporate executives to discuss breakthroughs and obstacles on HealthTech's journey to transformation. Key voices from venture capital and healthcare finance joined the conversation to discuss the future of HealthTech Investing.
Keynote speaker Jodi Resh ('92), managing director of life science and health care at Deloitte, declared, “This is our Sputnik moment.” While there is no shortage of challenges in our industry, there is also undeniable hope and excitement about the transformative power of new technologies as we reach a critical inflection point.
Anderson Alumna and former chief health officers of Oracle Nasim Afsar ('17) moderated HealthTech's AI-treat panel
Resh outlined how industry experts can manage their progress and reach their potential.
Imagination: You need creativity and bold ideas to reconstruct and rethink existing business models. Collaboration: Deep collaboration between disciplines is required to solve the biggest healthcare challenges. Equity: Health equity is a moral and business mandate. Despite future challenges, optimism promotes innovation. Healing: Trust in the healthcare system is broken. Rebuilding trust in healthcare requires transparency and integrity. Unfreedom: It takes courage to unleash, dismantle, and drive systematic reforms. We have to go even further!
This year's Vitals Conference was a demonstration of textbooks of imagination, collaboration, optimism and equity. By opening up conversations and bringing together leaders today and tomorrow, we were able to use our platform to transparently discuss the challenges and opportunities that the industry desperately needs. Time for reinvention is now, and as future leaders, we need to step up and lead the accusations towards a healthier and more equitable world.
Emma Yu ('25) is an MBA student with a background in medical communication and biomedical sciences. Specializing in healthcare marketing, she is president of UCLA Anderson's Healthcare Business Association for 2024-25.
Enjoy photos from the 2025 Vitals Conference
