2026 Health Policy Conference: Driving Health Policy Transformation in the Next Decade

Why It Matters

Modernizing clinical trials could restore U.S. biotech competitiveness, reduce drug costs, and deliver faster, more equitable access to innovative therapies.

Key Takeaways

• Bipartisan bill aims to modernize U.S. clinical trial process.
• Faster, cheaper trials seen as common ground amid partisan health debates.
• Platform trials, AI, and digital tools highlighted for efficiency gains.
• Legislation targets integration of trials into routine care settings.
• Duke Health Policy Institute launches networking hub to accelerate collaboration.

Summary

The 10th‑anniversary Duke Health Policy Institute conference set the stage for a decade‑long health‑policy agenda, spotlighting a bipartisan legislative push to overhaul the United States’ clinical‑trial framework. Organizers framed the effort as a response to “Room’s Law”—the declining productivity of biomedical R&D—while emphasizing the urgency of keeping American innovation competitive against China’s rapid drug‑development surge. Key speakers outlined concrete levers: streamlining first‑in‑human studies, expanding platform trials that leverage AI and digital health tools, and embedding trial enrollment within everyday care settings. By aligning FDA reforms with data‑sharing initiatives from CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, the proposal seeks to cut costs, shorten timelines, and generate more reliable patient‑centric endpoints. Congressman Jake Clauss illustrated the stakes, noting that “the world of bits can get fast, but the world of atoms is stubborn,” underscoring the need to widen the “aperture” for translating computational discoveries into viable therapies. Duke researchers contributed preliminary evidence‑based recommendations, reinforcing the legislative draft with real‑world pilot data. If enacted, the legislation could reshape the biotech ecosystem: accelerating drug pipelines, lowering R&D expenditures per successful candidate, and expanding patient access to cutting‑edge therapies. The conference’s new “Let’s Connect” networking program aims to sustain cross‑sector collaboration, turning policy ideas into actionable reforms over the next ten years.

Original Description

The fifth annual Duke-Margolis Health Policy Conference, where we gathered leading health policy experts to explore the past, present, and future of health policy in an ever-changing landscape. As Duke-Margolis celebrates our 10-year anniversary, we look forward to taking lessons learned over the past years to drive the next decade of health policy research.