The Wilder Penfield Lecture

Information as a Determinant of Health: The role of video based information and AI in improving health information

In the contemporary healthcare landscape, the boundary between a patient’s digital exploration and their daily health habits exists along a continuum. Rather than existing as distinct realms, online health information-seeking and offline health behaviors operate as a seamless, continuous feedback loop. This lecture examines this integration through the lens of information as a structural determinant of health—arguing that access to, comprehension of, and engagement with digital data directly shapes clinical outcomes, health equity, and patient autonomy.

Historically, health determinants were confined to physical, social, and economic environments. Today, the digital information ecosystem influences how individuals recognize symptoms, justify medical decisions, adhere to therapies, and navigate care systems. Video and artificial intelligence has become a distinct tool in that journey as patients engage information in different ways. This presentation will explore the factors related to that behavior, looking at issues of trust and engagement that drive this fluid transition. Ultimately, we will discuss how clinicians, public health officials, and policymakers must adapt to this reality, treating digital health literacy not merely as a modern skill, but as a critical clinical variable that fundamentally impacts health.

Garth Graham

A cardiologist, researcher and public health expert Garth Graham joins Google as Director and Global Head of Healthcare and Public Health Partnerships at YouTube and Google Health. He previously served in two US administrations as US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, and was Assistant Dean for Health Policy and Chief of Health Services Research in the department of medicine at the University of Florida School of Medicine, President of the Aetna Foundation as well as Vice President & Chief Community Health Officer at CVS Health. He currently serves on several boards, including the National Heart Lung, and Blood Institute Advisory Council; the Institute of Medicine Board on Population Health and the board of the National Quality Forum.

An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, Garth obtained his MD at Yale University School of Medicine, MPH at Yale School of Public Health, Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Cardiology fellowship at Johns Hopkins. He holds three board certifications including internal medicine, cardiology and interventional cardiology. He also holds an honorary doctorate of laws from Regis College.