It may be a little meta, but we can’t help but point to our 50^th Anniversary Symposium as one of the highlights of our past 50 years. It was a two-day scientific conference featuring some of the leading experts of our time from academia, government, and industry; it was a stirring tribute to our founders and to the enduring legacy of John Eisenberg; it was an acknowledgement of the singular and ongoing contributions of Mark Pauly; it was a party for 450 of our closest friends.

But most importantly, it was a celebration and expression of the LDI model of interdisciplinary collaboration to address the key challenges of our day.  Whether the issue is payment reform, the health care workforce, population health, drug pricing, health system redesign, or behavioral economic interventions, the symposium brought groups together to propose, and be part of, evidence-based solutions. We may not see the full impact of our deliberations for some time; but we believe that at our 75^th Anniversary, many of us will look back and remember our 50th Anniversary Symposium as the start of something big.