Genomics technologies offer unprecedented potential to protect our families from disease and to enhance well-being. Thought leaders must connect in ongoing dialogue with the public to address ethical, moral, privacy, societal, legal and behavioral consequences of genomics applications. Scientists require our assistance. Unprecedented challenge requires unique partnership.

To the Editor of The New York Times:
The extraordinary Robin Williams has given us yet another extraordinary gift: an urgent invitation to discuss one of the most challenging medical and ethical issues of our time. What do we do with knowledge of our futures, especially when clouded by the likely emergence of dreaded medical disorders?

To the Editor of The New York Times:
Empathy must transcend economic class. The wealthy must not be maligned or objectified, or we further isolate and alienate them. Their active involvement is critical to resolving the most pressing economic, social and political issues of our time.

To the Editor of The New York Times:
It is not an easy time to be wealthy. On some level, a laughable problem. But in this era when everyone from the pope, to our president, to Nobel Prize-winning economists deem income inequality to be among the most pressing and potentially divisive issues of our era, all sorts of ugly sentiments about the wealthy have risen to the surface.

To the Editor of The New York Times:
While neuroplasticity, the capacity for neurologic growth, is present throughout our lives, it falls off dramatically after the age of 5. It is challenging to learn empathy and compassion as an adult. These are critical emotional ingredients for a well-warranted recipe that would combine established science with humanity to bring about powerful policy and societal change.