Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy to Headline End Well 2026 Summit, Taking On Loneliness at the End of Life

In conversation with CBS News correspondent Jamie Yuccas, Murthy will explore connection, AI, and what it takes to care for one another through illness, caregiving, and grief

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- End Well, the leading nonprofit working to make the end of life part of life, today announced that Dr. Vivek Murthy, the 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States and founder of The Together Project, will headline its 2026 Summit on November 12 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles and online. Murthy will speak with Jamie Yuccas, CBS News National Correspondent, about loneliness and human connection when people are facing serious illness, caregiving, dying, and grief.

The announcement comes as the country approaches a demographic turning point: the Congressional Budget Office projects that beginning in 2030, annual deaths in the United States will exceed births. This year's Summit asks, "When Does Now Begin?" The question runs through a day of talks and workshops that bring together people across disciplines and lived experiences to consider the choices people make, and the systems they encounter, long before and during a crisis.

Actress, writer, and caregiving advocate Yvette Nicole Brown will host the event, which is expected to draw hundreds of attendees in person and thousands more online. The program includes physician Lucy Kalanithi, MD, in conversation with patient Jessie Creel and physician and Claimable co-founder Warris Bokhari, MD, about finding a voice and a way forward inside healthcare systems. Other featured speakers include palliative care physician BJ Miller, MD; author Hope Edelman; physician and author Rana Awdish, MD; Modern Elder Academy founder Chip Conley; and dementia caregiver advocate Jessica Guthrie. Workshop leaders include death doula and Emmy-nominated television writer Darnell Lamont Walker; grief therapist and author Claire Bidwell Smith; and author Laurel Braitman. In one of the day's less expected sessions, members of the LA Improv Comics will lead a workshop that brings improv to the end-of-life conversation.

"When we started End Well, talking openly about death felt almost impossible. Nearly a decade later, we've watched that conversation move from the margins into living rooms, hospitals, and the culture at large," said Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, founder of End Well, science journalist and a practicing physician. "Dr. Murthy has helped this country recognize loneliness as one of the most urgent health challenges we face. We are honored to welcome him to our stage."

Murthy's 2023 Surgeon General's advisory brought national attention to loneliness and social isolation as public health concerns. It reported that roughly half of American adults experience loneliness and that the mortality risk associated with lacking social connection is comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. Murthy is the author of the New York Times bestseller Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World and also hosts the podcast and newsletter Staying Human, where a recent episode with surgeon and Being Mortal author Atul Gawande discussed what makes life worth living. In conversation with Yuccas, he'll explore what helps people stay connected when illness or loss changes their lives, what AI companions and chatbots mean for people facing illness and grief, and what support families and communities need to show up for one another.

"Loneliness is a signal, the same way hunger and thirst are, telling us that something we need for our health is missing," said Dr. Vivek Murthy. "Caring for one another through illness and grief is its own kind of medicine. End Well brings together people who know that care firsthand and people imagining better ways to make it possible. I'm honored to join them in this conversation."

"'When Does Now Begin?' is a question most of us put off until a diagnosis or a phone call answers it for us," said Tracy Wheeler, Executive Director of End Well, who curated the program. "We built this day around people whose authority comes from being close to dying, including caregivers, clinicians, patients, and artists. They know something the rest of us need to learn: how to stay present, sit with uncertainty, and find meaning inside loss. These are capacities for living, and we don't have to wait for a crisis to begin practicing them."

End Well 2026 will stream free worldwide. In-person tickets and free virtual registration are available HERE. Continuing education credits are planned for eligible healthcare professionals, pending accreditation approval. The Summit also sets the stage for End Well's 10th anniversary in 2027.

About End Well
Founded in 2017 by physician Shoshana Ungerleider, MD, End Well is a nonprofit at the center of the movement to make the end of life part of life. Through events, storytelling, and work with Hollywood creators, End Well helps change how people think about, talk about, and plan for serious illness, caregiving, grief, and dying. End Well is a program of The Joy Fund. Learn more at https://endwellproject.org/.

SOURCE End Well