The keynote address of Vice Admiral Adam Robinson, Surgeon General of the United States Navy, summarizes the integration of healthcare humanitarian assistance as central to the Navy's mission of defending and promoting world peace. Citing various examples of current programs and initiatives, the address explores the critical place of human hope as central to the fundamental act of healthcare. In this respect, the keynote gives visible expression to the central metaphor of the conference itself, "Retrieving the Human Face of Science."