Skip to content

Step into the Emerge Experience

Join us for this catalyst experience where partnerships form, investments happen, and healthcare’s future takes shape.

Enhance your conference experience with our dynamic full-day Emerge program—designed exclusively for forward-thinking investors, breakthrough startups, and decision-making executives from health systems and payers. This isn’t just another conference track—it’s your launchpad for meaningful connections that drive healthcare forward.

Emerge delivers a carefully orchestrated day of high-value interactions: cutting-edge educational sessions that decode tomorrow’s healthcare landscape, an electrifying pitch competition showcasing the most promising solutions, curated one-on-one meetings between capital and innovation, and strategic networking opportunities that turn conversations into collaborations.

Whether you’re seeking funding, scouting your next investment, or searching for solutions to transform patient care, Emerge creates the perfect ecosystem where visionary ideas find the resources they need to scale.

Emerge: Innovation, Investment, Collaboration

What Makes Emerge a Must-Attend Event at HIMSS27?

Investment Firms

Who Should Attend?
  • Venture Capitalists
  • Private Equity Firms
  • Investment Banks
  • Senior Investors (Managing Partners/Directors & General Partners)
  • Investors (Partners, Investors & Principals)
  • Private Market Investing Professionals
  • Portfolio Advisors (Venture & Operating Partners)
Why Emerge?

Gain unparalleled access to healthcare’s most promising startups addressing the specific needs of health systems and payers, all pre-vetted and ready for strategic investment. Connect directly with founders in curated one-on-one meetings, witness live pitches from tomorrow’s healthcare unicorns, and network with executive decision-makers who influence industry-wide technology adoption—all within a single, high-efficiency day at HIMSS27.

Startups & Growth Companies

Who Should Attend?
  • Emerging Company Leaders
  • Founders & CEOs
  • C-Suite Executives (CFOs, CSOs, CIOs, CTOs, etc.)
  • Innovation & Strategy Managers (SVPs, VPs & Directors)

Why Emerge?

Showcase your health system and payer solutions directly to qualified investors actively seeking healthcare innovation and connect with decision-makers who can become your next enterprise clients. The Emerge Experience offers you a rare triple opportunity: pitch your vision in the prestigious competition, secure targeted funding through curated investor meetings, and validate your solution with the exact healthcare executives who face the challenges you’re solving.

Executives

Who Should Attend?
  • Healthcare Providers (Venture & Innovation)
  • Healthcare Payers (Venture & Innovation)
    Large Pharma (Venture & Innovation)
  • Corporate Venture Leaders (Managing Directors, Partners & Directors)
  • Business Development Heads (SVPs, VPs & Directors)
  • Innovation & Strategy Managers (SVPs, VPs & Directors)

Why Emerge?

Discover vetted, implementation-ready solutions addressing your organization’s most pressing challenges while connecting with innovative startups before they scale. At Emerge, you’ll gain early access to transformative technologies specifically designed for your environment, efficiently evaluate multiple solutions in a single day, and network with peer executives and investors shaping healthcare’s future—giving you the competitive edge in an increasingly complex digital health landscape.

HIMSS26 Emerge Participants

Edison Partners Logo
Microsoft

Emerge Pitch Competition

Where Healthcare Innovation Finds Its Voice

The Emerge Pitch Competition is a cornerstone of the full-day Emerge Experience, specifically designed for health systems and payers.

This isn’t just another startup showcase—it’s your opportunity to address the challenges keeping healthcare C-Suite executives awake at night. The competition creates a direct channel between innovators and leaders from health systems and payer organizations who are actively seeking implementable solutions to their most pressing challenges over the next 12–36 months.

Congratulations to the winners of the HIMSS26 Emerge Pitch Contest!
Emerge Pitch Contest Winners
CO8A3572.March11,2026.Hour10.Min11
_Z821122.March11,2026.Hour11.Min03
CO8A3609.March11,2026.Hour10.Min22

Contest Categories and The Challenges at Hand

These aren’t hypothetical problems—they’re the urgent challenges shaping the future of care. Our C-Suite Executive Committee wants solutions that can deliver now.

Hospital Systems
  • Address Hospital Capacity Crisis: Hospitals are overwhelmed while patients wait. We need solutions that improve patient flow, eliminate bottlenecks, and deliver timely care.
  • Fix Workforce Crisis & Optimize Staff Efficiency: Healthcare workers are burned out and leaving. We need solutions that help existing teams work smarter while retaining talent long-term.
  • Transform supply chain and resource management: Turn inventory chaos into strategic advantage with predictive insights and automated workflows that ensure essential supplies are always available when and where needed.
Payers
  • Enhance Member Engagement & Trust: Build stronger payer-member relationships through genuine connections that motivate healthy behaviors while maintaining compliance.
  • Improve data & analytics capabilities and reach: Transform health data into actionable insights that help payers improve care, control costs, and optimize member outcomes.
  • Total Cost of Care Reduction: Help payers reduce healthcare costs across the entire care journey using real-world data to guide patients toward cost-effective treatments and better outcomes.

Three Winning Categories. Infinite Possibilities.

Winners gained exclusive access to industry power players, unmatched visibility, and a platform to make real impact.

Best in Show
Best in Show winners will receive...
  • A 10-minute live, on-stage presentation at the Emerge Experience event.
  • Highly coveted, pre-arranged 20-minute individual meetings with three C-Suite executives and three funders, held March 11, 2026, during the Emerge Experience event.
  • Recognition during the Executive Summit on March 9, 2026, at the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition, where the emcee will mention and congratulate each Best in Show winner. This exclusive program draws more than 400 C-Suite executives from across healthcare.
  • Features within the extensive global marketing platform of the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition. The Emerge Experience will showcase all category winners, who will be highlighted in a dedicated, multi-channel post-conference marketing campaign. This includes targeted social media exposure across all official HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition communities, an official press release, and a feature in the exclusive post-conference e-newsletter distributed to all conference attendees. Winning entrants are positioned to receive significant visibility and connect with key stakeholders across the global healthcare industry.
  • One complimentary, non-transferable registration, which includes access to the Emerge Innovation Experience, the HIMSS Global Health Conference general education program, and the HIMSS26 exhibition floor.
Winners Circle
Winner's Circle applicants will receive...
  • A pre-arranged, 20-minute meeting with one C-Suite executive, held March 11, 2026, during the Emerge Experience event.
  • Three pre-arranged, 20-minute individual virtual meetings with funders.
  • Recognition on event slides throughout the day at the Executive Summit on March 11, 2026, during the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition. This exclusive program attracts more than 400 C-Suite executives from across healthcare.
  • A 10% discount on HIMSS26 registration, which includes access to the Emerge Experience, the HIMSS Global Health Conference general education program, and the HIMSS26 exhibition floor.
  • Features within the extensive global marketing platform of the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition. The Emerge Innovation Experience will showcase all category winners, who will be highlighted in a dedicated, multi-channel post-conference marketing campaign. This includes targeted social media exposure across all official HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition communities, an official press release, and a feature in the exclusive post-conference e-newsletter distributed to all conference attendees. Winning entrants are positioned to receive significant visibility and connect with key stakeholders across the global healthcare industry.
Finalists
Finalists applicants will receive... 
  • Recognition on event slides throughout the day at the Executive Summit on March 11, 2026, during the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition. This exclusive program draws more than 400 C-Suite executives from across healthcare.
  • Inclusion in the global marketing efforts of the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition, highlighting the Emerge Experience contest and all category winners. This includes a post-conference social media campaign, press release, e-newsletter to all attendees, and placement in HIMSS media channels.
  • A 10% discount on HIMSS26 registration, which includes access to the Emerge Experience, the HIMSS Global Health Conference general education program, and the HIMSS26 exhibition floor.

Ami Bhatt

Chief Innovation Officer, American College of Cardiology
Dr. Ami Bhatt is the Chief Innovation Officer at the American College of Cardiology, a cardiologist, and a digital health strategist. A global health leader and national systems architect, she’s known for designing real-world health systems that blend digital tools, clinical insight, and human needs. Her work spans AI, telehealth, and system design innovation, all grounded in her deep clinical roots and personal mission to deliver care everywhere. She’s a trusted voice for the future of healthcare, on stages, in boardrooms, and across digital platforms, advocating for care that’s equitable, scalable, and human-centered.

John D. Halamka

Dwight and Dian Diercks President, Mayo Clinic Platform
John D. Halamka, M.D., M.S., is president of the Mayo Clinic Platform, a digital initiative that brings together solution developers, data partners and healthcare service providers to transform healthcare. Mayo Clinic Platform tools and solutions are on track to reach 55 million people in 2025. Trained in emergency medicine and medical informatics, Dr. Halamka has been developing and implementing healthcare information strategy and policy for more than 40 years. Prior to his appointment at Mayo Clinic, he was chief information officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he served governments, academia and industry throughout the world. As the International Healthcare Innovation Professor at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Halamka helped the George W. Bush administration, the Obama administration and governments worldwide plan their healthcare information strategies. Dr. Halamka completed his undergraduate studies at Stanford University, earned his medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco, and pursued graduate work in bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He completed his residency at Harbor — UCLA Medical Center in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He continues to practice emergency medicine and is Professor of Emergency Medicine and the Michael D. Brennan, M.D., President’s Strategic Initiative Professor at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. Dr. Halamka has written 16 books and hundreds of articles. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2020 and is board chair of the Coalition for Health AI, a cross-sector group that provides guidelines for the responsible use of AI in healthcare. He and his wife run Unity Farm Sanctuary in Sherborn, Massachusetts, dedicated to the lifetime care of ill, disabled, senior, orphaned and surrendered farm animals.

Stephen Konya

Chief, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP)
Stephen Konya serves as the Chief, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships for the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In addition to shaping the Agency’s long-term innovation strategy, he also serves as the primary liaison to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program, and manages the agency’s relationship with the external healthcare startup and investor community. Furthermore, Mr. Konya also leads the Digital Health Innovation Workgroup under the Federal Health IT Coordinating Council, an interagency collaboration community comprised of innovation representatives from 40 other federal agencies. In addition to currently serving as the primary Federal Govt lead and Co-Founder for CancerX, Mr. Konya has previously led several other key federal projects and public private partnerships, including the HHS PandemicX Innovation Accelerator, the national Health IT Playbook, the ONC Patient Engagement Playbook for Providers, the SMART App Gallery, the FHIR at Scale Taskforce (FAST) Initiative, and is a founding Co-Chair of the Together.Health Collaborative.

Daymond John

Entrepreneur & Investor, Star of ABC’s Shark Tank
An entrepreneur in every sense of the word, Daymond John has come a long way from taking out a $100,000 mortgage on his mother’s house and moving his business operation into its basement. John is CEO and Founder of FUBU, a much-celebrated global lifestyle brand, and a pioneer in the fashion industry with billions in product sales world-wide. Former President Barack Obama appointed Daymond John a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepre- neurship (PAGE) to harness his energy, ideas, and experience to help develop the next generation of entrepreneurs both at home and abroad. John is an award-winning entrepreneur and has received 100s of awards including the Brand Week Marketer of the Year, Advertising Age Marketing 1000 Award for Outstanding Ad Campaign, Ernst & Young’s New York Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and was named #2 on LinkedIn’s Top 20 Voices, a list of the top influencers, who are using their voice to help us analyze today’s changing world of work, navigate our industries, and find balance. Most recently, Real Leaders Magazine ranked Daymond John oneoftheTop20 Keynote Speakers in the World for2024! His marketing strategies and ability to build successful brands has made him a highly influential consultant and motivational speaker today. His marketing firm The Shark Group offers advice on how to effectively communicate to consumers through innovative means and connects brands with the world’s top celebrities for everything from endorsements to product extensions. John is also an author of 6 best-selling books including his New York Times best-sellers, The Power of Broke (2016) and Rise and Grind (2018).Hereleased his fifth book, Powershiftin2020 that walks through his tried-and-true process of how to transform any situation, close any deal and achieve any out- come. John’s most recent book, Little Daymond Learns to Earn (2023) is his first for kids, reached the New York Times and Amazon best-seller list the first week of its release. The book addresses the current void of educating our children about money in a fun and engaging story for parents and kids to connect. John’s mission is to continue challenging the status quo and leave a lasting legacy of inspiring other leaders to do the same. Finally, John is celebrating his 17th season on ABC TV’s critically acclaimed business reality show Shark Tank by renowned producer Mark Burnett, which has reinvigorated entrepreneurship around the world. Shark Tank has now gone on to win five Emmy® in the US and millions of weekly viewers world-wide tune into the show as John demonstrates his marketing prowess and entrepreneurial insights.

Amy Gleason

Administrator & Senior Advisor
Amy Gleason is the Acting Administrator of the U.S. DOGE Service and Strategic Advisor to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), where she leads national initiatives to modernize healthcare technology and improve data interoperability. Previously, she served as Chief Product Officer at Russell Street Ventures, where she led digital health innovation at Main Street Health and CareBridge. Amy also served with the U.S. Digital Service at the White House, where she created the national COVID-19 database and led major efforts such as the Pandemic Ready Interoperable Modernization Effort (PRIME) and Data at the Point of Care. She began her career in nursing and has spent her career advancing healthcare through technology. Amy brings a deeply personal perspective to her work, shaped by her experience as a caregiver to her daughter, who was diagnosed with a rare disease at age 11.

Jon McNeill

CEO of DVx Ventures and former President of Tesla and COO of Lyft
When it comes to scaling businesses, few leaders have been more impactful than Jon McNeill, past President of Tesla, and former COO of Lyft and current CEO and Co-Founder of DVx Ventures. In his talks, he reveals powerful strategies for leveraging AI and a blueprint for accelerating growth—insights that successful leaders can apply immediately. As President of Tesla, Jon helped grow revenue from $2B to $20B in 18 months to 30 months. At Lyft, he served as COO during a critical growth phase, doubling revenue and steering the company toward its IPO. Using stories and experiences from these transformative roles, he translates complex growth playbooks into clear, actionable lessons that organizations can use to drive innovation, scale effectively, and achieve meaningful impact. A visionary entrepreneur, investor, and operator, Jon has a proven track record of driving hypergrowth across some of the world’s most disruptive industries. At DVx, he leads a venture studio that has launched 12 companies tackling large-scale market opportunities. A six-time founder, Jon has built and scaled companies that have created tens of thousands of jobs and delivered 9x returns to investors. He is exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speaker bureau. Jon currently serves on the boards of General Motors, Lululemon, Asurion, CrossFit, and Stash. He played a pivotal role in Lululemon’s turnaround, contributing to a 5x increase in stock value. He also sits on the Liquid AI Advisory Council. A frequent speaker and guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, and Stanford GSB, Jon is known for delivering practical, actionable insights on innovation, leadership, and scaling operations. In his book, The Algorithm: The Hypergrowth Formula That Transformed Tesla, Lululemon, General Motors, and SpaceX (March 2026), Jon shares a behind-the-scenes look at how iconic companies scale and outlines a playbook leaders can use to drive sustained growth and impact. Jon began his career at Bain & Company and is a graduate of Northwestern University.

Sumbul Ahmad Desai

Vice President of Health and Fitness, Apple
Sumbul Ahmad Desai, MD serves as Vice President of Health and Fitness at Apple, overseeing the development and roadmap of health and fitness products, including early feasibility, scientific validation, user experience, and SaMD regulatory approvals in nearly every region around the world. Because scientific research is the basis of Apple’s health and fitness products, Dr. Desai’s team is tasked with conducting an extensive number of research studies at several stages of product development, and the group’s quality teams ensure continued high standards, as they report out to governing bodies. Under her leadership, Apple has embarked on landmark research studies, partnering with leading scientific institutions — including Stanford Medicine, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, UCLA, the American Heart Association, and the World Health Organization — to advance discovery using iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. Several product features were created based on these studies’ real-world evidence, including the ECG app, irregular rhythm notification, mental health and wellbeing, cycle deviations, and walking steadiness, as well as the recently-launched hypertension notifications, sleep apnea notifications, hearing aid, and hearing test. Dr. Desai recently served as Vice Chair of Strategy and Innovation in the Department of Medicine at Stanford Medicine, as well as Associate Chief Medical Officer at Stanford Healthcare. She also serves as Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Stanford School of Medicine

Mehmet Oz

17th Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Dr. Oz serves as the 17th Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services under HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr., and President Donald Trump. He is a Professor Emeritus at NY Presbyterian-Columbia Medical Center and has won nine Daytime Emmy® ;.Awards. Dr. Oz received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and obtained a joint MD and MBA from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Wharton Business School. He is the author of eight New York Times Best Sellers and was a founder of a lifestyle magazine with a focus that extends well beyond health and wellness to relationships, beauty, food and home. In 2003, Dr. Oz founded a national non-profit which emulates the Peace Corps by putting energetic recent college graduates into high schools around the country to teach diet, fitness and mental resilience. He has raised $100 million to help 3 million teens with this nationwide program. In addition to belonging to every major professional society for heart surgeons, Dr. Oz has been named Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Forbes’ most influential celebrity, Esquire magazine’s 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century, Harvard’s 100 Most Influential Alumni, AARP 50 Influential People Over 50, and received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star. Dr. Oz resides in Pennsylvania with his wife Lisa Oz and is a proud father of four and grandfather of five children.

Linsey Davis

ABC News Live “Prime” Anchor
Linsey Davis is currently the anchor of ABC News Live “Prime with Linsey Davis,” ABC News’ Emmy® Award-winning streaming evening newscast, and “World News Tonight” Sunday. She is a correspondent filing reports for “World News Tonight with David Muir,” “Good Morning America,” “20/20” and “Nightline.” Davis has conducted powerful, exclusive newsmaking interviews with world leaders, influential figures, health officials, and politicians. Notable interviews include the only interview with comedian Bill Cosby in the wake of dozens of sexual assault allegations; Jonathan Majors, after he was convicted of one misdemeanor assault charge and one harassment violation; Boris Johnson, shortly after he left his position as prime minister; the victims who suffered abuse at the hands of Larry Ray at Sarah Lawrence University; Shelley Lynn Thornton, also known as Baby Roe, the daughter of Jane Roe; Kevin Strickland, a wrongfully convicted Missouri man who was released from prison after 43 years; Myon Burrell, a Minneapolis inmate who said he was wrongfully convicted for murder; and Nick Cannon, discussing his journey towards atonement, education and self-improvement after making antisemitic comments and espousing conspiracy theories. Davis’ additional interviewees include former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Mike Pence, former First Lady Karen Pence, Gov. Ron Desantis, Nikki Haley, Speaker Mike Johnson, Beto O’Rourke, Gov. Wes Moore, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Herschel Walker, Sen. Raphael Warnock, Kanye West, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Anita Hill, Bill Gates, Halle Berry, Dionne Warwick, Huma Abedin, Dave Grohl, Billy Porter, nearly two dozen senators from both sides of the aisle and dozens of House representatives, and leading up to the 2024 Iowa caucuses, she interviewed the spouses of seven presidential candidates as part of a series called “Running Mates.” Davis helped lead ABC News’ coverage of the 2024 presidential election, notably co-hosting the 2024 presidential debate alongside David Muir, and ABC News’ election night coverage “Your Voice, Your Vote.” She was an integral part of the 2022 midterm elections and was at the forefront of ABC News’ coverage of the 2020 presidential election, spanning all eight nights of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. She co-anchored major political events such as two presidential primary debates, the vice-presidential debate, presidential election coverage and Inauguration Day. Davis has covered news stories around the globe, including the Black Lives Matter movement, the Las Vegas massacre, the Harvey Weinstein allegations and subsequent #MeToo movement, the Boston Marathon bombing, the Nairobi Mall massacre and several of President Obama’s trips overseas. She has also reported on various natural disasters, including the earthquake in Haiti and multiple hurricanes. Davis joined ABC News in 2017 as a New York-based correspondent for ABC NewsOne, the network’s affiliate news service. Prior, Davis was the anchor of the weekend evening newscasts at WTHR-TV in Indianapolis. During her time there, she reported from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Torino for the 2006 Winter Olympics and Athens for the 2004 Summer Olympics. From 2001 to 2003, she was a reporter at WJRT-TV, the ABC-owned station in Flint, Michigan. Davis has received several honors for her reporting, including two Emmy Awards, a duPont-Columbia Award and a regional Edward R. Murrow Award. In 2023, “ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis” won the Gracie Award for Best National News Program and a Front-Page Award for the feature “Water Warriors.” In 2022, she also won a 2022 On Air Talent – News Magazine Gracie Award. Davis is the author of six books, including The New York Times bestsellers “Girls of the World” (March 2024) and “The Smallest Spot of a Dot” (January 2023), and the titles “How High Is Heaven” (February 2022), “Stay This Way Forever” (February 2021), “The World Is Awake” (February 2019) and “One Big Heart” (August 2019). Davis earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Virginia and a Master of Arts degree in communications from New York University.

Jeremy Renner

Oscar-Nominated Actor
Two-time Academy Award nominee Jeremy Renner has established himself as one of Hollywood’s most versatile and respected actors. Throughout the 2000s, he appeared largely in independent films, including Dahmer and Neo Ned. Shortly thereafter, he began starring in blockbuster features, earning critical acclaim for his roles in The Hurt Locker (Academy Award nomination for Best Actor) and The Town (Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor). Renner’s career expanded with significant roles in major franchises, such as Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol and The Bourne Legacy. He also originated the role of “Hawkeye” in Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Avengers films, becoming a key figure in the superhero genre. Renner’s impressive filmography includes starring in the award-winning movie American Hustle, the science fiction hit Arrival alongside Amy Adams, and the critically acclaimed thriller Wind River. On television, Renner played the titular character in Marvel’s series “Hawkeye” for Disney+ and currently stars in one of Paramount+’s top-performing original dramas, Mayor of Kingstown. Additionally, he starred in Disney+’s four-part docuseries Rennervations. Beyond his acting career, Renner is dedicated to philanthropy through his foundation, the Rennervation Foundation, which focuses on various charitable initiatives.

Rami Mehio

Senior Vice President and General Manager, BioInsight
(Illumina)

Rami is the global head of software and Informatics development at Illumina. He joined Illumina in 2018 as part of the Edico Genome acquisition and has continuously expanded his leadership, which now includes overseeing all of instrument software, cloud platforms, bioinformatics and clinical software across Illumina’s entire portfolio. Over the past few years, Rami’s organization has helped establish Illumina as a leading provider in informatics, delivering solutions developed in deep collaborations with KOLs. Prior to joining Illumina, Rami led a team of 30 engineers and bioinformaticians at Edico to develop the DRAGEN BioIT processor and commercialize it. Previously, Rami held various management and technical roles at Broadcom and Nokia, including as Director of Modem and RF Software at Broadcom delivering software and algorithms to millions of chips powering dozens of cell phone models. Rami holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Signal Processing and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Rasu Shrestha

Chief Innovation & Commercialization Officer, Atrium Health
Rasu B. Shrestha, MD, MBA, is enterprise executive vice president & chief strategy and transformation officer for Atrium Health, one of the largest non-profit and leading academic health systems in the United States. As a member of the executive leadership team, Shrestha is responsible for Atrium Health’s enterprise strategy, including planning and tactical direction for the organization’s current strategic roadmap and beyond. In addition, he spearheads a renewed focus on innovation, launching new healthcare inventions, discoveries and ideas to benefit our patients and the communities Atrium Health serves. He also provides executive leadership for corporate communications and marketing, as well as enterprise data and analytics. With over 25 years of experience, Shrestha joined Atrium Health in February 2019. Prior to joining the organization, Shrestha served as chief innovation officer for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), where he was responsible for driving UPMC’s innovation strategy, serving as a catalyst in transforming the payer-provider organization into a more patient-focused and economically sustainable system. In addition to leading innovation at UPMC, Shrestha also served as executive vice president of UPMC Enterprises. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM), as well as Academy Health, and was the chairman of the HIMSS Innovation Committee, and co-chair of Health Datapalooza. Shrestha also serves on the Board of the Blumenthal Performing Arts. Among his many achievements, Shrestha was recognized as “Executive of the Year” by Healthcare Dive and was acknowledged as one of the “Top 20 Health IT Leaders Driving Change” and as a “Top Healthcare Innovator” by InformationWeek. Shrestha was the youngest student in his college in Malaysia and holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from CCS University in India. He has received training in radiology and has held a fellowship in informatics at the University of London. Shrestha also a holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

JOE LONGO

Senior Vice President / Chief Digital & Information Officer | Parkland
Health

Joe Longo serves as the Senior Vice President/Chief Digital & Information Officer for Parkland Health in Dallas, Texas, one of the largest public health systems in the country. He is a recognized progressive healthcare technology executive who has stewarded IT strategic plans and technology direction for major hospital systems and IT firms. Joe prides himself on his service to public health, applying advanced healthcare IT capabilities to environments typically under-represented in the high-tech community. His executive tenure at Parkland began managing the technology program for the new Parkland campus project, which was one of the world’s most significant greenfield hospital construction endeavors. Since joining Parkland’s leadership team, he has propelled the organization to achieve significant milestones, including its first 10 Most Wired designations, HITRUST certification, Stage 7 on the HIMSS Analytics Maturity Model (AMAM), and two of the prestigious Davis Awards in 2017 and 2022.  He was the Dallas CIO 2022 “CIO of the Year” ORBIE award recipient and Transformational Leader Award in 2025. Joe is a Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO) and Certified Digital Health – Executive (CDH-E) through the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) organization and holds an MBA from Baylor University.

Brett Moran

SVP, Chief Health Officer, Parkland Health
Dr. Brett Moran serves as the Chief Health Officer at Parkland Health, overseeing Clinical Strategic Development, Digital Health, Research, Innovation, Clinician Resiliency, and Value-based care initiatives. His work focuses on healthcare technology innovation and public health advancement, with particular emphasis on serving vulnerable populations. As the 8th recipient of the Epic Physician Academy Council “PACademy” Physician of the Year Award, selected by informatics peers nationwide, Dr. Moran’s innovative work has garnered multiple national recognitions, including leading Parkland to receive multiple HIMSS Davies Awards, notably the first Public Health Davies Award in over a decade, and most recently, the 2024 local Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety and Quality. As a national thought leader in healthcare technology and AI implementation, Dr. Moran serves several key advisory roles, including co-chair of the Texas eHealth Advisory Council, which provides strategic guidance to the Health and Human Services Commission. He contributed his expertise as an independent reviewer for the Duke Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) framework, was a member of the Health AI Maturity Model (HAIMM) Collaborative, actively participates in the Epic Health Policy and AI workgroup, and co-facilitates the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s AI Accelerator.

Ashwini Davison

CMIO: Enterprise Imaging and Oncology, AWS
Ashwini Davison is a board-certified physician in internal medicine and clinical informatics. In her role as Chief Medical Informatics Officer – Oncology at Amazon Web Services (AWS), she supports academic medical centers as they accelerate their journey to the cloud. Prior to joining AWS, Dr. Davison was a full-time faculty member at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine where her work focused on evaluating clinical decision support in EHRs, incorporating health systems science curricula into medical education, and growing online education programs in population health management and health informatics. Most recently, she has been a critical team member leading AWS’ participation in the Cancer AI Alliance as well as the White House Executive Order titled “Unlocking Cures for Pediatric Cancer with Artificial Intelligence,” directing federal agencies to use AI to accelerate pediatric cancer research, improve diagnostics, and enhance treatments.

Ray Lowe

Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer, AltaMed Health Services
Ray has served as the SVP/CIO for AltaMed Health Services in Los Angeles, California since 2018. AltaMed is a community-based provider offering quality health care and human services to Latino and multi-ethnic communities across Southern California serving over 400,000 low income and underserved patients. He has over 25 years of healthcare experience and is a strong advocate of health equity and culturally competent care. He is viewed as a healthcare innovator implementing a mobile-first strategy that lead a holistic digital framework transformation, which included remote patient monitoring and care transitions focused on value-based care outcome. Ray has been recognized as an awarding winning CIO: 2023 – HIMSS “Change Maker of the Year Award”; 2023 Healthcare Digital “Top 10 CIOs in Healthcare”; and 2020, 2019 – Becker’s Hospital Review as “One of the Top 100 Healthcare CIOS to know”. As well as Constellation Research” Business Transformation Leaders 150 (BT150)”. Previously, he has served in leadership roles at Dignity Health, Providence Health and Services and Kaiser Permanente. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California with a Masters in Engineering and BS in Electrical Engineering.

Jose Mayorga

Senior Vice President, Chief Quality Officer, AltaMed Health Services
A distinguished Family Physician and physician executive, Dr. Mayorga brings over two decades of healthcare leadership experience across the nonprofit, academic, and corporate sectors—with a career deeply rooted in delivering high-quality, equitable care to underserved communities. Dr. Mayorga’s journey in medicine began after completing his Family Medicine residency at Harbor-UCLA. Shortly thereafter, he opened his own practice before being recruited to AltaMed Health Services as Site Medical Director in Orange County. His leadership journey took off, leading him to become the inaugural Chief Medical Officer at Share Ourselves (SOS), where he transitioned the organization from a free clinic into a thriving Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) offering integrated primary care, pediatrics, OB/GYN, and behavioral health services. His passion for impactful change led him to DaVita Medical Group (previously HealthCare Partners), where he oversaw three Independent Physician Association (IPA) networks as Medical Director, serving over 100,000 lives across Medi-Cal, commercial, and senior populations. In 2018, he returned to his alma mater, UC Irvine, serving as Executive Director and Executive Medical Director of the UCI Health Family Health Center—where his own journey into medicine began. Under his leadership, UCI’s FQHC went through a transformational change and was nationally recognized for its success in improving quality, expanding access, eliminating health disparities, and addressing social determinants of health—earning top honors from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration from 2021 to 2024. While at UCI, he held an Associate Professor in the School of Medicine – Family Medicine Department and the School of Pharmacy – Clinical Pharmacy Department. Dr. Mayorga returned to AltaMed in May 2025 as the Chief Quality Officer. He has a a clear mission: to lead quality initiatives that elevate care for every patient, every time. He firmly believes that outstanding health outcomes come from empowered, collaborative teams focused on equitable care delivery. In addition to his executive roles, Dr. Mayorga has mentored future healthcare leaders and served as a trusted medical expert in both English and Spanish-language media. Outside of work, Dr. Mayorga enjoys coaching soccer, vacationing with his family, and cheering on the Dodgers and Lakers—always hopeful for another championship season.

Maureen Nylin

Co-Host, The Buzz Podcast
Maureen Nylin, MSN, RN, CHCIO, PMP is a healthcare executive and registered nurse known for transforming complex clinical and operational challenges into scalable, technology-enabled solutions. With more than 15 years of experience spanning bedside care, informatics, and executive leadership, she brings a rare clinical to C-suite perspective to healthcare transformation. As Vice President of Client Success at Extrico Health, Maureen partners with hospitals to ensure clinical care is accurately represented, appropriately reimbursed, and continuously improved through actionable data and insight. She is a vocal advocate for protecting the clinical story-bridging the gap between care delivery, documentation, and financial sustainability. Maureen is also the co-host of The Buzz Podcast, where she amplifies the voices of innovators, disruptors, and leaders shaping the future of healthcare. Through authentic, thought-provoking conversations, she inspires collaboration and meaningful change across the industry. She is driven by a deep commitment to clinicians, a passion for continuous learning, and a belief that healthcare technology must always serve the people who care for patients.

Halle Tecco

Author, Massively Better Healthcare

Halle Tecco has dedicated her career to making healthcare massively better. She is the founder of Rock Health and has backed and advised dozens of healthcare companies. She teaches future healthcare leaders at Columbia Business School and Harvard Medical School, and serves on the boards of Collective Health and Cofertility. Tecco’s work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg. She was named as one of Goldman Sach’s Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs and listed on Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business 2023. She has spoken at the Aspen Ideas Festival, CES, TechCrunch Disrupt, and was a SXSW Keynote speaker. Tecco holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MPH from Johns Hopkins University. With Massively Better Healthcare, she distills 15+ years of lessons into an essential guide for leaders who want to leave the system better than they found it.

Tessa Cook

Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Practice Transformation in Radiology, Penn Medicine

Dr. Cook is an Associate Professor and the Vice Chair of Practice Transformation in the Department of Radiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She directs Penn’s Imaging Informatics Fellowship and is Modality Chief of 3-D and Advanced Imaging. She is a recipient of the ACR’s Amis Fellowship in Quality and Safety, AAR’s GERRAF, and SIIM’s Dr. Ruth Dayhoff Award for the Advancement of Women in Medical Imaging Informatics. She is a Fellow of SIIM, the AAR, and the ACR, a former SIIM chair, and the current vice chair of ACR’s Commission on Informatics. She pursues innovative approaches to enhance the delivery of patient care in radiology and improve radiologists’ workflow.

Danny Sama

Vice President, Digital Platform & Strategy

Danny Sama is the Vice President, Digital Platform & Strategy within Information Services for Northwestern
Medicine and leads the integrated academic health system’s technology strategic planning in addition to the development of a cloud-native digital platform to enable the NM vision & strategy. His portfolio includes digital capabilities & innovation, enterprise data, and data governance, leveraging the technical disciplines of data engineering, software developing and machine learning to enable value creation for NM patients, clinicians, and employees. He earned his undergraduate degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He is a member of the faculty at Northwestern University’s School of Professional Studies’ MS of Healthcare Administration and MS of Health Analytics programs.

David Banks

President & CEO, AdventHealth
David Banks is president and chief executive officer of AdventHealth, a connected network of care that helps people feel whole – body, mind and spirit. He leads more than 100,000 team members across a national footprint to provide whole-person care for millions of people each year through more than 2,000 care sites. Guided by its mission to extend the healing ministry of Christ, AdventHealth’s wholistic approach seeks to improve the health and prosperity of the communities it calls home. Banks has spent more than three decades at AdventHealth, helping sustain and strengthen its faith- based mission and culture. He began his career as a social worker – an experience that shaped his conviction that care should treat the whole person, not just the condition. As he advanced into leadership roles across AdventHealth’s facilities and markets, he gained deep operational and strategic insight into what it takes to deliver on that promise of wholeness. Before becoming system CEO, Banks led two major divisions within AdventHealth: the newly established Primary Health Division, and the Multi-State Division. As group CEO for the Primary Health Division, he led the formation of a new division devoted to longitudinal, whole-person primary and home-based care. The new structure integrated more than 17 existing business units into a unified division focused on access, coordination and value. Under his leadership, the division’s operating performance improved by 15% year-over-year, supported by a mission-first culture grounded in collaboration and agility. As group CEO for the Multi-State Division, Banks strengthened leadership, operations and mission alignment across eight states and three regional partnerships. In its first year, the division achieved a 60% improvement in operating performance and made measurable gains in patient experience and physician engagement. In the eight years leading up to his system CEO role, Banks also served as AdventHealth’s chief strategy officer, co-leading the development and implementation of Vision 2030 – the organization’s 10-year strategic plan. He oversaw AdventHealth’s enterprise rebrand and introduced new management models that improved collaboration and decision-making across the system. Banks earned a master’s degree in nonprofit administration from the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland, and a bachelor’s degree from Pacific Union College. He is a member of G100, the Healthcare Leadership Council and The Health Management Academy, and currently serves on the board of Oakwood University and the Andrews University Seminary Executive Committee.

Tyler Gillum

Head Baseball Coach, Savannah Bananas

Tyler Gillum is a coach, educator, and entrepreneur who has dedicated his life to inspiring and helping others achieve their dreams. His mantra—“Bet On Yourself”—has been the driving force behind his exceptional journey, which has inspired over a million people in both sports and business. From humble beginnings, to being the Head Coach of the Savannah Bananas, Tyler’s story is one of resilience, vision, and servant leadership.

Tyler’s impact isn’t limited to the baseball diamond. As a speaker, he uses his platform to inspire both individuals and organizations to reach their full potential. He teaches audiences how to implement actionable plans for success, blending the lessons of sports with business strategies. Through storytelling and hands-on advice, he encourages people to live with a “do for one what you wish you could do for many” mindset and create “never forget moments” for those around them.

Tyler’s college baseball coaching career spanned from 2010 to 2022, during which he recruited, developed, and built championship teams. He wasn’t just a coach who focused on baseball skills; he created environments where athletes could thrive, grow, and ultimately achieve their dreams- by combining developmental skills on the field, with fundamental life skills in the classroom. His philosophy was simple yet profound: coach the person first, then the player. Championship cultures are built through relationships, relationships create Buy-In, Buy-In leads to what Tyler calls “Chasing Dogpiles” aka Championships. Whether it’s in life, sports or business, everyone has a “Dogpile” to chase.

In 2017, Tyler set an ambitious goal: to positively impact one million people. By 2024, that dream was realized with one million fans on tour. Now, Tyler is focused on taking this impact to the next level, aiming to 10x that influence by sharing proven philosophies, strategies and lessons that build championship cultures.

Tyler’s roots run deep in Oklahoma, where he grew up on the rodeo circuit alongside his father, a bull rider. The quote his dad used often was “it isn’t if you get hurt, it’s when, and how bad”. Despite the challenges of a life steeped in rodeo culture, Tyler’s love for baseball was unwavering. In fact, he often jokes he’d rather “get hit by a 90mph fastball than horned by a bull” – a sentiment that has defined his journey in baseball. His upbringing instilled in him toughness, work ethic and resilience needed to overcome life’s hurdles, traits that would serve him well throughout his career.

Tyler’s journey has not been without its challenges. He grew up in a family that struggled with addiction but through it all, baseball served as a refuge, helping Tyler stay focused on his big vision and guiding him to create a life filled with purpose. His ability to turn personal struggles into motivation is a testament to his resilience and his commitment to helping others overcome their own obstacles.

A pivotal moment in Tyler’s career came in 2018 when he became the Head Coach of the Savannah Bananas, a team known for their electrifying style of play. There, he worked alongside owner Jesse Cole to develop the innovative sport of Banana Ball, a unique brand of baseball designed to entertain and engage fans like never before. The combination of being “Fans First”, having fun and developing player’s on and off the field has lead to championships, Hall of Fame Inductions and playing in the biggest stadiums in America.

In 2025, Tyler was inducted into the Hall of Fame at his Alma mater, East Central University, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the sport. Tyler often states “you should never forget where you come from”, so to represent his family on the field Tyler proudly wears his cowboy boots during the game in their honor, which fits perfectly in Bananaland, like they often say “whatever’s normal do the exact opposite”.

Tyler’s story is one that exemplifies the power of having a clear vision, setting big goals, and pursuing them relentlessly. From his childhood dream of winning four state championships in high school to his ambition of coaching in college and eventually leading the Savannah Bananas, Tyler’s journey has been marked by a commitment to personal growth and the growth of those around him.

In the world of business, as in sports, Tyler teaches that the key to success is not just in what you achieve, but in how you uplift others along the way. Take what you do seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously. That’s the lesson Tyler lives by, and it’s the lesson he shares with everyone he encounters. Whether you’re running a business or leading a team, Tyler’s message is clear: Bet On Yourself, and always remember to serve those around you.

Amy Leopard

Partner, Health and IT Counsel, Certified AI Governance Professional
Amy Leopard is a veteran health lawyer advising healthcare and IT innovators on AI governance, data strategy, and compliance. Amy helps clients develop responsible AI and digital health solutions aligned with emerging HHS, ONC, and state regulations, industry guidelines, and the NIST AI Risk Management Framework to enhance transparency, mitigate bias and security risks, and promote patient safety. She works with leading health systems and technology companies to manage data rights, negotiate technology agreements, and address risk across the AI life cycle. Amy is a HIMSS Fellow and is certified in AI Governance and in Privacy by the IAPP. She has served as Secretary and Board member of the American Health Law Association and chaired its Health IT Practice Group. She brings both operational and regulatory insight to her counsel from a decade in hospital leadership and experience at the U.S. Department of Justice. Recognized by Chambers USA and Best Lawyers for Health Care and IT Law.

Jenny Wood

NYT Bestselling Author, Former Google Executive, Expert in Driving Transformational Business Change, Influencing Customers, and Improving Team Engagement
Jenny Wood is the New York Times bestselling author of WILD COURAGE: Go After What You Want and Get It. In her book—and sought-after keynotes—she reveals nine unconventional traits that power the world’s most resilient and high-performing people. A former Google executive and Harvard Business School researcher, Jenny spent 18 years rising from entry-level to COO roles across global divisions as the company scaled from 6,000 to 180,000 employees. She led hybrid, multi-generational teams across the Americas, Asia, and Europe, helping drive billions in annual revenue while navigating hypergrowth, layoffs, and reinvention. Despite never holding a formal People Operations role, Jenny founded Own Your Career, one of the largest internal career programs in Google’s history. The program reached 56,000 employees in nearly 100 countries—and redefined how Googlers build influence and grow their careers from day one. Jenny has coached thousands of professionals and executives on leadership, resilience, teamwork, and influence. Her 375+ pieces on those topics, with features in Harvard Business Review, CNBC, Forbes, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, and Inc. Her dynamic keynotes blend bold storytelling, practical strategy, and real-world tools to help teams break the mold and lead with courage, and impact—especially under pressure. That’s why F500 companies like SalesForce, Oracle, Target, Capital One, Royal Caribbean, State Farm, CVS, and Johnson & Johnson invite her back to speak again and again. Jenny’s a motivator, unstoppable confidence booster, and fierce advocate for unrealized potential. When she’s not on stage, she’s hiking, flying airplanes, singing in the kitchen, or chasing the perfect zucchini bread recipe.

andrew rubin

NYU Langone Health
Senior Vice President, Clinical Affairs and Ambulatory Care and Revenue Cycle Operations

Andrew Rubin is Senior Vice President, Clinical Affairs and Ambulatory Care, and Senior Vice President, Revenue Cycle Operations, at NYU Langone Health, one of the nation’s premier integrated academic health systems devoted to patient care, education, and research.

Andrew oversaw the transformation of NYU Langone’s Faculty Group Practice (FGP), a vast network of clinicians who offer one consistently high standard of care close to where patients live and work. Through his thoughtful leadership approach, dedication to patients and staff, and strategic guidance, the FGP has grown tremendously, with 4,500 physicians employed across more than 320 locations in New York and Florida. In 2024, the FGP’s annual revenue was nearly $4 billion, and the network has been recognized as No. 1 in quality and accountability by Vizient in 9 of the past 10 years. Andrew also oversees a high-performing infrastructure across all hospital revenue cycle services that supports the collection of more than $10 billion in inpatient and $4 billion in outpatient revenues annually.

Throughout his 25 years with NYU Langone, Andrew has contributed significantly to its culture of exceptionalism. As the FGP rapidly expanded, Andrew kept a relentless focus on quality and safety while engaging the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center to develop a patient experience service strategy focused on reinforcing excellence in every interaction. Known as FGP C.A.R.E.S., it is a sequence of behaviors that guide every interaction between patients and staff, making the overall NYU Langone experience one of empathy and consistency.

Andrew hosts a weekly Sirius Satellite/XM radio show, HealthCare Connect, where he uses warmth and compassion to connect with audiences and simplify the complex healthcare industry. He has also appeared on NBC’s Today Show, Fox News, and CNN, shedding light on all aspects of the healthcare delivery system and industry.

Outside of work, Andrew is passionate about making an impact on his community. He is active with God’s Love We Deliver, a New York nonprofit that provides meals for those with life-altering illness. In 2021, he received Crain’s New York Business LGBTQ+ Leaders and Executives award, which recognized his career achievements, mentorship, and involvement in community and industry organizations. Andrew also enjoys practicing yoga and playing fetch with his Mini Goldendoodle, Pepper.

Nader Mherabi

NYU Langone Health
Executive Vice President and Vice Dean, Chief Digital and Information Officer

Executive Vice Nader Mherabi, executive vice president and vice dean, chief digital and information officer, is responsible for all information technology (IT) strategy, digital transformation for NYU Langone Health and for information technology’s development as a strategic organizational asset. He previously was vice president for IT product solutions and chief technology officer for NYU Langone, responsible for technology strategy, infrastructure engineering, networks, data centers, and application architecture. Nader currently leads NYU Langone Health’s digital transformation and AI initiatives, driving the integration of the institution’s workflows, revolutionizing the digital patient experience and clinical environment, and empowering the institution with big data and advanced analytics to improve care delivery, quality and efficiency.

Nader has designed and implemented many large-scale, diverse systems for NYU Langone and has extensive experience in hospital clinical systems integration, research information technology, and education systems. He has developed an operational architecture for in-house application development and integration, as well as an electronic data repository, warehouse and dashboards center, research-specific infrastructure for computation and collaboration, and scores of mid-size applications for research, education, and clinical care environments.

During his more than 36 years in the information technology field, Nader has implemented large-scale systems for top Fortune 500 companies worldwide, such as Credit Suisse and CitiGroup, and held several prominent IT management positions including senior director at Mount Sinai–NYU Health, vice president at Credit Suisse First Boston, and vice president at Citibank.

Nader Mherabi, executive vice president and vice dean, chief digital and information officer, is responsible for all information technology (IT) strategy, digital transformation for NYU Langone Health and for information technology’s development as a strategic organizational asset. He previously was vice president for IT product solutions and chief technology officer for NYU Langone, responsible for technology strategy, infrastructure engineering, networks, data centers, and application architecture. Nader currently leads NYU Langone Health’s digital transformation and AI initiatives, driving the integration of the institution’s workflows, revolutionizing the digital patient experience and clinical environment, and empowering the institution with big data and advanced analytics to improve care delivery, quality and efficiency.

During his more than 36 years in the information technology field, Nader has implemented large-scale systems for top Fortune 500 companies worldwide, such as Credit Suisse and CitiGroup

Tuesday: American Buffet

  • SALADS
  • Crispy Iceberg, Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes, Cucumber, Shaved Onions, and Crumbled Feta with Herb Vinaigrette
  • Bloomed Faro, Wheat Berries, and Barley with Kale, Roasted Carrots, and Tahini

  • ENTRÉES AND SIDES
  • Roasted Sea Bass with Sauce Américaine
  • The Butcher’s Cut Steak with Black Peppercorn Sauce and Pearl Onions
  • Spanakorizo Rice with Onion and Spinach
  • Roasted Mixed Beets with White Balsamic Dressing
  • Fresh Baked Rolls and Butter

  • DESSERTS
  • Almond-Chocolate Sponge Cake with Mascarpone Chantilly
  • Churro-Flavored Cream Puff with Dulce de Leche and Cinnamon-Chocolate Decoration
  • Plant-Based Banana Chocolate Chip Sponge Cake with Passion Fruit Topping

* Menus subject to change

Wednesday: Spanish Buffet

  • SALADS
  • Arugula and Frisée Salad with Shaved Bosc Pears, Cranberries,
    and Blue Cheese Crumbles with White Balsamic Vinaigrette
  • Red and White Quinoa Israeli Tabbouleh, Peppers,
    Red Onions, Cucumbers, and Tomatoes with Parsley

  • ENTRÉES AND SIDES
  • Roasted Chicken Thighs cooked with Paprika, Cayenne, and Turmeric Mix Demi
  • Oven-Roasted Salmon with Almond Romesco Sauce
  • Arroz Verde with Parboil Rice, Salsa Verde, Cilantro, and Lime
  • Green Beans and Ajo Blanco Vinaigrette with Tomatoes
  • Fresh Baked Rolls and Butter

  • DESSERTS
  • Limoncello Cake with Light Citrus Cream
  • Buttermilk-Praline Pecan Cake with Salted Caramel Whipped Ganache
  • Dark Chocolate Mousse with Plant-Based Pear Jelly

* Menus subject to change

Thursday: Italian Buffet

  • SALADS
  • Classic Caprese Salad with Vine-Ripened Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella, and Basil with a Balsamic Reduction
  • Insalata Reggiana — Arugula and Radicchio with Pears, Shaved Parmigiano Reggiano, Toasted Pine Nuts, and Grape Must Vinaigrette

  • ENTRÉES AND SIDES
  • Chicken Cacciatore — Roasted Chicken Thigh with a Tomato, Pepper, Olive, Oregano, and Basil Sauce
  • Branzino with Pinot Grigio Blanco Sauce
  • Creamy Roasted Garlic Polenta
  • Roasted Squash, Zucchini, Carrots, and Pearl Onions
  • Fresh Baked Rolls and Butter

  • DESSERTS
  • Tiramisu — Coffee-Soaked Ladyfingers with Espresso Crémeux
    and Mascarpone Cream
  • Italian Flag Cake — Layered Sponge Cakes with Raspberry Jam
    and Chocolate Ganache
  • Cannoli — Citrus-Scented Ricotta Cream in Cinnamon Shell

* Menus subject to change

Michelle Spencer

Deputy Director
Bloomberg American Health Initiative

Michelle Spencer is the Deputy Director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and Practice Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has over 25 years of experience in public health management and leadership and a wealth of experience in administrative and operational management, strategic planning, resource management, and policy development.

Her expertise is in place-based program implementation, development, and management with a focus on the impacts of health equity, racial disparities, and health outcomes, particularly in disinvested and underserved and under resourced communities. She focuses on addressing the preventable nature of public health issues through integrated, evidence-based approaches.

Mrs. Spencer previously served as the Director of the Prevention and Health Promotion Administration at the Maryland Department of Health, Director of the Maryland Health Enterprise Zone initiative, and led both place-based chronic disease and violence intervention programs. Mrs. Spencer sits on national, hospital systems and state commissions, and advisory boards.

Mrs. Spencer holds a Master’s degree in Health Services Management and Policy from New School University in New York, NY and a BA in Sociology and African Studies from Binghamton University in Binghamton, NY.

Mihailo Kaplarevic

Chief Research Information Officer at Children’s National Hospital and the Bioinformatics Division Chief at Children’s National Research Institute
Cherie Pardue is the Associate CIO/VP Enterprise Applications at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) with responsibility for clinical and business application decisions. She is a past president of the HIMSS Virginia chapter, was formerly the CIO of the American Hospital Dubai and is a forward-thinking, results-focused executive with over 20 years of contributions to business through technology solutions.

Cherie Pardue

VP/ACIO Enterprise Applications, Clinical Technologies and Learning Services
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)

Cherie Pardue is the Associate CIO/VP Enterprise Applications at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) with responsibility for clinical and business application decisions. She is a past president of the HIMSS Virginia chapter, was formerly the CIO of the American Hospital Dubai and is a forward-thinking, results-focused executive with over 20 years of contributions to business through technology solutions.

Brian Lancaster

CIO
Children’s Mercy KC

Brian Lancaster is a veteran healthcare technology strategist with over 25 years of experience and currently serves Children’s Mercy as Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer. His experience comes from both leading provider organizations IT departments as well as leading product strategy for major HIT vendors as seen from his time at Cerner Corporations where he was the executive that led the EMR and Population Health product management organizations. He is a recognized innovator with nine patents granted across the areas of analytics, machine learning, physician workflow and cost accounting as well as a frequent presenter on topics such as digital transformation, innovation, and governance. Additionally, he is very involved with the startup community as seen by his roles with Nobl Health and Redpoint Summit.

Angela Shippy

Director, Senior Physician Executive
Amazon Web Services

Angela A. Shippy, MD, MHA, FACP, FHM is Amazon Web Services’ Senior Physician Executive and Clinical Innovation Lead. In this role, Dr. Shippy brings clinical and operational leadership experience and perspective to advancing cloud technology adoption to support, enable, and activate patients and providers. Previously, Dr. Shippy served as Senior Vice President, Chief Medical & Quality Officer at Memorial Hermann Health System where she had system-wide oversight for accreditation, clinical quality, employee and patient safety, lab, and pharmacy. Prior to Memorial Hermann, Dr. Shippy served as Chief Medical Officer of HCA’s Gulf Coast Division and as Vice President of Medical Affairs at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in the Texas Medical Center where she practiced as a hospitalist. She earned a B.S. in biology from Texas A&M University and an M.D. from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where she also completed her residency in internal medicine. Dr. Shippy has served on local, state, and national councils and committees and held volunteer faculty positions at Baylor College of Medicine, UT Health-Houston, and The Institute of Healthcare Improvement.

Shereef Elnahal

Former Under Secretary for Veterans Health, NJ Health Commissioner, and Academic Medical Center CEO
Thrive Capital

Dr. Shereef Elnahal is a physician leader and expert in health care delivery to dual-eligible patients, with multiple leadership experiences serving vulnerable communities. He is currently Executive Health Advisor at Thrive Capital, and engages with firms large and small on how to remain competitive in an era of unprecedented innovation in health care delivery.
Before this, he was appointed by President Joe Biden to serve as Under Secretary for Health at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and confirmed by the US Senate on July 21, 2022. In this role, he lead the largest integrated health system in the nation alongside a team of nearly 400,000 professionals, delivering world-class care to 9 million enrolled Veterans.
Dr. Elnahal has overseen the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) implementation of the Sergeant First Class (SFC) Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, the largest expansion of Veteran benefits and care in a generation. More than two years since the law, VA has enrolled more than 800,000 new Veterans into health care, the majority of whom had exposure to toxic substances, and upgraded health care coverage for more than 900,000 Veterans already enrolled in VA. Despite this large increase in demand, he has also improved access to care by growing appointment volumes, expanding infrastructure through innovative partnerships with top medical institutions and the Department of Defense, and more. VHA is now better staffed with clinicians that at any point in its history after he initiated system-wide hiring and retention initiatives, which also helped reduce average wait times for primary care and mental health 5% and 15% respectively. He has grown care delivery in all appointment types, and improved overall care productivity by 9% in two years. He has also advanced care access for women Veterans, including extending maternity care coordination benefits for up to one year after birth for Veteran mothers in an effort to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality, and enrolling more than 50,000 new women Veterans into healthcare over the last year.

He has also focused on ending the scourge of Veteran suicide, implementing a new policy in which VA covers the costs of care for any Veteran in suicidal crisis (not just those enrolled for VA healthcare), and has advanced VA’s research in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy to unprecedented levels. Under his leadership, VA is now funding psychedelics studies for the first time since the 1960s, and has gained bipartisan support in Congress for more funding to do multi-site clinical trials on MDMA, psilocybin, and other psychedelics agents combined with novel models of psychotherapy.
Under Dr. Elnahal’s leadership, VA has also made progress in placing record numbers of homeless Veterans into permanent housing. In FY2024, VA housed nearly 48,000 homeless Veterans, leading to a 7.5% reduction in Veteran homelessness since 2023. Veteran homelessness is now at the lowest level overall since measurement began in 2009. He is also co-leading the agency’s efforts on generative artificial intelligence, focusing on use cases that reduce clinician burnout.
Prior to his role at VA, Dr. Elnahal served as President and Chief Executive Officer of University Hospital in Newark, NJ. University Hospital is a Level I trauma center, the principal academic medical center for Rutgers NJ Medical School, and New Jersey’s only public hospital serving a large population of dual-eligible patients. Elnahal led University Hospital through the COVID-19 public health emergency, and the hospital served as a model for urban and regional response efforts. In addition, Governor Phil Murphy tasked the hospital with coordinating regional pandemic response efforts across dozens of hospitals in northern NJ, as well as with activating a military field hospital alongside the National Guard. In addition to his leadership during the pandemic, Dr. Elnahal oversaw substantial improvements in care quality and patient safety at the hospital, leading to improvements against national benchmarks. He also turned around the hospital financially, moving from significant operating losses to a healthy surplus. He engaged the community meaningfully in the hospital’s programming, to include a partnership the NJ Housing and Mortgage Financing Authority to provide supportive housing to homeless patients; a hospital-based violence intervention program that has served as a national model; and a program that deploys trusted chaplains to serve as community health workers.

Prior to his time at University Hospital, Elnahal served as New Jersey’s 21st Health Commissioner, appointed to the state Cabinet post by Governor Phil Murphy and confirmed unanimously by the New Jersey Senate, serving during the first two years of the Murphy administration. As Health Commissioner, he was responsible for running the state’s four psychiatric hospitals, and made strides in improving quality, patient safety, and outcomes for New Jersey’s most vulnerable patients requiring mental health inpatient hospitalization. He also expanded the New Jersey Health Information Network, worked to improve infant and maternal health outcomes, and made strides in curbing the opioid epidemic.
Dr. Elnahal also served as Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Quality, Safety, and Value at the US Department of Veterans Affairs from 2016 through 2018, overseeing quality of care for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). He co-founded the VHA Innovation Ecosystem, a program that continues to foster the spread of innovation and best practices that improve Veteran care across the nation.

Dr. Elnahal received his MD from Harvard Medical School and his MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School. His perspective on the American health care system’s COVID-19 response, including on matters of health equity, has been featured on national media outlets including Fox Business, CNN, and the New York Times.

Pre-Register for HIMSS26

Provide us a few details to get a head start on the registration process for HIMSS26 and we will alert you when registration is live so you have one less thing to check off your list.

Get Your HIMSS26 Prospectus

Complete the form to get started and we’ll be in touch within 48 hours.

Get Your HIMSS26 Prospectus

Mendel Erlenwein

Founder and Chief Executive Officer
CareCo
Mendel Erlenwein is the founder and CEO of CareCo, an AI-powered co-pilot revolutionizing care coordination. With a deep understanding of the healthcare/care coordination landscape, he previously built Previva Health Group, a human-service-based care coordination company providing chronic care management, remote patient monitoring, and transitional care services to thousands of patients monthly. Mendel is a sought-after speaker on AI in healthcare, with recent keynote engagements at industry-leading conferences, including the HIMSS 25, Health Plan Alliance, Thinc360, and others. He is also the host of the #1 podcast in Value-Based Care, Healthcare Trailblazers, where he interviews top executives shaping the future of healthcare, and the author of “Unleashing Value, The Case for AI in Value-Based Care”. A visionary entrepreneur, Mendel is actively scaling CareCo to bridge the gap between AI and human care, securing funding, building strategic partnerships, and expanding its engineering capabilities. His expertise spans AI-driven workflow automation, care coordination, and health tech innovation.

David Banks

Group Chief Executive Officer, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer
AdventHealth
David Banks is the chief strategy officer and senior executive vice president at AdventHealth. In this role, he oversees the system’s 10-year strategic roadmap called Vision 2030 and provides oversight for the acceleration and performance of AdventHealth’s transformation agenda. Further, he serves as the group CEO for two of AdventHealth’s five divisions – the Primary Health Division and the Multi- State Division – and also exercises responsibility for systemwide strategic planning and corporate communications. The Primary Health Division drives the diversification of AdventHealth’s service offerings outside hospitals to increase success in taking delegated risk. Banks oversees the assembly of all services needed to become a health care provider in consumers’ homes, as well as the maintenance and growth of an integrated consumer digital interface. The Multi-State Division spans five regions comprised of 23 hospital campuses across eight states. Banks oversees the strategic direction, development, and expansion of the entire division. Two of these regions are anchored in the strength of national partnerships for regional relevance – University of Chicago Medicine in the Chicago market, and Texas Health Resources in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. With leadership in both relationships and executive oversight into the boards across the division, Banks champions the growth and development of AdventHealth outside of Florida. Previously, Banks served as senior vice president and chief strategy officer for AdventHealth hospitals throughout Florida. He has also held facility-based positions as administrator for AdventHealth Celebration (formally Florida Hospital Celebration Health) and AdventHealth Kissimmee (formally Florida Hospital Kissimmee), senior vice president of multi-campus administration for AdventHealth campuses in Central Florida and administrator for AdventHealth Orlando (formally Florida Hospital Orlando). Banks earned a master’s degree in nonprofit administration from the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland, and a bachelor’s degree from Pacific Union College. He currently serves on the advisory board for CareCo, an AI-powered care coordination platform. In the past, he has served as co- chair of the executive board for the American Heart Association of Central Florida, chairman for Community Vision and on the board of YMCA of Central Florida.

Hal Wolf

President and Chief Executive Officer, HIMSS
Haarold (Hal) F. Wolf III is the president and CEO of HIMSS, a global advisor and thought leader supporting the transformation of the health ecosystem through information and technology. Wolf is respected internationally as a healthcare and informatics leader, with areas of expertise in mHealth, product development, integrated care models, marketing, distribution, information and technology, and large-scale innovation implementation. Before joining HIMSS, Wolf served at The Chartis Group as director, practice leader, information and digital health strategy. Prior to The Chartis Group, he served as senior vice president and COO of Kaiser Permanente’s The Permanente Federation, representing more than 16,000 physicians. Wolf also held executive positions at MTV Networks and Time Warner, and served as senior advisor to McKinsey & Co.

Gretchen Brown

Vice President, Chief Nursing Information Officer
Stanford Health Care
Gretchen Brown, MSN, RN, serves as the VP, Chief Nursing Information Officer at Stanford Health Care. She brings a myriad of experiences, having held significant roles including the implementation of Clinical Inpatient Access, a throughput hub, and acting as an interim Associate Chief Nursing Officer for Inpatient Services. Her leadership expertise encompasses a wide range of areas such as emergency medicine, psychiatry, inpatient services, and the emergency department.In 2019, Gretchen played a pivotal role in the launch of Stanford Health Care’s state-of-the-art hospital tower. As the primary clinical representative for Patient Care Services, she integrated technology and operations. Furthermore, Gretchen led the initiative to introduce an innovative model of care, Acuity Adaptable care to Stanford Health Care. This model has since revolutionized care delivery by offering flexible patient centric care and improving operational efficiency.Throughout her career, Gretchen has consistently incorporated technology, showcasing her commitment to advancement and innovation. After a successful hospital opening, she began shifting her attention purely to Informatics. Today, Gretchen oversees multidisciplinary initiatives, focusing on enhancing electronic health record systems and managing clinical technology platforms, always with the goal of improving patient care and the workplace for our providers and clinicians.

Khan Siddiqui

Founder, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Board
HOPPR
Dr. Siddiqui is a world-renowned clinical radiologist, pioneer in the field of AI and a serial entrepreneur. His astounding network stretches through medicine, academia, technology, government, clinical associations, and finance. He holds dozens of patents in deep learning, AI, image processing, data visualization, MR imaging, and secure patient information handling. His work at Microsoft in the early 2000’s included the first multimodal AI model in medical imaging and developing the necessary infrastructure and training for the large AI model behind Xbox Kinect, which was based on nearly one billion images. Dr. Siddiqui is a serial entrepreneur with a track record of success. He is the Chief Medical Officer of Hyperfine, Inc., the creator of the world’s first FDA 510(k) cleared, portable MRI scanner, and took Hyperfine public via a SPAC process ($HYPR). He also founded higi, Inc., a consumer health technology company, which was acquired by a technology company in a $4.2 billion SPAC transaction. Dr. Siddiqui has held significant roles at Microsoft, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland. He was the founding chair of Information Classification: General the American College of Radiology’s Imaging and Informatics Commission and has demonstrated his leadership and expertise throughout the field of radiology. He contributed to dozens of academic radiology informatics programs in the United States and is a frequent lecturer on building highly scalable technology companies, building data driven digital health companies and the rapid commercialization of medical and digital health technologies, particularly, AI in radiology and medical imaging startups. Finally, Dr. Siddiqui is a member of various boards and advisory committees for startups around the world, and he has given hundreds of invited talks. His work has been recognized globally, further solidifying his reputation as a leader in healthcare technology.

Shez Partovi

Chief Business Leader, Enterprise Informatics and Chief Innovation & Strategy
Phillips
Shez is an experienced clinical professor, neuroradiologist, global executive and entrepreneur with a track record of leading large health systems, cloud transformation, and artificial intelligence and machine learning initiatives in the healthcare, life sciences and genomics industries. Since 2021, Shez has led Philips’ global Innovation & Strategy organization. In collaboration with the operating businesses, he is responsible for creating enterprise-wide strategies to deliver peopleand patient-centric innovation, at scale. Shez and his teams raise the bar of innovation across the company and provide world-class capabilities and platforms to enable innovations that improve people’s health and healthcare outcomes, as well as making care more accessible, convenient, and sustainable. Shez also leads the Enterprise Informatics business at Philips, established in 2023. Enterprise Informatics combines Philips software and hardware solutions to empower healthcare leaders and care providers with the actionable insights they need to make informed decisions, optimize workflows and operations, and deliver high-quality care to improve patient outcomes. Shez and his informatics teams advance the mission of Philips as a world leader and trusted partner in integrated diagnostics, scaling insights & analytics.Shez joined Philips from Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he served as Worldwide Head of Business Development for Healthcare, Life Sciences and Medical Devices. In that role, he was responsible for the global AWS go-to-market strategy, charting the path for customer cloud transformation, and the adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Prior to joining AWS in 2018, Shez spent 20 years at Dignity Health, the fifth largest health system in the U.S. He started his career in 1998 as a neuroradiologist at the Barrow Neurological Institute and was in clinical practice until 2013. In addition to his medical training at McGill University in Montreal, he has post-graduate qualifications in computer science. Shez has a passion for learning and teaching. He helped launch the Biomedical Informatics Department at Arizona State University and taught there as a clinical professor for three years.

Mike Mosquito

Host, The Buzz Podcast
Mike Mosquito is a recognized global thought leader in transformation, innovation, and emerging technologies. With over 20 years in healthcare IT, including Fortune 10 experience, he has led enterprise technology solutions, AI governance, digital transformation, and strategic innovation roadmaps across industries. A former executive and consulting advisor, Mike excels in driving collaboration, IT integration, and business growth initiatives. As the host of THE BUZZ PODCAST, he is changing the conversations across healthcare. He serves on multiple boards, influencing start-ups and established firms at the forefront of business innovation. Mike holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Auburn University and an MBA in Business Information Systems Management from Kennesaw State University. He also attended the United States Air Force Academy. A certified CHCIO and Digital Health Executive, Mike is Communications Chair on the Georgia HIMSS board and an active member of CHIME, ACHE, AEHIT, and PMI. A sought-after keynote speaker, moderator, mentor, and national conference chair, he shares insights that shape the future of business and technology. Mike Mosquito is the driving force behind THE BUZZ PODCAST, serving as host and chief curator of the conversations shaping healthcare, innovation, and emerging technology today. As a seasoned healthcare executive, technologist, Mike brings a rare blend of operational experience, strategic insight, and candid curiosity to every episode. In his role, he sets the tone for authentic, high-impact dialogue—challenging guests to move beyond surface-level talking points and share real-world lessons, successes, and failures. Mike’s leadership on the show creates a trusted space where executives, innovators, and disruptors can speak openly about what’s actually working in healthcare and business, making THE BUZZ a must-listen and watch platform for leaders who want signal over noise and insight over hype.

Dr. Eric Poon

Chief Health Information Officer and Assistant Vice President for Duke Medicine
Dr. Poon holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca NY and a Medical Doctorate from Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. He obtained his clinical training in the primary care track of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Internal Medicine Residency Program, and subsequently obtained his Masters in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Poon currently serves as the Chief Health Information Officer and Assistant Vice President for Duke Medicine. He also practices primary care internal medicine in Duke Primary Care. In his capacity as CHIO/AVP, he is responsible for the visioning and strategic planning of clinical and analytic information systems that impact patient care, research and education. He oversees the ongoing development and optimization of the Maestro Care (Epic) electronic health record and other clinical, analytics, clinical engineering, and Artificial Intelligence systems, and partners with physicians, patients and operational leaders to effectively leverage innovative IT in support of Duke’s mission. He also has a keen interest in IT innovation, and works with investigators across Duke to pursue new and innovative ways to efficiently deliver high quality care to our patients.

Shiv Rao

Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Abridge
Shiv Rao, MD, is the Founder and CEO of Abridge, an AI company that structures and summarizes medical conversations to unburden clinicians from clerical work, and focus on what matters most—their patients. Recently recognized by Forbes in the “AI 50” list, Abridge’s science- centered technology platform transforms conversations into structured data and clinical documentation across over 50 specialties, 14 languages, and several care settings. Abridge’s documentation solution is now saving clinicians 3 hours a day, and its EMR integrated patient- facing summaries are helping people better understand and follow through on their care plans. Dr. Rao is a practicing cardiologist at UPMC and previously led the provider-facing investment portfolio for UPMC where he invested in startups, and also helped fund a Machine Learning in Health program at Carnegie Mellon University. He completed his medical education and training at the University of Michigan and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and studied at Carnegie Mellon where he programmed virtual synthesizers, and skateboarded in IMAX movies.

Rebecca Mishuris

Chief Medical Information Officer and Vice President of Digital
Mass General Brigham
Dr. Rebecca Mishuris is Chief Medical Information Officer and VP, Digital at Mass General Brigham, responsible for the vision, strategy and implementation of technology to support care delivery. She is Faculty at Harvard Medical School, and a practicing primary care physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In addition to her hospital leadership, Dr. Mishuris conducts research on the intersection of technology and the quintuple aim of healthcare.

Veena Jones

Chief Medical Information Officer
Sutter Health
Dr. Veena Jones is a triple board-certified clinical informaticist, pediatrician, and pediatric hospitalist. She serves as the Chief Medical Information Officer at Sutter Health, where she provides innovative clinical and change management leadership to enhance patient engagement and improve both patient and provider experiences. Most recently, Dr. Jones has led the implementation of generative AI platforms across the health system, making work easier for clinicians while enhancing support for patients. She is passionate about leveraging technology and digital tools to empower patients as they navigate their health journeys and equipping providers to deliver exceptional care to the patients and communities they serve. In addition to her leadership role, Dr. Jones practices clinically as a pediatric hospitalist, caring for newborns and hospitalized children.

Christopher Chen

Medical Director, Medicaid and Clinical Informatics
WA State Health Care Authority
Dr. Christopher Chen, MD, MBA, is a Medical Director for Medicaid and Clinical Informatics at the WA State Health Care Authority. Dr. Chen is dedicated to serving the underserved and believes in the HCA’s mission to use innovative programs, policies and purchasing strategies to improve health and address disparities. He helps guide clinical policy and strategy at the agency, and supports initiatives in health information technology, telehealth, quality, and health equity. He is currently chair of the Medicaid Medical Director’s Network and serves on the NCQA Public Sector Advisory Council. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, his business degree from The Wharton School, and completed his residency in internal medicine – primary care at the University of Washington. He is board certified in internal medicine and clinical informatics.

Allison Arwady

Director, National Center for Injury Prevention, CDC
As of January 2024, Allison Arwady, MD, MPH began serving as the director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control where she leads CDC’s innovative research and science-based programs to prevent injuries and violence and to reduce their consequences. Dr. Arwady most recently served four years as the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, leading the health department of the nation’s third-largest city, including through the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to that, she spent four years as Chicago’s chief medical officer, overseeing the department’s behavioral health and disease control work. Dr. Arwady has received local and national recognition for her strong leadership and communication skills. Earlier in her career, as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer based at the Illinois Department of Public Health, she responded to disease outbreaks across the state as well as CDC responses in Saudi Arabia (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) and Liberia (Ebola). She has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University, and completed medical school and clinical training at Yale University. Dr. Arwady is a board-certified internal medicine physician and pediatrician and continues to see primary care patients regularly.

Valorie Kondoes Field

NCAA Gymnastics Champion and Coach
Valorie Kondos Field is the retired head coach of the seven-time NCAA Champion, 22-time Regional and 18-time Pac 12 Champion UCLA Women’s Gymnastics team. Inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010, the four-time “National Coach of the Year” was also named “West Region Coach” of the Year and Pac 12 “Coach of the Century” for her solid track record as a preeminent coach. Formerly a professional ballet dancer, Miss Val, as she’s affectionately known by her gymnasts, was never a gymnast herself. Her reputation for teaching valuable life lessons, while encouraging individuality and joy is only one reason that 46 former US national team members came through her program and why half of the last two Olympic teams committed to UCLA. Also known as the nation’s foremost gymnastics choreographer, Miss Val’s many credits include choreographing and directing a myriad of live variety shows and 26 years of cirque-type shows for SeaWorld’s Summer Nights and the San Diego Zoo. Current projects include additional live stage shows, TV specials, events and the development of a theatrical musical, plus the highly acclaimed post-Olympic “Gold Over America Tour” featuring an all-star team of female gymnastics champions, headlined by Simone Biles which began in Fall 2020 and visited more than 35 U.S. cities, celebrating powerful female athletes in a high-octane, fun-filled experience. The tour will be back once again after the 2024 Olympics which Valorie will serve in the role of Executive Producer and Supervising Choreographer. Kondos Field is a dynamic and charismatic speaker with an extensive schedule of “Corporate Coaching” events for companies including Sam’s Club, NASA, Kennedy Space Center, Chick-fil-a, JP Morgan Chase, General Electric, Jackson National Life Insurance, Gucci, among many others and has contributed to various panel discussions including Bustle’s “Rule Breakers” and the ESPNW Summit. In her TEDWomen 2019 talk, Miss Val inspires people to reevaluate their definition of success, encouraging leaders to inspire others without compromising the human spirit. In addition her TED Talk has been viewed by millions and praised for her “Does all winning equal success” philosophy. A recent breast cancer survivor, Valorie shared her motivating and inspirational messages with the world in her book, “LIFE IS SHORT, DON’T WAIT TO DANCE: Advice and Inspiration from the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame Coach of 7 NCAA Championship Teams,” which was released in Fall 2018 by the Hachette Book Group. She is active with the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation, LA 84 Olympic Foundation, WISE (Women In Sports & Events), BCRF (Breast Cancer Research Foundation), Unite For Her, and many other charitable organizations, close to her heart. She resides in Fayetteville, AR with her husband, retired UCLA Football Coach, Bobby Field.

Subscribe to HIMSS26 Headlines

Sign Up For Our Monthly Newsletter.

Get Your HIMSS25 Prospectus

Complete the form to get started and we’ll be in touch within 48 hours.


I agree to recieve email communications from HIMSS Global Health Conference and Exhibition and Informa Markets

Thalia Sirjue

Chief of Staff
New Jersey Department of Health

Thalia Sirjue is a diehard public health nerd, passionate about using technology to engage people in improving their own health. She currently gets her fill of public health nerdiness by serving as Chief of Staff at the New Jersey Department of Health where she oversees more than 5,600 employees and a combined State/Federal budget of $2.8 billion and. In this role, she acts as a Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the foundational units of the Department – Human Resources, Fiscal/Management & Administration, Health Information Technology, Healthcare Quality and Informatics, Communications, Policy & Legislative Affairs, Ethics, EEO/AA and Equity Services, and Research Initiatives. She also leads enterprise-wide initiatives for strategic planning, public health accreditation, and health innovation.

Thalia previously served as the Deputy Chief of Staff responsible for a myriad of special projects. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, she was appointed director of the statewide testing and contact tracing programs — this included the rapid scale-up of the contact tracing workforce, statewide rollout of a new contact tracing software, launch of the COVID Alert NJ app, managing the State’s K-12 screening testing and at-home testing programs, and managing testing inventory and distribution.

Prior to her tenure at NJDOH, Thalia managed development lifecycles for Veteran and clinician-focused mobile apps for the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) App Store and led the team that established VA’s Innovation Ecosystem to enable the discovery and diffusion of health care innovations across the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). This included launching the Diffusion of Excellence initiative and expanding the VA Innovators Network.

Thalia earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Boston University and Master of Public Health degree from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University. Thalia is a Jersey girl to her core. This mixed with her Jamaican and Cuban heritage means she drives fast, will eat a bacon or pork roll, egg, and cheese for any meal of the day, and lives for sun, sand, and saltwater. If she has free time, she spends it cooking, baking, reading romance novels and murder mysteries, watching anime, and going on walks with her husband and daughter.

HIMSS25 Exhibitor's Guide

Complete the form to download the PDF Guide



I agree to recieve email communications from HIMSS Global Health Conference and Exhibition and Informa Markets

Leigh Steinberg

Chairman and Founder Speaker, Steinberg Sports and Entertainment
Leigh Steinberg, premier sports agent, entrepreneur, and Chairman and founder of Steinberg Sports and Entertainment, is best known for his work building athletes into stand-alone brands. Often credited as the real-life inspiration for the Oscar-winning film Jerry Maguire, Leigh has represented some of the most successful athletes and coaches across football, basketball, baseball, hockey, boxing, golf, and more. He holds an unprecedented record of representing the number one overall pick in the NFL draft eight times, along with 64 total first-round picks, and has represented 12 Hall of Famers. Beyond football, his clients include Oscar De La Hoya, Lennox Lewis, multiple Olympians, and professional teams. With a history of record-setting contracts, he has secured over $4 billion for more than 300 pro-athlete clients while directing over $1 billion to various charitable causes worldwide. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Leigh’s early life was shaped by his parents—a teacher and a librarian. He earned his B.A. in political science and J.D. from UC Berkeley, where he served as student body president during both degrees. His cultural significance extends beyond the sports world; Leigh has been a trivia question on Jeopardy! and Trivial Pursuit, cementing his iconic status. Deeply committed to philanthropy, Leigh has been recognized for his charitable work with numerous commendations, including honors from Congress, state legislatures, multiple U.S. Presidents, and various civic organizations. His accolades include being named “Man ofthe Year” over a dozen times and receiving “Keys to the City” in several U.S. cities. He also played a pivotal role in saving the San Francisco Giants, earning him the honor of “Leigh Steinberg Day” in the city. In 2017, he was inducted into the California Sports Hall of Fame.Throughout his career, Leigh has been a prominent media figure, appearing on programs like 60 Minutes, Larry King Live, The Today Show, CNN, Fox Business, Fox & Friends, Lifestyles of theRich and Famous, and Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. His profile has graced the pages of Business Week, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, GQ, and ESPN The Magazine. As a consultant, he contributed to films and shows such as Jerry Maguire, Any Given Sunday, For Love of theGame, and Arli$$. He also provides expert commentary on sports business through outlets like The Dan Patrick Show and The Herd with Colin Cowherd. A prolific writer, Leigh contributes columns to Forbes, HuffPost, and Daily Pilot and has authored notable works such as Winning with Integrity and The Agent: My 40-Year Career of Making Deals and Changing the Game. Leigh’s passion for improving athlete health and safety has led him to establish a nonprofit foundation for concussion, traumatic brain injury, and brain health. Leigh hosts annual Brain Health Summits, uniting athletes, medical experts, and researchers to address leading healthissues. These summits focus on advancements in diagnosis, prevention, and mental health support. Additionally, Leigh has championed initiatives in sustainability and communitydevelopment through partnerships with various organizations. His efforts include launching educational programs for underserved communities, promoting clean energy in sports facilities, and developing outreach projects aimed at creating long-term social impact. His multifaceted projects reflect his dedication to driving meaningful change both within and beyond the sports world.

Robert Herjavec

Technology Innovator and Investor, Star of ABC’s Shark Tank
Robert Herjavec is an Emmy award-winning, globally recognized serial entrepreneur, motivational speaker, author, and a leading Shark on Shark Tank. With over 40 years in cybersecurity, Robert has founded, built, and sold multiple companies, including sales to AT&T and Nokia. In 2003, he established Herjavec Group, transforming it into a global powerhouse. In 2021, he sold a majority stake to Apax Partners and continued as CEO until 2024, during which he more than doubled the business and led strategic acquisitions, including a 2023 merger with Fishtech Group. This merger rebranded the company as Cyderes (Cyber Defense and Response), now recognized as a top managed services provider with nearly 1,000 global employees. Robert remains actively involved as an advisor, board member, and significant investor. Beyond cybersecurity, Robert is a prominent Shark and executive producer on Shark Tank, a role he’s held for 17 years. He’s also a bestselling author, with three books, two of which reached simultaneous positions on the New York Times bestseller list. Robert’s dynamic presence on stage has seen him speaking to audiences of hundreds to over 20,000 alongside figures like Tony Robbins and Oprah. Through his social media following of over 5 million, he inspires and motivates the next generation of entrepreneurs. Robert is a frequent contributor on CNBC, Fox News, and ABC, and has been featured on the covers of Success, Inc., Forbes, and many more.Known as an avid car collector, investor, and competitive racer, he’s made a name for himself on and off the track. Robert lives between Australia, the United States, and Canada with his wife and their 6-year-old twins.

Sakshika Dhingra

Medicaid Strategy Director Humana
Sakshika is a seasoned executive with over ten years of experience in the healthcare payer industry. As a visionary leader, she has consistently driven innovation in managed care, insurance solutions, and value-based care models. Sakshika specializes in optimizing operational efficiencies, enhancing member engagement, and fostering strategic partnerships with healthcare providers and regulatory agencies. Throughout her career, Sakshika has successfully led large-scale digital transformations, leveraging data analytics and technology to streamline member experience, improve health outcomes, and ensure regulatory compliance. She is passionate about advancing population health initiatives and creating sustainable & scalable healthcare solutions that prioritize quality care and equitable access for all. Currently serving as a Medicaid Strategy Director at Humana, Sakshika continues to be a driving force in the payer space, focused on addressing the evolving challenges of healthcare economics, payer-provider collaboration, and patient-centric care models. Sakshika holds a Masters from Michigan State and a Digital Transformation certification from Harvard Medical School. When not leading healthcare innovation, Sakshika enjoys spending time with her husband Vivesh and her beloved six year old son, Aveer Sharma.

Aric SHarp

Chief Executive Officer
Clover Health

Aric Sharp is a recognized national leader on the healthcare transition to value, innovation and physician practice management. Aric currently serves as the CEO of Value Based Care for Clover Health. In his previous role as Senior Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer at INTEGRIS Health, he led the journey to value-based care including launching the Direct Contracting Model, a Medicare Advantage Plan, and Oklahoma’s first virtual hospital.

As Vice President for Accountable Care at UnityPoint Health, he developed and led UnityPoint Accountable Care, one of the nation’s largest and most successful ACOs, with over 8,000 physicians, 40 hospitals, and over $2.0 Billion of medical spend under risk including the country’s largest Next Generation Model ACO. His nearly 30 years of healthcare experience included various executive level roles including CEO and COO for Quincy Medical Group and The Iowa Clinic respectively, two of the nation’s highest performing physician owned multi-specialty medical groups.

Aric is known for his ability to distill complexity into clear, actionable understanding through a collaborative results focused approach. He is frequently cited by national media on an array of healthcare topics and is called upon to speak and participate in panel discussions, provide briefings on Capitol Hill, and even testify to Congress. Aric has expertise in healthcare strategy and transformation, population health, physician leadership and governance development, growth, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, public policy, and operational turnarounds.

Aric serves as the Past Chair of AMGA (American Medical Group Association), as well as on numerous healthcare boards, advisory councils, start-up ventures and serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Iowa College of Public Health. He is also the Past-Chair of the AMGA Public Policy Committee. Aric earned his Master’s in Hospital and Health Administration from the University of Iowa and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Iowa State University. He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and a Certified Medical Practice Executive.

Heather Lavoie

Chief Information Officer Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
Heather Staples Lavoie is the Senior Vice President of Enterprise Business and Technology Solutions and Chief Information Officer at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. Ms. Lavoie joined Horizon in 2024 and is responsible for the Information Technology, Information Security, Enterprise Program Management Office and Analytics divisions. Ms. Lavoie previously spent over a decade building and serving as President and CEO of Geneia, a health care technology, AI and analytics subsidiary of Capital BlueCross, serving more than 8 million members across health plans, and provider and employer organizations. Ms. Lavoie has an extensive health care business and technology background, spanning more than three decades with national payers, providers and service organizations and founding start-up organizations. Ms. Lavoie has received numerous awards, including NH Union Leader 40 under 40, Business NH 40 Influential Leaders, NH Business Review NH 200, Presenting Faculty at TedxUNE, 3x Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania (2017, 2018, 2019) and was the 2019 University of New Hampshire Manchester Commencement Speaker. Ms. Lavoie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Notre Dame College and a Master of Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.

Francesca Rinaldo

CEO Chief Clinical Innovation Officer SCAN
Francesca Rinaldo, MD, PhD is SCAN’s Chief Clinical Innovation Officer. In her role she is responsible for driving innovation, strategic development, and operational excellence across all SCAN’s clinical initiatives, with a focus on enhancing member value and outcomes for both the SCAN health plans as well as SCAN Group diversified companies. In addition, Francesca leads teams in the integration of medical innovation, emerging technologies and creative solutions for continued growth and sustainability across SCAN programs, while spearheading a differentiation strategy to establish a new industry standard for innovation in senior care. Prior to joining SCAN, Francesca served as Senior Vice President of Clinical Product and Innovation and Chief Medical Officer at CareLinx by ShareCare, where she led strategic development and growth of programs leveraging a national network of in-home caregivers, driving innovation in home care delivery and serving as a pivotal industry thought leader. Francesca holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago, and MD/PhD from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship training in Healthcare Design at the Stanford Clinical Excellence Research Center under the mentorship of Dr. Arnie Milstein and others, and her clinical training in general surgery at Stanford University Hospitals and Clinics.

Tom Lawry

AI Transformation Advisor to Health and Medical Leaders
Tom Lawry is a leading AI transformation advisor to health and medical leaders around the world, a top keynote speaker, and best-selling author of Hacking Healthcare – How AI and the Intelligent Health Revolution Will Reboot an Ailing System. He’s the Managing Director of Second Century Tech and a former Microsoft exec who served as National Director for AI for Health and Life Sciences, Director of Worldwide Health, and Director of Organizational Performance for the company’s first health incubator. Prior to Microsoft, Tom was a Senior Director at GE Healthcare, the founder of two venture-backed healthcare software companies, a health system executive, and a board member. Tom’s work has been featured in Forbes, CEO Magazine, Harvard Business Review, CNET, Inside Precision Medicine, and numerous webcasts and podcasts. In a Harris Poll of 2023 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference attendees, Tom was named one of the most recognized leaders driving change and engagement in healthcare today. He has also been named one of the Top 2024 Influential Voices to Follow.

Gen. Paul M. Nakasone

Former Commander, U.S. Cyber Command & Former Director
A name synonymous with visionary leadership, retired four-star Army General Paul M. Nakasone is the longest-serving leader of the U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency/Central Security Service, and is regarded among an elite class of leaders whose strategic expertise at the nexus of cybersecurity, technology, and geopolitics has laid the groundwork for upholding our nation’s security in the modern age. General Nakasone’s career spans more than three decades of pivotal moments in modern warfare and digital defense and he draws upon his experiences constantly at the epicenter of conflict to share battle-tested lessons on transformational leadership, while also examining the challenges and opportunities organizations face in the ever-evolving tech and security landscape. Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Nakasone is an engaging and dynamic speaker who leads audiences on a fascinating exploration into how our experiences today, paired with the advent of rapid and constant technological change, will shape the future — and what that means for how we approach the safety and security of our systems and society. Pointing to strategies that consistently led him and his teams to mission success in his own career, Nakasone shares recent examples of complex situations in which innovative ideas provided the catalyst for successful outcomes. As part of his talks, Nakasone emphasizes the skills that need to be sharpened in order to make a transformational impact as a leader, as well as the importance of purposefully recruiting, training, and retaining talent. He is of the belief that, ultimately, what shapes our future is fully dependent on the manner in which organizations invest leadership and talent. From the crucible of the Pentagon on 9/11 and spearheading the response to the most significant intrusion into the Defense Department’s classified networks, to the Wars in Iraq in Afghanistan, Nakasone has served as one of the most influential problem-solvers at the center of cyber and information operations and dedicated his career to being a steadfast guardian of our national security interests. He was also part of the select group of leaders that conceptualized and built U.S. Cyber Command from the ground up, and subsequently led their most elite forces before rising to command the entire organization, as well as the NSA/Central Security Service. In addition to his standing as a career Army officer who climbed the ranks to lead elite units battling the world’s top cyber hackers, Nakasone is widely recognized as an agent of innovation who championed new approaches to solving multifaceted challenges in rapidly changing landscape of cyber threats. His persistent approach to cyber defense against nation-state hackers has redefined the national and global security playbooks, while his emphasis on partnerships fostered a collaborative ecosystem transcending international, interagency, and private sector agencies. Under his stewardship, transparency became a cornerstone for his teams, elevating the confidence and trust of the American people in the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command. He retired as Commander of U.S. Cyber Command, Director of the NSA, and Chief of the Central Security Service on February 1, 2024 — having served in those roles since May 2018. General Nakasone’s remarkable service has been recognized with innumerable awards and decorations. Among them are the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and Defense Meritorious Service Medal — to name a few. Described as “a transformational leader who strengthened our national security, bolstered our deterrence, and defended our democracy,” Nakasone remains a vocal advocate for defending the nation and securing the best possible future through people and partnerships.

Edward (Ed) Marx

CEO Marx Advisory
The youngest child of Holocaust survivors, Ed moved to the United States at age 10. At 16, he served as a medical clinic janitor where he discovered his healthcare calling. Ed took successive positions as combat medic, anesthesia tech, strategic planner and technology manager. He quickly learned how the convergence of clinical, business and digital saved lives. His passion ignited, he jumped feet first into technology and operations in the C-Suite of Cleveland Clinic, NYC Health & Hospitals, Texas Health Resources and University Hospitals. Intermixed, Ed served the supplier side as well. He was CEO for consulting firm Divurgent, global CDO for Tech Mahindra Health & Life Sciences and CIO of the Advisory Board. Concurrently, he served 15 years as an Army combat engineer officer and combat medic. Today, Ed is focused on his own advisory practice. Ed does a fair amount of speaking, writing and podcasting. He authored healthcare bestsellers including “Voices of Innovation” and “Healthcare Digital Transformation”. He is currently writing a book for Mayo Clinic on “Patient Experience” and “Voices of Innovation – Payers”. His podcast “DGTL Voices” is “Top 3%” globally. His Blog, CEO Unplugged, surpassed 1M views. Ed recently started a YouTube channel to expand his audience. Most importantly, Ed is husband to Simran who holds a Doctor of Nursing (DNP). They love to dance and climb mountains. They have 5 grown children and 4 grandchildren. To stay fit, he is captain of TeamUSA Triathlon.

Seema Verma

Executive Vice President and General Manager Oracle Health & Life Sciences
Seema Verma is the Executive Vice President and General Manager, Oracle Health and Life Sciences, where she has responsibility of Oracle’s EHR, (former Cerner), which is the largest EHR in the world, as well as clinical trials and the health insurance portfolio. She also is a Director on the Board of Lifestance, a public company focused on behaviorial health. In addition, she serves on the Board for USC’s Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics. Before coming to Oracle, she served as a Senior Advisor to private equity firms TPG and Cressey & Co, serving on the Cressey Distinguished Executive Committee. She also served on the Board of Directors for Lumeris, Monogram, Wellsky, LYRIC, and ShiftKey. Additionally, she provided advisory services to a variety of early stage and large public health care companies, including national payers and technology companies focusing on strategy, value creation, and operations. Seema was the former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the largest payer in the world, between 2017-2021. Confirmed by the Senate on a bi-partisan basis, she had one of the longest terms in modern CMS history. In this role, she oversaw a $1.4 trillion dollar budget and coverage for 145 million beneficiaries. She was responsible for federal policy and operations of Medicare, Medicaid, Health Insurance Exchanges, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), and all federal quality and safety regulations. In this role she developed and implemented the federal administration’s health care strategic plan across all programs to advance value-based care, innovation, interoperability, and price transparency while reducing drug prices, and regulations through her historic Patients over Paperwork initiative. CMS had numerous accomplishments during her tenure including delivering reduced premiums across Medicare Part D, Medicare Advantage, and individual insurance market as well as addressing the social determinants of health. Her pro-market policies advanced market competition, provided $35 insulin to seniors and advanced site neutral payments. Her leadership on the White House COVID Task Force led to the widespread adoption of telehealth, Hospital at Home, and no cost vaccines for the entire country. Prior to her role at CMS, she founded and sold a national consulting company and worked as a VP for Policy and Planning for a public hospital, public health department, and health system. In 2019, Seema was named as Modern Healthcare’s #1 Most Influential Person in Healthcare and was part of the Top 25 Women Leaders. Her healthcare articles have been published in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Health Affairs, Modern Healthcare, Newsweek, CNN, USA Today , STAT, and others. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, and John’s Hopkins University School of Public Health.

Dr. Kaitlan Baston

Health Commisioner New Jersey Department of Health
Prior to becoming New Jersey’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Baston built and led the Cooper Center for Healing, an integrated pain, addiction, and behavioral health center and was an Associate Professor of Medicine at Cooper Medical school of Rowan University.

Dr. Baston began her career as a full spectrum family physician focused on underserved populations. Prior to coming to New Jersey, her work ranged from public health projects in Rwanda, to public maternity and trauma hospitals in the Dominican Republic, to providing full spectrum family planning services and working in a bilingual community health center in Seattle, Washington.

Her experiences in primary care highlighted that both patients and medical professionals suffer from the lack of addiction medicine training and integration into healthcare. Following her addiction medicine fellowship, she came to Camden in 2015 driven to improve community-centered health care delivery, population health, and behavioral health. In the following seven years she built an inpatient addiction consult service, multiple interdisciplinary outpatient clinics, a wrap-around perinatal substance use disorder program, a harm reduction based low-barrier walk-in clinic, and the first program for emergency medicine services (EMS) field initiation of medication for addiction treatment. She led both undergraduate and graduate addiction medical education and started a new addiction medicine fellowship. Her research team was responsible for bringing in and overseeing several million dollars in state and federal grant funding to support innovation, community-based care, and to address social determinants of health.

This work expanded to state and federal level health policy, and Dr. Baston became the Medical Director of Government Relations at Cooper University Health Care in 2019. She is nationally recognized for her work in perinatal substance use disorders and EMS delivery of addiction treatment. She has spoken to congress, the American Bar Association, and is a national educator for the organization Zero to Three. She has served on national level committees including the Infant Toddler Court Program Expert Advisory Group, the American Academy of Pediatrics Head Start National Expert Workgroup, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives Opioid Task Force, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health Opioid Collaborative Workgroup. She has also served on the New Jersey DMHAS State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup, the New Jersey ATLAS State Advisory Committee, the Camden County Addiction Awareness Task Force, and the Camden County Opioid Settlement Funds Board. In 2011, she was awarded the Savacool Prize in Medical Ethics. She has been recognized as a New Jersey Top Doctor or Top Female Doctor every year from 2017 to 2023, won the Golden Apple Teaching Award in 2021, the New Jersey Healthcare Innovation Hero award in 2022, and the New Jersey Hospital Association Healthy New Jersey Award in 2023.

Currently, Dr. Baston is focused on decreasing health disparities, improving maternal child health outcomes, and enhancing integrated care for behavioral health and substance use disorders. In her role as Health Commissioner, she strives to ensure that all people have access to resources that can keep them healthy and to compassionate, evidence-based medical care when needed. Dr. Baston is proud to work with an interdisciplinary team of like-minded, driven individuals at the Department of Health who are dedicated to improving the equity and health of New Jersey.

Dr. Baston is dual boarded in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine, obtained a master’s degree in Neuroscience from Kings College, London, and graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA.

Gabrielle (Gabby) Thomas

Olympic Track & Field Gold Medalist
Gabby Thomas is a top American sprinter renowned as a high achiever, both on and off the track. She sealed her status as an iconic Olympian after winning three gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, including gold in her signature event, the 200m. She earned two more golds in the 4×100 and 4×400 relays and was the first American track athlete to win three golds in the same Olympics since Allyson Felix. She is the fourth fastest woman in history in the 200m, with a time of 21.60, which was earned in her breakout race at the 2021 Olympic Trials. In her debut Olympics in Tokyo, she came home with two medals, with a bronze in the 200m event and silver in the 4×100 relay. Thomas is a graduate of Harvard University where she majored in neurobiology and went on to earn a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Texas. She works for the Volunteer Healthcare Clinic in Austin, TX that helps underserved communities, an area Thomas is passionate about. When not training or working, Thomas enjoys exploring her hometown of Austin and walking her pug, Rico.

Dr. Meong Hi Son

Chief Medical Information Officer
Samsung Medical Center
Meong Hi son is an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and currently holds the role of Chief Medical Information Officer at Samsung Medical Center, South Korea. Trained as a pediatrician specializing in pediatric hemato-oncology and pediatric emergency medicine, and despite having no initial background in IT, she has become a pioneering force in the digital transformation of healthcare services as a junior faculty member at Samsung Medical Center. During her early clinical career as a clinical fellow, Dr. Son spearheaded the migration of pediatric cancer treatment protocols and monitoring sheets from paper-based systems to electronic medical records (EMR). Not only did she initiate this critical transition, but she also played a key role in the actual implementation of EMRs, which became the driving force behind her involvement in the hospital’s digital transformation efforts. Dr. Son believes that healthcare services involve complex processes managed by a diverse group of professionals. She emphasizes that making even small changes in this field requires continuous reflection on what can be improved through technological advancements and tireless communication. She finds it particularly meaningful to encourage more healthcare workers, especially in resource-limited and change-resistant environments, to participate in the digital transformation journey. By sharing her personal experiences and impactful hospital stories with various audiences both within and outside the hospital, she aims to inspire others to join this essential movement towards improving healthcare through IT. Consequently, she played a pivotal role as an intermediary, facilitating communication and participation among various departments for the hospital to achieve Stage 7 in the four areas of maturity model (INFRAM, EMRAM,DIAM and AMAM).

Dr. Seung Woo Park

President
Samsung Medical Center

Dr. Seung Woo Park, the President of Samsung Medical Center, is a respected specialist in cardiovascular diseases, particularly in areas such as heart valve disorders and myocardial infarction. He also plays a significant role in the hospital’s efforts towards digitalization. Dr. Park currently serves as the 12th President of Samsung Medical Center, leading the realization of an advanced intelligent hospital focused on severe and complex medical conditions. After graduating from Seoul National University College of Medicine, Dr. Park joined Samsung Medical Center as a founding member in 1994. Throughout his career, he has held key positions within the hospital, including Chief of the Information Strategy Office, Chief of Quality Improvement, and Chief of Strategic Planning. In 2002, he spent two years at the Mayo Clinic in the United States, where he gained advanced knowledge in cardiac treatment, which he brought back to Korea. He has also served as the Chairman of the Korean Society of Echocardiography from 2016 to 2018 and is highly regarded as an authority in the field of cardiology, with publications in renowned medical journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine in November 2019. Dr. Park’s contributions extend beyond his medical achievements, as he has also been recognized for his efforts in hospital digitalization and innovation in the healthcare process. He introduced electronic medical records (EMR) and achieved a “paperless hospital,” receiving the Samsung Information Innovation Award in 2009. He led the a “Dr. Smart” application development project, which allows healthcare professionals to use personal smart devices for medical purposes, and received the Minister of Knowledge Economy Award in 2010. In 2010, he opened the first electronic medical referral system in Korea and implemented various smartphone mobile support systems for patients and hospital staff, enhancing customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Isabelle Kumar

Former News Anchor, Presenter
Isabelle is a former prime time news anchor and journalist with more than 20 years experience, she now moderates and MCs at leading forums and summits around the globe. Isabelle was the lead anchor for Euronews-NBC. She also criss-crossed the planet interviewing heads of state and government, CEOs and celebrities generating some 3 million views on YouTube. Isabelle has moderated at high level and large scale events throughout her career, including the first ever EU Presidential debate, deep dives at the Davos World Economic Forum and the European Commission. Now, this is her principal activity and works with corporates, international organisations and NGOs on subjects ranging from humanitarian, health, inclusion, economics, geopolitics, climate, sustainability, education and tech. Today her clients include the European Commission, the U.N., The Consumer Goods Forum, Proctor and Gamble, LEAP and Saatchi and Saatchi. She has been MC for award ceremonies for the UN, EU and chaired closed door discussions including with former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European leaders. Her interviews include presidents and prime ministers from Russia, Iran, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Portugal as well as the heads of the UN and the European Commission. She has spoken to the King of Jordan, the Prince and Princess of Monaco, interviewed Richard Branson, Andrea Bocelli, Mike Tyson and Karl Lagerfeld to name but a few. Before heading to Euronews, Isabelle worked for CNN, APTN and Reuters. Isabelle is bilingual in French and English and holds British and German nationality. She is a disability activist, the President of a charity helping people with autism and does pro bono work with the charity Lake Aid helping unaccompanied minors, asylum seekers and homeless families in Annecy, France. Client feedback shows appreciation for Isabelle’s friendly, thorough and dynamic style of presentation.

Simone Biles

Athlete & Advocate
Simone Biles is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes of all time. The most decorated gymnast in history with 41 medals across World Championships and the Olympic Games, Biles holds the most World Championship medals (30) and gold medals (23) in gymnastics history. A three-time Olympian, her 11 Olympic medals and seven Olympic gold medals are the most by a U.S. gymnast. The three-time Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year and Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, she has earned the rare distinction of having five skills named in her honor – The Biles – in the beam, floor (two), and vault (two) disciplines. Biles’s extraordinary accomplishments have received widespread recognition, including the youngest recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, TIME’s 100 Most Influential People, Forbes’ 30 Under 30, Ebony Power 100, People’s Women Changing the World, USA Today’s 100 Women of the Century, and CNN Heroes, among others. Her autobiography, Courage to Soar, was a New York Times bestseller and developed into an award-winning TV special on Lifetime while her Snap Originals series, Daring Simone Biles, received an NAACP Image Award. An ambassador for Friends of the Children, Biles utilizes her platform to help advocate for change and support initiatives that provide education and assistance for children and young adults associated with adoption, foster care, and overall wellness.

Follow us on social

Join the Conversation →