Welcome to the 2026 INFORMS Healthcare Conference

Since the last INFORMS Healthcare Conference in 2023, AI has become pervasive across industries, and healthcare is no exception, adding new challenges to the many that persist in this sector. The challenges facing healthcare remain as pressing as ever. As one of the premier gatherings in the field, the INFORMS Healthcare Conference 2026, hosted by North Carolina State University on July 28-30, in Raleigh, NC, brings together researchers, practitioners, clinicians, policymakers, engineers, data scientists, and innovators from across the healthcare ecosystem.

The conference focus, Smarter Healthcare for a Brighter Future, highlights INFORMS’ commitment to advancing healthcare through analytics, operations research (O.R.), AI, technology integration, and systems-level innovation. INFORMS recognizes that comprehensive solutions are needed that span the entire healthcare ecosystem: from individuals to communities to policymakers. 

As we navigate an era of rapid digital transformation, the landscape of healthcare and research is shifting under the weight of emerging global and domestic demands. Over the coming years, the healthcare sector will likely pivot toward integrated health delivery and genomics, while global efforts focus on strengthening public health infrastructure and infectious disease surveillance in resource-limited settings. 

In response, the synergy between AI and O.R. has become a primary catalyst for innovation, offering promising trends in decision support and predictive modeling. To stay relevant in an AI-driven world, INFORMS members must bridge the gap between theoretical elegance and algorithmic agility, ensuring their models are as adaptable as they are precise. 

This evolution is particularly evident at the intersection of healthcare and other INFORMS domains, including supply chain and finance, where interdisciplinary collaboration has flourished. We have seen great success in optimizing vaccine distribution through these partnerships, yet we continue to face the challenge of aligning disparate data standards across professional silos. 

For new researchers just getting started, the mandate is clear: look to the future by grounding your work in real-world applications, including precision medicine or global health delivery. By focusing on the intersection of healthcare with broader domains, we can design more resilient systems that allow the O.R. community to not just react to the next crisis, but to lead the way through it. 

Beyond its foundational programming in healthcare operations management, AI in healthcare, and medical decision-making, the conference will also showcase an expanded lineup of sessions focused on:

• Public health policy  
• Healthcare quality and safety
• Global health and humanitarian operations

Attendees will also find dedicated clusters exploring: 

• Health opportunities for all  
• Healthcare practice
• Healthcare technology and bioinformatics
• Critical intersections between health economics and finance

Plenaries will feature experts from both academia and healthcare practice in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, broadening the reach of the INFORMS community and connecting researchers with the healthcare industry.

Plenary Speakers

Three plenary speakers will address attendees on each day of the INFORMS Healthcare Conference. The opening plenary will be given by Natalia Summerville, director of decision intelligence at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In this role, Summerville leads the deployment of AI and operations research-based solutions to support hospital operations and clinical workflows. 

Her address, “Decision Intelligence for Clinical Operations: Designed for Impact,” will walk attendees through a real-world example of how to move from concept to design, to governance, to the implementation of clinical decision support tools. 

On the second day, Amy Cohn will follow with her address, “Diagnosing Complex Problems in Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Developing Comprehensive Treatment Plans.” Cohn is an Alfred F. Thurnau professor in the Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan, faculty director of the Center for Healthcare Engineering and Patient Safety, and chief transformation officer at Michigan Medicine. She will draw parallels between how physicians diagnose and treat complex diseases and strategies to address challenges in healthcare operations. 

To close the conference, Jamie Pina, vice president for data and AI strategy at RTI International, will discuss “Operationalizing AI in Health and Science: Governance, Alignment, and Execution.” Pina will focus on how organizations can translate investments in AI and analytics into sustained performance improvement. He will provide practical examples of how governance, leadership alignment, and disciplined execution can position emerging technologies to drive meaningful change. 

Raleigh, NC

The Raleigh Convention Center and accommodations at the Raleigh Marriott City Center are centrally located in downtown Raleigh, a vibrant, multicultural city consistently ranked among the best places to live and work in the US. Raleigh is part of the Research Triangle, which includes Durham and Chapel Hill. The Research Triangle is one of the country’s largest and most successful high-tech research hubs and home to many Fortune 500 companies.

Preconference events include the opportunity to visit a local hospital; tour a top-five veterinary school; tour NC State’s innovation hub, Centennial Campus; and attend a hackathon and data workshop hosted by SAS. 

We encourage participants to register early, as rooms available at the INFORMS group rate are limited. For more information about the conference, including information on registration, the venue, or the program, visit https://meetings.informs.org/wordpress/healthcare/