a2 NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
Empowering Innovation in AI/Tech + Aging
Harvard Club
Boston, MA
April 3-4, 2025

The a2 National Symposium will include keynote talks, panels, networking opportunities, and a pitch competition. A preliminary agenda is available here. The agenda was last updated on March 4th.

Meeting Agenda – April 3, 2025

12:30pm       

(Downstairs Lobby)           

Registration

12:30pm – 1:30pm     

(President’s Room)

Device Demonstrations 
– ADPIE (Laureano Moro- 
Velazquez)
– BIDMC (Chun Lim) – BIDMC (Daniel Press)
Billion Labs Inc Blue Iris Labs ForesightCares
Livindi Mountain Biometrics, Inc. (MTN) University of Missouri (Trent Guess)
1:30pm – 1:45pm 

Welcome and Introductions                                                                                                                                              

1:45pm – 3:10pm 

Managing Cognitive Impairment – From Early Diagnosis to Supportive Care
Numerous AI-assisted approaches are being used to facilitate the early diagnosis of cognitive impairment or to assist with cognitive tasks, such as memory and word finding, in home and routine care settings. This session will highlight recent advances in these technologies and discuss perspectives of diverse stakeholders including patients, caregivers, health systems, payers and other stakeholders.                             

Speakers 

  • Martin Sliwinski, PhD, Director of the Center for Healthy Aging at Penn State University
  • Michael Kahana, PhD, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Psychology at University of Pennsylvania; Chief Executive Officer and co-founder at Nia Therapeutics

Panelists

Moderator: Deepak Ganesan, PhD (MassAITC PI)

3:10pm – 4:00pm

Keynote: Opportunities for AI and Wearables to Support Healthy Aging

Pattie Maes, PhD
Germeshausen Professor
MIT Media Lab

Moderator: George Demiris, PhD (PennAITech PI)

All events are in Harvard Hall unless otherwise indicated

Meeting Agenda – April 4, 2025

8:30am – 9:00 am               

(Downstairs Lobby)           

Registration / Breakfast
9:00am – 10:25am             

Machine Learning and AI Methods for Aging and Dementia Care
The use of machine learning and AI methods to care for persons living with dementia and to promote healthy aging must overcome numerous analytical challenges such as the integration of multi-modal data and the sensible use of scarce data. This session will describe state-of-art techniques to overcome these barriers and the perspectives of stakeholders, including regulators, in these approaches.

Speakers

Panelists

Moderator: Ben Marlin, PhD, Associate Director of MassAITC

10:25am – 11:15am 

Keynote: Harnessing AI for Advancing Neurodegenerative Disease Therapeutics

Jianying Hu, PhD
Director of Healthcare and Life Sciences Research; Global Science Leader, AI for Health at IBM

Moderator: Peter Abadir, MD (John Hopkins AITC PI)

11:15am – 11:40am

 

Funders and Dealmakers: Reverse Pitches

  • Discover what drives today’s leading funders and dealmakers.
  • Venture capitalists, accelerators, non-dilutive funders, and distribution channel leaders will deliver concise presentations on the projects, technologies, and innovations they are eager to support.
  • Gain valuable insights into their priorities, funding strategies, and areas of focus to identify opportunities for collaboration.

Please note: Updates on confirmed participants will be shared as they are finalized.

11:40am – 1:40pm Lunch served

noon – 1:00pm

(Massachusetts & Aesculpian Rooms)

Poster Viewing 
For a List of Poster Presenters and digital versions of the posters: Click Here

Device Demonstrations

MindMics Probius Trace Biometrics

1:00pm – 1:45pm 

(President’s Room)

Funders and Dealmakers: Speed Mentoring

  • Engage directly with venture capitalists, accelerators, non-dilutive funders, and distribution channel experts in personalized one-on-one mentoring sessions.
  • This fast-paced “speed dating” format offers entrepreneurs the chance to receive tailored feedback, guidance, and actionable advice from a diverse range of experts. 
  • Space is limited, with priority given to current AITC Pilot Awardees

Please note: This is only open to attendees who have pre-registered and received confirmation of participation. Registration for this has been closed.

1:00pm – 1:45pm

(Gardner Room)

Mentoring Opportunity with Successful Past Awardees

Please note: This is a closed session open to a2 Collective pilot awardees who have received an invitation.

2:00pm  – 3:40pm

Big Health Data: Challenges and Opportunities
The increasing capture of digital health data over the last decades has resulted in large volumes of heterogenous data held by diverse stakeholders including hospital systems (e.g., EHR and radiology data), health insurers (e.g., administrative claims data), wearable device technology companies (e.g., health and activity sensor data), and government-funded cohort studies (e.g., AllofUS and the Framingham Heart Study). This session will describe the opportunities and challenges of leveraging these data to develop AI and machine learning approaches in the aging and AD/ADRD spaces including how these disparate data sources may be inter-connected and the experience of data creators/owners in sharing such data with commercial and research partners.

Speakers

  • Jordan Smoller, MD, Co-chair of the All of Us Science Committee
  • Griffin Weber, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Informatics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School

Panelists

  • Glenn Cohen, JD, Faculty Director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology & Bioethics at Harvard University Law School
  • Susann Keohane, PhD, Head of Emerging AI Product Innovation at IBM
  • Sudeshna Das, PhD, Director of the Mass General Hospital’s BioMedical Informatics Core and Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School; MassAITC AD/ADRD Pilot Core Lead

Moderator: Niteesh Choudhry, MD PhD, MassAITC

3:40pm – 4:00pm

Wrap-Up and Adjourn

All events are in Harvard Hall unless otherwise indicated