May 1, 2017- Dr. Richard Merkin, CEO and Founder of Heritage Provider Network, the nation’s largest physician owned and operated integrated healthcare delivery system and Board Member of Faster Cures, will participate in a panel discussion, “Big Data, AI and Medical Research” from 10:45-11:45 PT Tuesday May 2 at the “Power of Ideas” 20th annual Milken Institute Global Conference. The Global Conference convenes some of the world’s most extraordinary people to explore solutions to today’s most pressing challenges in financial markets, industry sectors, health, government and education.

The discussion will focus on how “technology has had a dramatically disruptive impact in medical research, perhaps most remarkably in genomics. Nearly two decades after the initial sequencing of the human genome, scientists are unlocking new ways to understand the cellular basis of disease through big data analysis, artificial intelligence and machine learning.” The discussion will explore the importance of future challenges – where we are now and where we need to go.

“Healthcare in the third decade of the twenty first century will be radically different than the first two decades,” said Dr. Merkin. “We will need to rely on a convergence of new technologies and science that will change and improve healthier outcomes and provide opportunities for innovators to demonstrate how they can implement cutting edge, healthcare improvements that can also save billions of dollars in costs.”

Moderated by Jonathan Simons, President and CEO, Prostate Cancer Foundation; Senior Advisor, Milken Institute, speakers include Matthew Collier, Senior Advisor to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Wyatt Decker, Vice President, Chief Executive Officer, Mayo Clinic, Arizona, Bob Hugging, Executive Chairman, Celgene Corporation, Eric Lefkofsky, Co-Founder and CEO, Tempus and Andrew von Eschenbach, President, Samaritan Health.

Discussion topics include:

• Which areas of medical research and technology hold the most promise?
• What models of collaboration–across bio-science and technology companies, foundations, research institutions and government agencies–will yield the best results?
• How can we further accelerate medical research through technology?