2026 Main Stage Speakers
Every conference has talks. Too many are overlong, underprepared, thinly vetted, and poorly lit. turING will feature a small number of tightly crafted talks, from different perspectives and disciplines – bridging cultures from the clinical to the software worlds.
Here is our confirmed speaker lineup for the 2026 turING:
Tala Fakhouri
VP, Consulting: AI & Digital Policy, Real-World Research | Parexel
Dr. Tala H. Fakhouri, PhD, MPH is currently the VP, Consulting: AI & Digital Policy, Real-World Research at Parexel. Tala is the former Associate Director for Data Science & AI Policy at FDA/CDER, where she led policy tracks for AI and RWE including authoring FDA’s first AI and RWE guidance documents, co-chaired the CDER AI Council, and helped shape global regulatory frameworks for AI, digital health technologies and real-world evidence. Prior to FDA, Tala held leadership roles at CDC including Chief Statistician for CDC’s flagship health study NHANES, and served on the Federal Committee for Statistical Methodology.
Rohit Nambisan
AI/Product Healthcare Entrepreneur
Rohit is an entrepreneur & product executive with experience leading organizations in healthcare data, AI, pharma, medical devices, personalized medicine, and health IT. Rohit was most recently the CEO & founder of Lokavant, a clinical trial data & AI company, which was acquired in 2025. Rohit holds an M.S in Management and Engineering from MIT, an M.A. in Neuroscience from Boston University, and a B.A in Cognitive Neuroscience from UC Berkeley.
Tony Fantana
Global Regulatory Affairs Innovation and Technology Lead |
Eli Lilly & Company
Tony is a strategic innovation leader with 15+ years of experience driving patient and business outcomes in Pharma, Digital Health, and Medical Devices. Currently, he leads Digital Transformation and Innovation for Global Regulatory Affairs, incorporating AI and advanced computing to accelerate submissions and approvals.
He is passionate about improving health outcomes through building and leading high-performing teams, fostering a culture of collaboration and excellence, and leveraging 21st century technology solutions.
At Lilly, Tony founded and scaled Digital Health and patient-centric blood sampling, now deployed in dozens of clinical trials, cutting millions in costs and reducing timelines. He is driving cross-industry collaboration as the leader of an Innovative Healthcare Initiative consortium with 50+ partners, and works with regulators in the EU and US.
He has delivered AI solutions solving thousands of manual labor annually, benefiting 1000+ global users. Part of several company-wide core teams, Tony drives cross-functional strategy with C-suite visibility.
Michelle Stump-Kerry
VP of Organizational Readiness and Enablement at Medidata
Michelle leads large-scale strategic initiatives that help teams adopt new technologies, processes, and mindsets—ensuring organizations are not only equipped for innovation but prepared to deliver on it. She brings over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including big pharma, CRO and Central Laboratories, with leadership and technical expertise in global data management, clinical trial management, clinical monitoring, investigator and client training, strategic planning, road mapping, technology and innovation.
Most recently, Michelle was the External Applications Portfolio Lead for a market leading Central Laboratory, where she was the business owner for a multimillion dollar portfolio of products for data integration, analytics, as well as investigator and client portal technology.
Michelle leverages her distinct global background and breadth of experience bringing a unique point of view to her professional endeavors to build meaningful, innovative alliances, partnerships and strategies.
Angela Radcliffe
Author | Quantum Kids Guardians of AI
Angela Radcliffe is a dynamic speaker, best-selling author, and noted clinical research, AI, and patient engagement expert who advocates for, and works with children (ages 8-14), parents, and educators to teach data, AI and health literacy to ensure kids have the necessary skills and knowledge to thrive in a digitally connected world.
She’s the author of “Quantum Kids Guardians of AI”, an activity book that introduces elementary and middle school students to AI fundamentals through seven engaging missions. The book weaves concepts like neural networks, large language models, data ethics, and prompt engineering into relatable stories about school, social media, and robotics.
Van Crocker Jr.
Founder & President | Agonist Health
Van Crocker has spent his 25+ year career driving innovation and change in the healthcare field in senior operating roles and as a management consultant. As the President and Founder of Agonist Health, he has partnered with a broad array of innovators in the real world evidence sector, including private equity firms, pharmaceutical companies, technology developers and expert advisories.
Previously, Van co-founded and led Vidence (now a division of City of Hope) as its CEO, navigating the oncology information company through the COVID pandemic. Prior to Vidence, Van was President and Founder of Healthagen, the life sciences-facing analytics division of Aetna/CVS, harnessing large scale health data for AI/machine learning applications, value based relationships for drugs and devices, clinical trials, and digital health. Healthagen is now known as CVS Real World Evidence.
Before Healthagen, Van led finance and business development for Exicure, a public biotechnology company funded by AbbVie and Bill Gates. The company and its affiliates have developed a broad array of nanoparticle-based genetic therapies and diagnostic platforms, with applications including cancer and rare diseases. Van began his healthcare career as a management consultant with Booz & Company, where he focused on strategic initiatives for payer/provider clients.
Van holds a BS from the University of Virginia and an MBA with Honors from Kellogg School of Management.
Prassana Rao
Chief Products & Innovation Officer | Saama
Prasanna Rao is a distinguished AI practitioner and industry thought leader, currently serving as the Chief Products and Innovation Officer at Saama. With over 30 years of experience in information technology and analytics, including more than a decade in healthcare and life sciences, Prasanna brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role.
Previously, as Global Head of AI/ML, Clinical Data Sciences at Pfizer Research & Development, Prasanna worked closely with stakeholders, vendors, business SMEs, machine learning developers, and data scientists to foster innovation and advance the adoption of AI in clinical data sciences. His tenure at IBM Watson as a Watson Solution Architect was marked by significant achievements in implementing AI systems for a diverse range of clients.
An accomplished speaker, Prasanna regularly presents at major industry conferences, including SCDM, DIA, SCOPE, DPharm, Tufts University CSDD, and Outsourcing Clinical Trials (OCT). He is also the holder of an IBM patent titled "Monitoring Clinical Research Performance," further cementing his status as a leading authority in leveraging technology for clinical development in the pharmaceutical industry. Prasanna continues to drive transformative advancements in AI and machine learning, delivering groundbreaking solutions to accelerate clinical research and development.
Christoph Hornik
Professor of Pediatrics | Duke University and the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI)
Christoph Hornik is a pediatric cardiac intensivist and the Samuel L. Katz Professor of Pediatrics at Duke University and the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI). He serves as executive vice chair and vice chair for research in pediatrics and associate director of i-Cubed, DCRI’s center for clinical research innovation.
His research interests include the study of drugs and other interventions in vulnerable and underserved populations, including critically ill children, using innovative approaches ranging from direct-to-participant digitally enabled engagement and real-world evidence generation to advanced pharmacometrics modeling and regulatory compliant clinical trials. His research is funded by NIH, industry, and private foundations. Dr. Hornik has a passion for training and mentoring the next generation of pediatric clinical researchers, and for exploring non-traditional approaches to addressing complex problems affecting child health.
Brinnae Bent
Associate Director of the Society-Centered AI Initiative, Director of the TRUST Lab, and faculty in the Pratt School of Engineering | Duke University
Brinnae teaches courses on Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity. She leads research at the intersection of machine learning, scientific discovery, and real-world deployment, with experience advancing AI systems across academia and industry.
Main Stage Talks From Past Gatherings
Watch all the main stage talks from past events (2022-2025).
Submit a Nomination
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April 29-30, 2026 | Durham, North Carolina