There’s more to come, but here are just a few of the names already lined up to speak at EHRCON26…
Dr Jordi Piera Jimenez
CEO, openEHR
Dr Jordi Piera Jimenez
CEO, openEHR
Our CEO, Dr Jordi Piera-Jiménez is a senior leader in digital health, with more than 25 years’ experience spanning health IT, policy, and strategy. He has led large-scale transformation programmes in Catalonia, where he advanced one of Europe’s most ambitious health system digitalisation efforts. His work bridges technology, standards, and public policy, with active contributions to international initiatives involving the WHO, OECD, and the European Health Data Space. A long-standing member of the openEHR community, he combines strategic insight with technical depth, and is widely recognised for fostering collaboration across organisations to advance meaningful, interoperable health systems.
Doug Brown
Founder and President, Black Book Research
Doug Brown
Founder and President, Black Book Research
Doug Brown is a veteran in healthcare systems management and IT product sales, with over 30 years of experience in hospital administration and executive leadership. He is the founder and President of Black Book Research, a firm established in 2010 that delivers independent, data-driven insights on healthcare technology and services. His career includes senior roles at McKesson, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and major hospital systems such as HCA and Texas Children’s Hospital. He previously co-founded and sold the Brown-Wilson Group to Datamonitor in London. Doug is the bestselling author of The Black Book of Outsourcing and holds degrees from the University of Florida, University of Houston, and LSE. He serves on multiple healthcare boards and remains active in community leadership.
Herko Coomans
Vice Chair, SNOMED
Herko Coomans
Vice Chair, SNOMED
Herko Coomans is a digital health leader and Dutch civil servant, whose work sits at the intersection of policy, interoperability, and international collaboration, and who is widely recognised for advancing the global exchange of health data. At the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, he drives international strategy to ensure healthcare information flows effectively across borders. A HIMSS Future50 Government Leader and active contributor to SNOMED International and the Global Digital Health Partnership, he combines technical insight with a talent for convening stakeholders, shaping more connected, data-driven healthcare systems that rely on shared standards and collective ambition.
Professor Rachel Dunscombe
CEO, HL7
Professor Rachel Dunscombe
CEO, HL7
Rachel is CEO of HL7, and was formerly the CEO of openEHR International and Director of Digital of the Salford Royal/NCA Group, one of the two most digitally mature organisations in the NHS. She has worked across the health care system as well as in the private sector and Europe. She is currently a visiting Professor at Imperial College London.
Dr Somayeh Abedian
Senior Researcher, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Prevention
Dr Somayeh Abedian
Senior Researcher, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Prevention
Dr. Somayeh Abedian is a seasoned health informatics executive and researcher with over 18 years of experience in health information systems, interoperability standards, and digital health innovation. She holds a PhD in IT Management (Business Intelligence), with a background in computer software engineering and multiple bachelor’s degrees. Her work has focused extensively on the application and advancement of international health informatics standards, such as openEHR and HL7 FHIR. Dr. Abedian began working with openEHR in 2008 and has since played an active role in the development of information models and health data exchange services based on the openEHR framework. She worked for over 17 years in the eHealth center of the Iranian Ministry of Health, where she played a strategic role in the design and development of the national EHR infrastructure based on openEHR. As part of this work, she led and supervised the design and implementation of several major national-level health information exchange services. She currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Toronto and a Senior Researcher at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Prevention (Austria), contributing to international initiatives focused on digital health transformation and lifestyle improvement.
Davera Gabriel
Director of Client Success, Evidentli
Davera Gabriel
Director of Client Success, Evidentli
Davera Gabriel is a semantic interoperability expert and Director of Client Success at Evidentli, whose work centres on harmonising complex health data to drive better outcomes. Recognised as a Fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association and Health Level Seven International, she has played a key role in advancing terminology standards and data infrastructure, including contributions to the National COVID Cohort Collaborative. Her career reflects a strong commitment to aligning data, standards, and collaboration, enabling more effective research, insight generation, and evidence-based healthcare at scale.
Rix Groenboom
Lecturer New Business & ICT, Hanze University Groningen
Rix Groenboom
Lecturer New Business & ICT, Hanze University Groningen
Rix Groenboom leads the research group on New Business and ICT. Earlier he was strategic innovations manager for Parasoft in the area of testing and virtualization of modern SOA, SaaS and cloud-based architectures. His core area of expertise is specification, design and validation of software applications. He holds a MSc and PhD in Computing Science from the University of Groningen and published a thesis focusing on the formalization of domain knowledge.
Dr Amanda Herbrand
Clinical data specialist
Dr Amanda Herbrand
Clinical data specialist
Dr Amanda Herbrand is a physician and researcher working at the intersection of clinical practice, data science and digital health. With a background in physics and medicine, she brings a systems-thinking approach to healthcare innovation. Amanda focuses on designing patient-centred digital solutions that support sustainable clinical data capture and workflow integration. She advocates for openEHR and the separation of frontend and data logic to enable interoperability and long-term data value. Her research includes work on off-label drug use in oncology and the alignment of reimbursement with evidence. Amanda has also contributed to software development and R&D projects focused on clinical workflows and data architecture
Professor David Ingram
Founder, openEHR
Professor David Ingram
Founder, openEHR
A founding member of the openEHR Foundation, an influential figure in the field of health informatics education and research in the UK, and an honorary member of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Prof. David Ingram’s contributions to health data science are immeasurable.
Monica Jones
Chief Data Officer UOL | CEO Animo
Monica Jones
Chief Data Officer UOL | CEO Animo
Monica Jones is a senior technical leader and enterprise architect, whose career spans healthcare, science, and technology, and who is recognised for delivering complex, high-value data and information systems. As a CDO and CIO, she has shaped strategy across major public and private initiatives, while her expertise in standards such as SNOMED CT, HL7 FHIR, and OMOP underpins safer, more effective data use. Through Animo Consultancy, she advises organisations including Genomics England and NHS, combining technical depth with leadership, mentoring, and a focus on better health outcomes.
Sofia Kauppila MNSc
Senior Solutions Lead, Tieto
Sofia Kauppila MNSc
Senior Solutions Lead, Tieto
Sofia Kauppila (MNSc) is a healthcare leader with an international background as a midwife and nurse, bringing over a decade of experience in clinical practice, digital health, and strategic business development. At Tietoevry Care, she shapes the direction of clinical solutions across Europe, working on go-to-market strategies, portfolio development and international partnerships. Specializing in open standards such as openEHR, Sofia drives the creation of modular, scalable applications that meet diverse healthcare system needs while improving usability and care outcomes. Her career spans roles in product management, portfolio leadership, and consulting, with expertise in heath economics, academic research, public procurements and large-scale digital transformation projects.
Walter Kraan
Product Development Manager, Nictiz
Walter Kraan
Product Development Manager, Nictiz
Walter Kraan is a business-oriented digital transformation leader with more than 25 years of experience in strategy, information management, and programme delivery. He specialises in aligning business objectives with technology, ensuring that digitalisation starts with process design, customer value, and organisational goals rather than IT alone. With a background in Lean Six Sigma and extensive experience across financial services, telecommunications, and government, he has led large-scale transformation initiatives focused on business continuity, risk management, and operational excellence. Known for combining strategic vision with hands-on execution, Kraan builds high-performing teams and delivers measurable results through practical, people-centred change and innovation.
Katarina Kralj
Secretary, eHealth project at Ministry of Health of Slovenia
Katarina Kralj
Secretary, eHealth project at Ministry of Health of Slovenia
Katarina Kralj serves as Secretary of the eHealth Project at the Ministry of Health of Slovenia, where she contributes to advancing digital health initiatives that improve healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. With a strong focus on healthcare transformation, she supports the development and implementation of innovative eHealth solutions that enhance efficiency, accessibility, and quality across the health system. Her work involves coordinating stakeholders, aligning strategic priorities, and helping drive the digitalisation of healthcare services.
Gar Mac Críosta
Product Manager, Health Service Executive
Gar Mac Críosta
Product Manager, Health Service Executive
Gar Mac Críosta is a Digital Advisor in Strategy & Architecture and Product Manager with the Health Service Executive in Ireland. He specialises in organisational change, digital transformation, and helping teams succeed in complex, uncertain environments. His work focuses on understanding how organisations adapt, evolve, and deliver meaningful outcomes through better strategy, architecture, and product thinking. Passionate about challenging conventional consulting models, he advocates for practical, value-driven approaches that simplify complexity and accelerate progress.
Henrique Martins
Associate Professor & Digital Consultant
Henrique Martins
Associate Professor & Digital Consultant
Henrique Martins has a Medical Degree, Internal Medicine Speciality a Master and PhD in Management, and is finishing is Masters in Law, studying Public Liability implications of AI in Health. He is a Medical Doctor and University Professor at a Medical School and two Business schools, teaching and researching in Digital Health, Leadership and Management education for Medical Students and Health Professionals. He is the past president of SPMS, Portugal’s Digital Health Agency, where he led National eHealth efforts for close to 7 years, and the former Member States co-chair of the EU eHealth Network, the highest policy body on eHealth in the Union. He has worked as Hospital Fernando Fonseca CMIO for over 4 years leading fast digital transformation with implementation of an advanced EHR, and creating a research center. He now works as an Academic in two high-ranked business schools and one medical school, on individual consulting projects in Healthcare Transformation and Digital Health
John Powderly II MD
Founder & President at Carolina BioOncology Institute & BioCytics Human Applications Lab
John Powderly II MD
Founder & President at Carolina BioOncology Institute & BioCytics Human Applications Lab
John Powderly is an oncologist and clinical research leader, whose work has shaped early-phase cancer trials and advanced immunotherapy innovation. As founder of Carolina BioOncology Institute, he has built a leading independent Phase I centre with in-house cellular therapy capabilities, supporting over 160 trials and regional patient access. With more than 270 publications across top journals, alongside academic roles at Duke University and University of North Carolina, his career reflects a sustained commitment to translational research, while his current work explores next-generation personalised immune cell therapies at the point of care.
Dr Sidharth Ramesh
CEO, Medblocks
Dr Sidharth Ramesh
CEO, Medblocks
A doctor by training, but a developer at heart. Founded Medblocks in 2015, and currently serving customers all around the world to deliver better healthcare. Believes that providing data-driven clinical decisions can save more lives than doctors can, by themselves. Medblocks provides an open-source library for building openEHR interfaces – Medblocks UI. Also providing opinionated open-source backend services for building your openEHR + FHIR-based applications quickly – Medblocks Stack. Providing consulting services for: Setting up openEHR server – Cloud/on-premise, openEHR Clinical Modelling and Template Designing, Building openEHR based applications and forms from openEHR templates, Integrating and helping with Medblocks UI into your existing frontend application, Dashboards and analytics using AQL on openEHR repositories, Setting up SNOMED CT server – Cloud/on-premise, SNOMED CT mapping and Reference set creation, Setting up an FHIR server – Cloud/on-premise, Building and deploying SMART on FHIR applications, FHIR Profiling and clinical modelling.
Igor Schoonbrood
Enterprise architect Maastricht UMC+
Igor Schoonbrood
Enterprise architect Maastricht UMC+
Igor Schoonbrood is a clinical informatician and enterprise architect at Maastricht UMC+, working at the intersection of healthcare and IT. He connects clinical practice, technology teams, and executive leadership, ensuring alignment across organisational layers while also engaging with regional partners and suppliers. His current priorities include advancing XDS implementation and contributing to a multidisciplinary portal for colorectal liver metastases. Alongside his hospital role, he advises on openEHR architecture at Nictiz and supervises EngD students. Schoonbrood’s work reflects a strong focus on digital exchange, interoperability, and practical innovation within complex healthcare environments.
Robert Stegwee
Chair, CEN/TC 251
Robert Stegwee
Chair, CEN/TC 251
Robert Stegwee is a Netherlands-based health informatics consultant, whose career spans decades of shaping how technology and healthcare systems align, and whose work focuses on improving both patient and professional experiences through meHealth. With a strong academic foundation and deep involvement in standards like HL7 and CEN TC251, he brings strategic and architectural expertise to complex health information environments, helping organisations integrate systems effectively. His long-standing contribution to interoperability and information strategy reflects a commitment to making healthcare more connected, efficient, and responsive at both national and international levels.
Pascal Suppers
Managing director, DataHub Maastricht
Pascal Suppers
Managing director, DataHub Maastricht
Pascal Suppers is a Netherlands-based data leader, whose work focuses on strengthening health data ecosystems through governance, collaboration, and open innovation. As Managing Director of DataHub Maastricht and Tactical Manager at Health-RI Limburg, he champions open-source technologies and community-driven approaches that extend beyond software. His leadership reflects a commitment to empowering people and institutions to use data more effectively, while fostering environments where innovation can scale across national and international healthcare systems.
Cindy Throop, MSW
Data Scientist, Center for Disease Control
Cindy Throop, MSW
Data Scientist, Center for Disease Control
Cindy Throop is a senior strategic consultant focused on the intersection of health and social policy and technology implementation. In her current role with the US Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control, she leads public health data interoperability strategy for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Administration. From 2019 to 2022, she led quality and data initiatives on a $120M healthcare transformation project for the CMS Innovation Center, shaping how clinical quality, patient experience and utilisation data inform leadership decisions. More recently, Cindy supported the implementation of the first scalable patient consent management platform in the US based on Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standards. A macro social worker and policy expert, she bridges diverse stakeholder perspectives to help policy makers, government agencies, and technology companies prepare for and successfully implement meaningful change.
Grahame Grieve
HL7 FHIR Product Director
Grahame Grieve
HL7 FHIR Product Director
Grahame Grieve is the FHIR Product Director at HL7 and the founder of the global FHIR standard. Based in Melbourne, he is a developer, consultant and long-standing advocate for open source, open standards, and healthcare interoperability. Known as the “Father of FHIR”, Grahame leads the FHIR Core Team and oversees the specification’s development, community governance, and global partnerships. He works closely with governments, vendors and healthcare organisations to advance digital health infrastructure. A frequent international speaker and advisor, Grahame’s influence stretches across policy, technology and clinical practice. He has received numerous awards for his impact on health IT and was named one of the top 15 Health IT Standards and Interoperability Rockstars to Know.
Luke Readman
Regional Director of Digital Transformation, NHS London
Luke Readman
Regional Director of Digital Transformation, NHS London
Luke Readman is an influential advocate for the power of information and collective action to support patients and professionals to improve healthcare. A strategic leader with extensive experience leading collaborative change at the system and institutional level and at the NHS and academic/NHS and public interfaces, Luke leads the OneLondon programme, an NHS initiative which promotes record-sharing at the point of care and the development of collaborative approaches in the use of data at scale in near real-time, for health improvement and research.
Don Sweete
COO, Vara
Don Sweete
COO, Vara
Don Sweete is Chief Executive Officer of SNOMED International, a role he has held since 2014. With over three decades of leadership in health services and health information technology, he directs corporate strategy and operations across product content, technical support, customer engagement, and organisational development. Before his appointment, he served on SNOMED International’s Management Board, contributing to its governance and growth. His career includes senior roles at Canada Health Infoway, Siemens, and Cerner, as well as within government. A graduate of Dalhousie University, Don is recognised globally for advancing digital health and international standards.
Dr Jordi Piera Jimenez
CEO, openEHR
Dr Jordi Piera Jimenez
CEO, openEHR
Our CEO, Dr Jordi Piera-Jiménez is a senior leader in digital health, with more than 25 years’ experience spanning health IT, policy, and strategy. He has led large-scale transformation programmes in Catalonia, where he advanced one of Europe’s most ambitious health system digitalisation efforts. His work bridges technology, standards, and public policy, with active contributions to international initiatives involving the WHO, OECD, and the European Health Data Space. A long-standing member of the openEHR community, he combines strategic insight with technical depth, and is widely recognised for fostering collaboration across organisations to advance meaningful, interoperable health systems.
Doug Brown
Founder and President, Black Book Research
Doug Brown
Founder and President, Black Book Research
Doug Brown is a veteran in healthcare systems management and IT product sales, with over 30 years of experience in hospital administration and executive leadership. He is the founder and President of Black Book Research, a firm established in 2010 that delivers independent, data-driven insights on healthcare technology and services. His career includes senior roles at McKesson, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and major hospital systems such as HCA and Texas Children’s Hospital. He previously co-founded and sold the Brown-Wilson Group to Datamonitor in London. Doug is the bestselling author of The Black Book of Outsourcing and holds degrees from the University of Florida, University of Houston, and LSE. He serves on multiple healthcare boards and remains active in community leadership.
Herko Coomans
Vice Chair, SNOMED
Herko Coomans
Vice Chair, SNOMED
Herko Coomans is a digital health leader and Dutch civil servant, whose work sits at the intersection of policy, interoperability, and international collaboration, and who is widely recognised for advancing the global exchange of health data. At the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, he drives international strategy to ensure healthcare information flows effectively across borders. A HIMSS Future50 Government Leader and active contributor to SNOMED International and the Global Digital Health Partnership, he combines technical insight with a talent for convening stakeholders, shaping more connected, data-driven healthcare systems that rely on shared standards and collective ambition.
Professor Rachel Dunscombe
CEO, HL7
Professor Rachel Dunscombe
CEO, HL7
Rachel is CEO of HL7, and was formerly the CEO of openEHR International and Director of Digital of the Salford Royal/NCA Group, one of the two most digitally mature organisations in the NHS. She has worked across the health care system as well as in the private sector and Europe. She is currently a visiting Professor at Imperial College London.
Dr Somayeh Abedian
Senior Researcher, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Prevention
Dr Somayeh Abedian
Senior Researcher, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Prevention
Dr. Somayeh Abedian is a seasoned health informatics executive and researcher with over 18 years of experience in health information systems, interoperability standards, and digital health innovation. She holds a PhD in IT Management (Business Intelligence), with a background in computer software engineering and multiple bachelor’s degrees. Her work has focused extensively on the application and advancement of international health informatics standards, such as openEHR and HL7 FHIR. Dr. Abedian began working with openEHR in 2008 and has since played an active role in the development of information models and health data exchange services based on the openEHR framework. She worked for over 17 years in the eHealth center of the Iranian Ministry of Health, where she played a strategic role in the design and development of the national EHR infrastructure based on openEHR. As part of this work, she led and supervised the design and implementation of several major national-level health information exchange services. She currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Toronto and a Senior Researcher at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Prevention (Austria), contributing to international initiatives focused on digital health transformation and lifestyle improvement.
Davera Gabriel
Director of Client Success, Evidentli
Davera Gabriel
Director of Client Success, Evidentli
Davera Gabriel is a semantic interoperability expert and Director of Client Success at Evidentli, whose work centres on harmonising complex health data to drive better outcomes. Recognised as a Fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association and Health Level Seven International, she has played a key role in advancing terminology standards and data infrastructure, including contributions to the National COVID Cohort Collaborative. Her career reflects a strong commitment to aligning data, standards, and collaboration, enabling more effective research, insight generation, and evidence-based healthcare at scale.
Rix Groenboom
Lecturer New Business & ICT, Hanze University Groningen
Rix Groenboom
Lecturer New Business & ICT, Hanze University Groningen
Rix Groenboom leads the research group on New Business and ICT. Earlier he was strategic innovations manager for Parasoft in the area of testing and virtualization of modern SOA, SaaS and cloud-based architectures. His core area of expertise is specification, design and validation of software applications. He holds a MSc and PhD in Computing Science from the University of Groningen and published a thesis focusing on the formalization of domain knowledge.
Dr Amanda Herbrand
Clinical data specialist
Dr Amanda Herbrand
Clinical data specialist
Dr Amanda Herbrand is a physician and researcher working at the intersection of clinical practice, data science and digital health. With a background in physics and medicine, she brings a systems-thinking approach to healthcare innovation. Amanda focuses on designing patient-centred digital solutions that support sustainable clinical data capture and workflow integration. She advocates for openEHR and the separation of frontend and data logic to enable interoperability and long-term data value. Her research includes work on off-label drug use in oncology and the alignment of reimbursement with evidence. Amanda has also contributed to software development and R&D projects focused on clinical workflows and data architecture
Professor David Ingram
Founder, openEHR
Professor David Ingram
Founder, openEHR
A founding member of the openEHR Foundation, an influential figure in the field of health informatics education and research in the UK, and an honorary member of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Prof. David Ingram’s contributions to health data science are immeasurable.
Monica Jones
Chief Data Officer UOL | CEO Animo
Monica Jones
Chief Data Officer UOL | CEO Animo
Monica Jones is a senior technical leader and enterprise architect, whose career spans healthcare, science, and technology, and who is recognised for delivering complex, high-value data and information systems. As a CDO and CIO, she has shaped strategy across major public and private initiatives, while her expertise in standards such as SNOMED CT, HL7 FHIR, and OMOP underpins safer, more effective data use. Through Animo Consultancy, she advises organisations including Genomics England and NHS, combining technical depth with leadership, mentoring, and a focus on better health outcomes.
Sofia Kauppila MNSc
Senior Solutions Lead, Tieto
Sofia Kauppila MNSc
Senior Solutions Lead, Tieto
Sofia Kauppila (MNSc) is a healthcare leader with an international background as a midwife and nurse, bringing over a decade of experience in clinical practice, digital health, and strategic business development. At Tietoevry Care, she shapes the direction of clinical solutions across Europe, working on go-to-market strategies, portfolio development and international partnerships. Specializing in open standards such as openEHR, Sofia drives the creation of modular, scalable applications that meet diverse healthcare system needs while improving usability and care outcomes. Her career spans roles in product management, portfolio leadership, and consulting, with expertise in heath economics, academic research, public procurements and large-scale digital transformation projects.
Katarina Kralj
Secretary, eHealth project, Ministry of Health of Slovenia
Katarina Kralj
Secretary, eHealth project, Ministry of Health of Slovenia
Katarina Kralj serves as Secretary of the eHealth Project at the Ministry of Health of Slovenia, where she contributes to advancing digital health initiatives that improve healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. With a strong focus on healthcare transformation, she supports the development and implementation of innovative eHealth solutions that enhance efficiency, accessibility, and quality across the health system. Her work involves coordinating stakeholders, aligning strategic priorities, and helping drive the digitalisation of healthcare services.
Walter Kraan
Product Development Manager, Nictiz
Walter Kraan
Product Development Manager, Nictiz
Walter Kraan is a business-oriented digital transformation leader with more than 25 years of experience in strategy, information management, and programme delivery. He specialises in aligning business objectives with technology, ensuring that digitalisation starts with process design, customer value, and organisational goals rather than IT alone. With a background in Lean Six Sigma and extensive experience across financial services, telecommunications, and government, he has led large-scale transformation initiatives focused on business continuity, risk management, and operational excellence. Known for combining strategic vision with hands-on execution, Kraan builds high-performing teams and delivers measurable results through practical, people-centred change and innovation.
Gar Mac Críosta
Product Manager, Health Service Executive
Gar Mac Críosta
Product Manager, Health Service Executive
Gar Mac Críosta is a Digital Advisor in Strategy & Architecture and Product Manager with the Health Service Executive in Ireland. He specialises in organisational change, digital transformation, and helping teams succeed in complex, uncertain environments. His work focuses on understanding how organisations adapt, evolve, and deliver meaningful outcomes through better strategy, architecture, and product thinking. Passionate about challenging conventional consulting models, he advocates for practical, value-driven approaches that simplify complexity and accelerate progress.
Henrique Martins
Associate Professor & Digital Consultant
Henrique Martins
Associate Professor & Digital Consultant
Henrique Martins has a Medical Degree, Internal Medicine Speciality a Master and PhD in Management, and is finishing is Masters in Law, studying Public Liability implications of AI in Health. He is a Medical Doctor and University Professor at a Medical School and two Business schools, teaching and researching in Digital Health, Leadership and Management education for Medical Students and Health Professionals. He is the past president of SPMS, Portugal’s Digital Health Agency, where he led National eHealth efforts for close to 7 years, and the former Member States co-chair of the EU eHealth Network, the highest policy body on eHealth in the Union. He has worked as Hospital Fernando Fonseca CMIO for over 4 years leading fast digital transformation with implementation of an advanced EHR, and creating a research center. He now works as an Academic in two high-ranked business schools and one medical school, on individual consulting projects in Healthcare Transformation and Digital Health
John Powderly II MD
Founder & President at Carolina BioOncology Institute & BioCytics Human Applications Lab
John Powderly II MD
Founder & President at Carolina BioOncology Institute & BioCytics Human Applications Lab
John Powderly is an oncologist and clinical research leader, whose work has shaped early-phase cancer trials and advanced immunotherapy innovation. As founder of Carolina BioOncology Institute, he has built a leading independent Phase I centre with in-house cellular therapy capabilities, supporting over 160 trials and regional patient access. With more than 270 publications across top journals, alongside academic roles at Duke University and University of North Carolina, his career reflects a sustained commitment to translational research, while his current work explores next-generation personalised immune cell therapies at the point of care.
Dr Sidharth Ramesh
CEO, Medblocks
Dr Sidharth Ramesh
CEO, Medblocks
A doctor by training, but a developer at heart. Founded Medblocks in 2015, and currently serving customers all around the world to deliver better healthcare. Believes that providing data-driven clinical decisions can save more lives than doctors can, by themselves. Medblocks provides an open-source library for building openEHR interfaces – Medblocks UI. Also providing opinionated open-source backend services for building your openEHR + FHIR-based applications quickly – Medblocks Stack. Providing consulting services for: Setting up openEHR server – Cloud/on-premise, openEHR Clinical Modelling and Template Designing, Building openEHR based applications and forms from openEHR templates, Integrating and helping with Medblocks UI into your existing frontend application, Dashboards and analytics using AQL on openEHR repositories, Setting up SNOMED CT server – Cloud/on-premise, SNOMED CT mapping and Reference set creation, Setting up an FHIR server – Cloud/on-premise, Building and deploying SMART on FHIR applications, FHIR Profiling and clinical modelling.
Igor Schoonbrood
Enterprise architect Maastricht UMC+
Igor Schoonbrood
Enterprise architect Maastricht UMC+
Igor Schoonbrood is a clinical informatician and enterprise architect at Maastricht UMC+, working at the intersection of healthcare and IT. He connects clinical practice, technology teams, and executive leadership, ensuring alignment across organisational layers while also engaging with regional partners and suppliers. His current priorities include advancing XDS implementation and contributing to a multidisciplinary portal for colorectal liver metastases. Alongside his hospital role, he advises on openEHR architecture at Nictiz and supervises EngD students. Schoonbrood’s work reflects a strong focus on digital exchange, interoperability, and practical innovation within complex healthcare environments.
Robert Stegwee
Chair, CEN/TC 251
Robert Stegwee
Chair, CEN/TC 251
Robert Stegwee is a Netherlands-based health informatics consultant, whose career spans decades of shaping how technology and healthcare systems align, and whose work focuses on improving both patient and professional experiences through meHealth. With a strong academic foundation and deep involvement in standards like HL7 and CEN TC251, he brings strategic and architectural expertise to complex health information environments, helping organisations integrate systems effectively. His long-standing contribution to interoperability and information strategy reflects a commitment to making healthcare more connected, efficient, and responsive at both national and international levels.
Pascal Suppers
Managing director, DataHub Maastricht
Pascal Suppers
Managing director, DataHub Maastricht
Pascal Suppers is a Netherlands-based data leader, whose work focuses on strengthening health data ecosystems through governance, collaboration, and open innovation. As Managing Director of DataHub Maastricht and Tactical Manager at Health-RI Limburg, he champions open-source technologies and community-driven approaches that extend beyond software. His leadership reflects a commitment to empowering people and institutions to use data more effectively, while fostering environments where innovation can scale across national and international healthcare systems.
Cindy Throop, MSW
Data Scientist, Center for Disease Control
Cindy Throop, MSW
Data Scientist, Center for Disease Control
Cindy Throop is a senior strategic consultant focused on the intersection of health and social policy and technology implementation. In her current role with the US Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control, she leads public health data interoperability strategy for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Administration. From 2019 to 2022, she led quality and data initiatives on a $120M healthcare transformation project for the CMS Innovation Center, shaping how clinical quality, patient experience and utilisation data inform leadership decisions. More recently, Cindy supported the implementation of the first scalable patient consent management platform in the US based on Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standards. A macro social worker and policy expert, she bridges diverse stakeholder perspectives to help policy makers, government agencies, and technology companies prepare for and successfully implement meaningful change.
Grahame Grieve
HL7 FHIR Product Director
Grahame Grieve
HL7 FHIR Product Director
Grahame Grieve is the FHIR Product Director at HL7 and the founder of the global FHIR standard. Based in Melbourne, he is a developer, consultant and long-standing advocate for open source, open standards, and healthcare interoperability. Known as the “Father of FHIR”, Grahame leads the FHIR Core Team and oversees the specification’s development, community governance, and global partnerships. He works closely with governments, vendors and healthcare organisations to advance digital health infrastructure. A frequent international speaker and advisor, Grahame’s influence stretches across policy, technology and clinical practice. He has received numerous awards for his impact on health IT and was named one of the top 15 Health IT Standards and Interoperability Rockstars to Know.
Luke Readman
Regional Director of Digital Transformation, NHS London
Luke Readman
Regional Director of Digital Transformation, NHS London
Luke Readman is an influential advocate for the power of information and collective action to support patients and professionals to improve healthcare. A strategic leader with extensive experience leading collaborative change at the system and institutional level and at the NHS and academic/NHS and public interfaces, Luke leads the OneLondon programme, an NHS initiative which promotes record-sharing at the point of care and the development of collaborative approaches in the use of data at scale in near real-time, for health improvement and research.
Don Sweete
COO, Vara
Don Sweete
COO, Vara
Don Sweete is Chief Executive Officer of SNOMED International, a role he has held since 2014. With over three decades of leadership in health services and health information technology, he directs corporate strategy and operations across product content, technical support, customer engagement, and organisational development. Before his appointment, he served on SNOMED International’s Management Board, contributing to its governance and growth. His career includes senior roles at Canada Health Infoway, Siemens, and Cerner, as well as within government. A graduate of Dalhousie University, Don is recognised globally for advancing digital health and international standards.
We welcome applications from across the community, and will try to accommodate as many speakers as possible. This year, we’re particularly interested in presentations exploring collaboration between standards, the future of digital healthcare, EHDS, sustainability of data and agentic AI. So, whether you’re leading a research project, sharing a use case, or want to share your perspective or innovation, EHRCON26 is a great place to contribute to the conversation.
If you would like to join our speaker lineup, please complete the application form by EOB on 31 May 2026. Preference will be given to those with an active membership of openEHR.