Speaker Profile
PMWC LUMINARY AWARD
Pioneered autonomous AI diagnostics, bringing the first FDA-authorized autonomous AI system into clinical care
M.D., Ph.D., Robert C. Watzke, MD Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, U. of Iowa / Digital Diagnostics
Biography
Computer engineer, fellowship-trained retina specialist, and neuroscientist. A Fellow of IEEE, and ARVO Gold Fellow, he is the Robert C. Watzke, Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa, with a joint appointment in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He's the Founder of Digital Diagnostics, the first in any field of medicine to get FDA authorization for an autonomous AI, as well as sustainable nationwide reimbursement, where AI makes a medical decision without human oversight. He's past editor of the journals IOVS and IEEE Transactions in Medical Imaging, and editor of AAO’s Basic and Clinical Science Course on AI, Nature Scientific Reports, past Program Chair for ARVO, co-founder & Treasurer of FDA’s Collaborative Community of Ophthalmic Innovation, founder of the Healthcare AI Coalition, and member of AMA’s Digital Medicine Payment Advisory Group. He developed an ethical foundation for medical AI instrumental to the design, validation, regulatory and reimbursement pathways for autonomous AI.
Talk
Session Abstract – PMWC 2027 Silicon Valley
Davos of Precision Medicine
PMWC 2027 Program
January 27–29, 2027 · Santa Clara Convention Center
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