Top of Mind Summit 2026:
Catalyzing Health Innovation.
Connecting Leaders.
September 28-29, 2026 | Pittsburgh, PA
About Top of Mind Summit
Since 2017, UPMC Enterprises has hosted its annual Top of Mind Summit as an exclusive, invitation-only conference for C-suite health care leaders, investors, and industry innovators to explore the future of digital health and life sciences.
The in-person experience facilitates high-value networking, thought-provoking dialogue, and real-world perspectives from a variety of industry experts.
Hosted in Pittsburgh, PA — a thriving center for advances in health care, digital innovation, and life sciences — Top of Mind Summit also offers a chance to experience a city driving the future of medicine.
Highlighted Speakers
Steve Altschuler
Ziff Capital Partners
Mary Beth Jenkins
UPMC
Jonathan Peacock
BlueSphere Bio
Jeffrey Solomon
TD Bank U.S.
Joel Yuhas
UPMC
Summit Program
Day 1: Monday, September 28
10:00-11:00 AM
Registration
11:00-11:15 AM
Welcome Remarks
11:15 AM-12:00 PM
Keynote Address
12:00-1:00 PM
Lunch
1:00-1:45 PM
PANEL
The Future-Ready Health System: Charting a Course in a Challenging Time
As health care continues to evolve amid shifting policy, technological disruption, financial pressures, and changing patient expectations, health systems face a critical inflection point. This fireside conversation with Joel Yuhas and Mary Beth Jenkins offers a candid look at the opportunities and challenges shaping the next era of integrated care. Together, they will explore how health systems and payers can strengthen resilience, accelerate innovation, and deliver more personalized, patient centered experiences. Discussion topics will include emerging care delivery models, the strategic value of aligning financing and clinical operations, and the organizational shifts required to thrive in an increasingly complex health ecosystem.
1:45-2:30 PM
PANEL
Disruptive Policy: Setting Strategies for Innovation as Political Winds Shift
This session brings together leading voices from pharma, technology, venture capital, and health systems to examine how health policy acts as both a catalyst for and a constraint on innovation. With perspectives from leaders across health care verticals, the discussion will explore challenges created by changes to regulations, reimbursement models, and federal priorities are influencing investment strategies, product development, and market adoption. The conversation will highlight the critical role of cross-sector collaboration in navigating disruption and accelerating transformative solutions across digital health and life sciences.
2:30-3:00 PM
Coffee Break
3:00-3:30 PM
PANEL
Accelerating Breakthroughs: A Vision for Innovation Through HTAP
UPMC has embarked on a mission to ensure its patients have access to the most cutting-edge technologies and treatments. With the Health Technology Assessment Program (HTAP), clinical leaders are spearheading a new process for evaluating the latest breakthroughs in months, rather than years. By quickly moving technologies into demonstration projects, this clinician-driven program evaluates the effectiveness and value of solutions while ensuring transformative solutions reach patients faster and keep UPMC at the forefront of medical innovation. Attendees will gain insight into the opportunities ahead with HTAP and how UPMC’s innovation engine can continue to shape care delivery, patient outcomes, and the next generation of health solutions.
3:30-4:30 PM
BREAKOUT SESSION
Topic TBD
(Topic TBD)
6:00-8:30 PM
Off-site networking event
Day 2: Tuesday, September 29
7:30-8:00 AM
Continental Breakfast
8:00-8:45 AM
PANEL
Beyond Investment: Reimagining How Breakthroughs Reach Patients
In biotech and digital health, investment is only the beginning. Breakthroughs ideas require diligent nurturing from a range of experts to ensure success and ultimately benefit patients. Leaders in health innovation, startup acceleration, and capital strategy will discuss how breakthrough technologies move beyond traditional investment frameworks to become scalable, real world solutions. The conversation will highlight how strategic partnerships, cross sector collaboration, and health system engagement accelerate commercialization and ensure promising advances reach the patients and communities who need them most.
8:45-9:30 AM
PANEL
Changing the Equation: How Partnerships Enable Greater Patient Access
In today’s rapidly evolving health care landscape, innovation is no longer a solo endeavor. This panel will explore how leading health systems are forging strategic partnerships — with venture capital firms, pharmaceutical companies, technology innovators, and even peer institutions — to drive greater access for patients to treatments, care, and more. From accelerating digital transformation to advancing precision medicine and improving care delivery, panelists will share real-world examples of how these collaborations are driving meaningful change.
9:30-10:00 AM
Coffee Break
10:00-10:45 AM
PANEL
From Foundation to Future: AI’s Defining Examples
Artificial intelligence is transforming health care but not evenly. In this session, speakers will explore the emerging winners and laggards in the race to harness AI across the health ecosystem. This session will unpack where AI is truly delivering value and where it’s falling short, with a focus on clinical applications, administrative efficiency, drug development, and commercialization. Panelists will discuss the strategic, operational, and financial factors influencing AI adoption. Hear candid conversation on how health systems, investors, and innovators can separate signal from noise and strategically position themselves.
10:45-11:30 AM
PANEL
Real-World Data, Real-World Impact: Why Health Care Can’t Afford to Ignore It
As the health care industry shifts toward value and more personalized care, real-world data (RWD) has emerged as a critical asset for every stakeholder. This panel will explore why harnessing RWD is no longer optional but essential for creating more tailored pathways and positive patient outcomes. Experts will discuss the strategic imperative for health systems, life sciences companies, and technology partners to use RWD to accelerate research, improve clinical decision-making, and drive operational efficiency. The conversation will also address the challenges of data quality, interoperability, and equity — and what it will take to unlock the full potential of real-world evidence in transforming care.
11:30 AM-12:00 PM
PATIENT PRESENTATION
Topic TBD
(Topic TBD)
12:00-1:00 PM
Networking & Lunch
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