Opening Guest: Bertha Coombs, LAB member and Kenneth Barela, NHHRI CEO

Strategic Focus: How do we move from the design of a system to the deployment of a national strategy?

Speaker: U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal 

Strategic Focus: Federal AI policy, accountability, and public protection. 

Speaker: Laura Chanchien Parajón. MD

Strategic Focus: Community knowledge as scientific infrastructure. 

Moderator: David Farelo, PhD

Panelists: Shannon Sanchez-Youngman. Ilan Shapiro. MD, Waleska Crespo Rivera, PhD, DPH

Strategic Focus: Scientific evidence standards.

Moderator: Bertha Coombs 

Panelists: Laura Chanchien Parajón, MD, Andrea Barton Reeves, JD, Victor Otero Ramos, MD, Robert Underwood, PhD, MA, Geraldine Luna, MD

Strategic Focus: Governance authority, accountability, and public trust. 

Speaker: April Joy Damian, MD 

Strategic Focus: Implementation science, learning health systems, governance, and responsible deployment. 

Moderator: Bertha Coombs 

Panelists: Laura Chanchien Parajón, MD, Robert Underwood, PhD, Christine Lee, PhD

Strategic Focus: Scaling CBPR and AI infrastructure across government systems. 

Lead: Venator–Cruz Integration Team 

During this special session, NHHRI will officially unveil the National Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Data Platform—a next-generation infrastructure designed to securely connect community knowledge, research, artificial intelligence, and public health decision-making. Attendees will receive an exclusive first look at the platform's architecture, governance model, interoperability framework, and community-centered approach to data stewardship.

Moderator: Tiffany Donelson 

Panelists: April Joy Damian, MD, Charles Venator-Santiago, PhD, Christine Lee, PharmD, PhD

Strategic Focus: Building a national trust architecture for AI-enabled health systems. 

We're honored to welcome Luz Towns-Miranda, PhD , as the keynote speaker for the NHHRI Inaugural Gala on Nov. 20. A clinical psychologist and nationally respected advocate for equitable mental health care, Dr. Towns-Miranda has spent her career expanding access to care, advancing community well-being, and championing research that improves health outcomes. 

As a member of NHHRI's Leadership Advisory Board, she embodies the values at the heart of our work: ensuring that communities are not just the subjects of research, but partners in shaping it. We hope you'll join us in Hartford to hear her inspiring perspective on the future of community-engaged research, philanthropy, and health equity.