2025 Science of Patient Engagement Symposium
- Event Date: May. 07 - 08, 2025
- Event Time: Day One 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. ET, Day Two 8:00 a.m. ET - 2:30 p.m. ET
- Event Location: National Press Club
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About
Join the National Health Council (NHC) for the 2025 Science of Patient Engagement Symposium on May 7–8. The Symposium will return to the historic National Press Club in Washington, DC, to explore this year’s theme: Elevating Innovation in Medicine, MedTech, & AI.
Engaging with patients is key to the process of innovation in medicine, MedTech, and AI. Patients, their families, and their caregivers can provide unique insights at all stages of development for a new drug, treatment, or technology. By partnering with patients and integrating them as equal partners, researchers and product developers can integrate these insights into practical and innovative solutions to meet the needs of a wide array of patients.
The Symposium will examine the science of patient engagement from the perspectives of both patients and experts in medicine, MedTech, and AI. Some key sessions are:
- Innovation in Access, Treatment, & Discovery
- When MedTech and Patient Engagement Collide
- Breakthrough Health AI case-studies in Chronic Disease Detection
- Patient Empowerment Through Machine Learning and Large Language Models
The Science of Patient Engagement Symposium is a two-day meeting held annually to explore how patient engagement is evolving and contributing to science and medicine. It brings together leaders from patient organizations, non-profit groups, industry, academia, and government for a discussion of experiences, best practices, and the resulting impacts of engaging with patients to drive innovation. View the 2024 Symposium summary and check out what our attendees had to say about their experience attending the event.
Attending the 2025 Science of Patient Engagement Symposium will enable you to:
- Collaborate with key experts in medicine, MedTech, and AI sectors to foster patient engagement and center patients in innovation.
- Apply practical tools to meaningfully engage patients in medicine, MedTech, and AI.
- Identify tactics and opportunities to leverage patient engagement across the continuum process of designing, developing, and deploying products.
New this year is a morning of innovation. Participants can attend a half-day workshop on Day 1 focusing on engaging the patient community to inform the development of medical devices. This workshop is open to patients, Chief Medical and Science Officers, and Research Leads of patient organizations and is limited to 40 participants.
Day 1 Workshop: Empathy-First Innovation: How to Embed Patient Advocacy in the Design Process
Abstract:
Transform your approach to patient engagement with this interactive, hands-on workshop. This 3-hour session introduces actionable frameworks for empathy-first innovation and demonstrates how to make patient advocates an integral part of your innovation journey. Through the lens of several real-world case studies— including a groundbreaking medical device transforming postpartum care—you’ll learn practical techniques for defining problems, writing empathy statements, and meeting user needs.
Attendees will experience the thought process and tools used to uncover key patient needs, craft actionable problem statements, and iterate solutions with empathy at the forefront. Walk away with the ability to apply these methods in your organization to create patient-centered innovation.
Who should attend SPES?
NHC Membership: The Symposium is complimentary to attend for all NHC patient and partner of patient organization members working on patient-centered research and engagement activities. Complimentary passes do not apply to contract staff or consultants of member organizations.
NHC members in the business & industry category receive one Symposium registration as a member benefit. Additional seats at the meeting for Business and Industry members, or other non-member, for-profit organizations, are available with a sponsorship. For sponsorship information, please contact Mary Crowther.
Science, Medicine, and Research Communities: Science, medical, and research stakeholders interested in co-creating novel approaches to patient engagement WITH patients.
MedTech and AI Sectors: Developers, and investors in the MedTech and AI sectors seeking to center and engage the patient in the design and product development processes.
Due to limits at the venue, NHC members will be considered for registration first. Non-member nonprofit and research staff working on patient-centered research and engagement activities can register without cost but may have delayed approval depending on space. US state and federal government staff can attend the Symposium without cost. Non-member business and industry organizations must sponsor to attend.
Registration
Online registration is open and closes on May 1. On site registration will be available for NHC members and individuals from the Press, only.
Questions?
If you have registration questions, please contact Racquel Codling at rcodling@nhcouncil.org. If you have any programming questions, please contact Dr. Omar A. Escontrías at oescontrias@nhcouncil.org.
