Richard Bruno, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FACPM, AAHIVS
ACPM Board of Regents
I hope to see many of you in a couple of months at PM2026, May 14-17 in Baltimore! I’m excited for this year’s sessions, as we delve into a number of topics keeping the attention of preventive medicine docs and our patients. I’ll be involved in a few sessions I wanted to highlight!
- Plenary 2: At the Crossroads of Housing, Harm Reduction, and HIV – Lessons from Baltimore, Friday, May 15, 9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
- Artificial Intelligence in Preventive Medicine and Public Health: Perspectives from Federal and State Agencies, Academia and Industry, Friday, May 15, 10:40 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.
- Mapping the Gaps With an App: A Novel Mobile Van Collaborative in Oregon, Friday, May 15, 1:50 p.m. – 2:10 p.m.
These sessions are designed to provide up-to-date information about some of the most challenging aspects of preventive medicine these days, navigated by some of the nation’s top thought leaders.
We’ll start Friday’s plenary with a panel that includes Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Taylor, former deputy secretary of public health at the Maryland Department of Health Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman, University of Maryland professor Dr. Marik Moen and Harm Reductionist Rajani Gudlavalleti. This team of Baltimoreans will tackle the approaches to housing, HIV and harm reduction that the city is taking by bringing the stories of Baltimore to the stage. About 18,000 people are currently living with HIV in the Baltimore metro region, with over 300 new cases diagnosed per year. The panelists will discuss the incredible work they’ve done to decrease exposures, test people quickly and connect them with treatment. They’ll also talk about the intersection between housing and health, and how critical stable housing is for a person to tackle their health issues–with substance use, mental health and infectious diseases often being some of the most challenging. You’ll hear strategies that address these and inspire you with innovative approaches that may be scalable to your region.
Following Plenary 2, the panel session on AI will bring together public health leaders leveraging AI in their public health practice to improve population health. This panel includes Johns Hopkins professor Dr. Elham Hatef, Medical Director of Operations at Blue Shield of California, Dr. Sumedh Mankar, former Chief Interoperability and Veteran Access Officer at the VA Dr. Helga Rippen and me. The session will be moderated by Dr. Sristi Sharma, Clinical Informatics Fellow at UCSF. The panelists will share use cases and approaches to ensure AI is used effectively and with appropriate guardrails.
Later Friday afternoon, I’ll be discussing a mobile van app that helps 30 Portland mobile van operators coordinate care by listing where the vans are, which services they offer and if they’re accepting patients for the day. The app serves as a connector for people seeking services through social workers, outreach workers and the regional 211 info line. I’ll talk about some of the efforts to scale this work to other areas around the country.
We hope you can join these sessions and take advantage of some of the latest efforts to improve population health.
Don’t forget to register by Thursday, March 19 for Early Bird Rates!
See you in Baltimore!
