Medical Science Talks 2026

Two days of insights, innovation and collaboration.

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HEALTHY AGING

Innovation for an aging society

CRITICAL OPERATIONS IN HEALTHCARE

Medicine and communication in times of crises – are we prepared?

THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF MEDICAL SCIENE TALKS 2027

the whole team

FOCUS

DAY 1 – October 13, 2026.

HEALTHY AGING
SENovation Styria 2026

Innovations for our aging society and how to benefit from a mix of generation

Usability meats science and sociology

Digital Inclusion: consequences of designing medical devices
Healthy aging between autonomy and safety – How can we strike a balance?

Ethical AI in medical technology: chances and pitfalls
Age diversity and sustainable cooperation for our society

DAY 2 – October 14, 2026

CRITICAL OPERATIONS
in Healthcare

What innovations ensure medical care and communication in an emergency?

Why we need interdisciplinary preparation in time of crises.

How to achieve human centered resilience for our society?
How to manage medical support to disaster operations.

CBRN preparedness – which actors count?
Training & Simulation: How to learn from pros?

AGENDA

DAY 1 – Healthy Aging

DAY 2 – Critical Operations

October 13 – SENovation Styria 2026

09:00 WELCOME Andrea Kurz, Rector – Medical University of Graz

Moderation: Victoria McGuigan, Amsterdam

Session 1: Digital Inclusion

09:10 IMPULS

Digital Inclusion, examples Siemens Healthineers

Kerstin Röse (Siemens AG, Deutschland)

Panel discussion

Sybille Reidl (Joanneum Research Policies, Vienna)
Oliver Wimmer (Herzens App, Graz)
Frank Leyhausen (reifegrad4, Köln)

Session 2: Designing for Connected Healthcare systems

10:15 IMPULS

Designing for Connected Healthcare systems

Barbara Koop (Philips AG – Niederlande)

Panel discussion

Michael Rathmair (Joanneum Research Robotics, Klagenfurt)
Lars Kamolz (Medical University of Graz)
Stefan Arbeithuber (PAULA Lino Solutions, Linz)
Wolfgang Kratky, Rosemarie Kurz (Geriatrische Gesundheitszentren, Graz)
Jakob Tettmann, Oskar Kohlenprath (Remembria, Graz)

Session 3: Where good medicine goes wrong

11:15 IMPULS

Medical devices failed older users: practical usability and consequences: Where good medicine goes wrong

Ben Anyasodo (London)

Panel discussion

Thomas Pieber (Medical University of Graz)
Bente Knoll (Office for sustainable consequence, Vienna)
Michael Pichler (Human.Technology.Styria, Graz)
Franziska Rauch (Yorokani Magnetkleidung, Vienna)

12:30 – 14:00 LUNCH BREAK

TABLE TALK – Can Virtual Reality take the pain away? VR for Pain Management in Older Adults Magdalena Renhart (OPINION-Lab)

Session 4: Aging & AI, usabiliy meets science

14:00 IMPULS

When AI Can’t See You: Designing Ethical & Inclusive Health AI for Everyone

Lizette Spangenberg (Johannesburg)

14:20 IMPULS

Comprehensive Phenotyping in aging

Thomas Scherer (Medical University of Vienna)

14:40 Open Discussion + Q&A

10min Coffee break

Session 5: AI as a medical device & user errors

15:00 IMPULS

The challenges of AI as a medical device. How do we design for systems where a user error has life-altering consequences?

Mariana de Oliveira (Lisbon)

15:20 IMPULS

Infineon microelectronics for connected care and healthy aging

Elisabeth Hengge & Marcus Hennecke (Infineon Graz)

15:40 Open Discussion + Q&A

10min Coffee break

Session 6: AI discovery – chances and pitfalls

16:00 IMPULS

AI discovery – chances and pitfalls

Thomas Pock (BioTechMed, TU Graz)

16:20 IMPULS

Age inclusive AI discovery – chances and pitfalls

Kausik Surendran (Schneider Electric, Bengaluru)

17:00 Closing: Sophie Narath, Medical University of Graz

DAY 1 – Healthy Aging

DAY 2 – Critical Operations

October 14 – Critical Operations in Healthcare

Moderation: Victoria McGuigan, Amsterdam
in cooperation with Critical Operations Forum

09:00 WELCOME Alexander Rosenkranz, Vicerector – Medical University of Graz

INTRO Sophie Narath, Medical University of Graz

09:15 Keynote

Human-Centered Resilience: Bridging disaster health innovation and critical operations for an uncertain future

Sevan Gerard (Disaster Health Institute, Salzburg)

Paul Barach (Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia)

This talk frames the keynote around Disaster Health and preparedness and human-centered resilience as the unifying bridge between medical innovation and critical operations in healthcare and other high-risk industries. It argues that, whether in hospitals or other high-reliability systems, performance, safety, and sustainability depend on designing technology, workflows, and organizations around real human capabilities under stress—aligned with how workers, staff, and healthcare professionals make sense of situations and stay engaged. Recent disasters in Portugal, Switzerland, the USA, and Spain, even as a small sample, point to core systemic deficiencies that will not be addressed by technological advances alone.

30 min Coffee break

Session 1: Medical support to disaster operations

10:30 Impuls

Medical support to disaster operations

Sohrab Dalal (Director Disaster Health Insititute, Salzburg)

Panel discussion

Gregor Egger (Disaster Health Institute, Salzburg)
Magdalena Druml (NoxAvis TECH SOLUTIONS, Vienna)
Lars Kamolz (Medical University of Graz)
Markus Bergen (Joanneum Research Digital, Graz)
Florian Wichlas (Paracelsus Medical Private University Salzburg)

12:30 – 14:00 LUNCH BREAK

TABLE TALK-Textiles & Flexible Electronics: From Materials Science to Healthcare Applications Martin Sorm · University of West Bohemia, Pilsen

Session 2: CBRN preparedness: between routine operations and states of emergency

14:00 Impuls

Andra Vieriu (Department for Emergency Situations, Bucharest)

Panel discussion

Christian Resch (Disaster Competence Network Austria, Graz, Federal Ministry of the Defence, Vienna)
Caroline Schober (RCPE, Graz)
Julia Kircher, Kurt Zatloukal (Medical University of Graz)
Annemarie Weißenbacher (Rector Paracelsus Medical Private University, Salzburg)

15 min Coffee break

Session 3: Performance & civil population

in cooperation with Critical Operations Forum

15:15 IMPULS

Your team won’t perform in a real crisis? This training closes the gap.

Michael Georg Grasser, (FH JOANNEUM Graz)

Bernhard Kowalski (KAGes Graz)

Bern

What if teamwork training changed behavior when it matters most? A European multigold medalist in prehospital emergency medicine and a long-standing executive in critical infrastructure and winner of a cybersecurity award demonstrate practical, evidence-informed methods to train teams for real transfer – so that they can maintain their performance in critical, high-risk moments. The methods are unconventional, and not what you would expect.

16:00 Impuls:

Training, Simulation, Resilience – How to learn from pros and scale it up to population

Christian Resch (Disaster Competence Network Austria, Graz, Federal Ministry of the Defence, Vienna)

Panel discussion

Lukas Swittalek (Austrian Armed Forces, Vienna)
Josef Farda (Civil Protection Associations Austria, Vienna)
Maximilian Hanke (Federal Ministry of the Interior, Vienna)
Bernhard Kowlaski (KAGes, Graz)
Frank van Trimpont (President ECDM, Brüssel)