Each year, partners in the United States and China hold a conference on healthcare innovation that highlights the many opportunities for collaborative work between the two countries. In December 2024, the Pacific Rim Conference on Healthcare Innovation (PRC-HI) was held in Guangzhou, China, with speakers from leading academic and medical institutions around the world addressing the conference theme of The Future of Medicine: Integrating Robotics, AI, and Healthcare. To explore this topic in more detail, special sessions addressed technological advances in robotic surgery, digital health and robotics in medical care and public health, and the role of AI in health innovation.

Although China and the United States address health challenges within very different systems, conference participants from both countries share an interest in advancing innovation and reform that can address global threats from emerging infectious diseases, environmental and climate changes, and the burden of chronic disease. As leaders from both countries noted, the collaboration and collective action across health and academic institutions can demonstrate that even when trade and foreign policy tensions are heightened, relationships among healthcare researchers and practitioners can stay strong and vibrant, delivering innovation that benefits society in both settings for years to come.

The 2025 PRC-HI conference will be held in Guangzhou, China on September 27 and 28. Stay tuned for more information on the conference theme and registration information.

For more information, please contact Jolie Lam, Surgical Robotics ​and ​Health Data Science & AI ​for Medicine Program Director​ at CITRIS​ and the Banatao Institute​ at UC Berkeley (jolie.lam@citris-uc.org).