Advances in Learning Health System Sciences Conference
October 5, 2026 | McNamara Alumni Center
Followed by supplemental workshops on October 6, 2026
The Conference
Advances in Learning Health Systems Sciences will return in October 2026! This year’s theme, Learning Together, Improving Together, highlights the unique opportunity this event offers for attendees from diverse fields, careers, and health systems to connect.
The one-day conference will feature participatory discussions, networking opportunities, and keynote talks from nationally recognized leaders in LHS, followed by a half-day of supplemental workshops that explore pressing LHS topics in more detail.
Our 2026 Call for Abstracts is closed! Thank you to everyone who submitted an abstract.
For any questions or to be put on a mailing list for this event, please email [email protected].
Registration
Register for the conference and/or one of our two supplemental workshop sessions. Early bird rates end on July 31, 2026, followed by registration closing on September 11, 2026.
Registration Rates
|
|
Conference: Early Bird Rate |
Conference: Standard Rate |
Human-Centered Design Workshop |
MN EHR Consortium Annual Meeting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
General Attendees |
$70 |
$99 |
$75 |
$0 |
|
Students |
$40 |
$65 |
$75 |
$0 |
Featured Keynotes
Professor of Information and Public Health
Director, Knowledge Systems Laboratory
Professor & Founding Chair (2014-2024), Medical School Department of Learning Health Sciences
University of Michigan
Editor-in-Chief, Learning Health Systems
Bio
Charles Friedman is Professor of Learning Health Sciences at the University of Michigan Medical School, where he directs the Knowledge Systems Laboratory. He was formerly Founding Chair of the Department of Learning Health Sciences and the Josiah Macy Jr. Professor of Medical Education. He holds joint appointments in the Schools of information and Public Health. He is editor-in-chief of the open-access journal Learning Health Systems and co-chair of the multi-national movement to Mobilize Computable Biomedical Knowledge.
Throughout his career, Friedman has developed and studied methods to improve health, education, and research through innovative applications of information technology. Most recently, Friedman has focused his academic interests and activities on the concept of Learning Health Systems that improve health by marrying discovery to implementation, and the socio-technical infrastructure required to sustain these systems.
Friedman is a Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics, and a founding fellow of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Lucerne in Switzerland for his contributions to the science of Learning Health Systems. Prior to coming to Michigan, Friedman held executive positions at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Immediately prior to his work in the government, he was Associate Vice Chancellor for Biomedical Informatics, and Founding Director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh.
Workshops | October 6, 2026
Designing for People: Turning Human-Centered Insights into Action
In this dynamic, hands-on workshop, design experts Dr. Jenna Marquard and Dr. Cory Schaffhausen will guide you through the core principles of Human-Centered Design (HCD). You will then transition from interactive training into collaborative group breakout sessions. You will leave this session with a practical framework you can apply to your own projects and products.
Time:
This 3 hour workshop will take place in the morning. The workshop time will be finalized soon.
MN EHR Consortium Annual Meeting
Join us for a half-day meeting designed to bring together members of the MN EHR Consortium and partners together to advance our shared mission to improve health by informing policy and practice through data-driven collaboration. This interactive morning will focus on strengthening collaborations and exploring innovative uses of our common data model. Participants will engage in focused discussions, planning, and other activities to shape the Consortium's partnerships and direction for the coming year.
Time:
This 3 hour meeting will take place in the morning. The meeting time will be finalized soon.
Lodging
We are not offering conference lodging for this year's event.
If you need lodging, we recommend staying at the Graduate by Hilton Minneapolis. Located on the University of Minnesota East Bank campus, this hotel is a short 5-minute walk from the conference venue.
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
North Star Sponsor
Mayo Clinic Health System Learning Healthcare System (LHS) Program brings together clinicians, researchers, patients, and communities to continuously learn from care delivery, identify quality gaps in care that are misaligned with best available evidence, and rapidly translate evidence into practice. The program aligns science, informatics, culture, and incentives to empower frontline clinicians to identify and help solve gaps between best evidence and healthcare delivery and then embed improvement directly into routine care, with a strong emphasis on health equity and real‑world impact across diverse clinical settings.
Gopher Pinnacle Sponsors
This year's conference is in collaboration with the MN EHR Consortium, a partnership between health systems and public health agencies working to provide comprehensive data to inform the real-time, changing needs of decision makers.
CentraCare is a nonprofit, integrated health system committed to providing high‑quality, compassionate care close to home. Serving communities across central, west central and southwest Minnesota, CentraCare offers a full spectrum of care. With a strong focus on rural healthcare, we are proud to provide expert care locally, while also looking to the future through education, innovation, and workforce development – including the new University of Minnesota Medical School CentraCare Regional Campus St. Cloud.
Gopher Elite Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsor
Past Conferences
2025
Our most recent conference took place September 22, 2025 at the McNamara Alumni Center and was followed by supplemental workshops on September 23, 2025.
2024
Our second AiLHSS conference took place September 9–10, 2024 at Coffman Memorial Union in Minneapolis.
2023
Our first annual AiLHSS conference took place September 18–19, 2023, at the Union Depot in Saint Paul.