On 17 August 2026, UNU will host “AI for an Ageing World: Reimagining Healthcare and Healthy Longevity”, a conversation with Dr. Bruce Xuefeng Ling, Program Director and Principal Investigator of the Stanford Translational Medicine Laboratory. This event will start at 18:00 in the 2F Reception Hall at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo.
Population ageing is increasing chronic disease burdens and placing growing pressure on healthcare, long-term care and insurance systems. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers new possibilities for responding to these challenges, rapidly changing how health is measured, understood, predicted and managed.
Longitudinal health records, wearable sensors, multimodal AI and digital twins could help detect critical health transitions before they become costly clinical crises, shifting healthcare from a reactive model to a proactive one focused on earlier detection and personalized prevention. This shift will further question how health insurers could become partners in achieving healthy longevity through prevention, care navigation and sustained member support.
At the same time, these opportunities raise important questions about how AI can be used responsibly, safely and equitably in healthcare.
Dr. Bruce Xuefeng Ling will join UNU Rector Tshilidzi Marwala to discuss the choices that will determine whether AI’s potential can be realized responsibly, including interoperable data infrastructure, locally validated models, privacy and transparency, human oversight, equitable access and public–private collaboration. The conversation will consider not simply what AI can predict, but how governments, healthcare systems, insurers, researchers and communities can turn prediction into timely and trustworthy action — helping people live healthier for longer, while making health systems more sustainable.
This event is part of the UNU Conversation Series, which aims to foster audience participation. You are encouraged to engage with the speakers during the conversation and at the reception that will follow, where all event attendees are invited to enjoy hors d’oeuvres and drinks while exchanging ideas and making new contacts.
Please note that this event will be conducted in English. Advance registration (by 14 August at 15:00) is required. Please click on the REGISTER button above to access the online registration page. Please be prepared to present identification at check-in.
Please note that food and photography are prohibited during events at UNU Headquarters, unless prior permission is granted by UNU.
About the Speaker
Dr. Bruce Xuefeng Ling is Program Director and Principal Investigator of the Stanford Translational Medicine Laboratory. His research integrates artificial intelligence, longitudinal electronic health records, wearable biosensors, medical imaging and multi-omics to develop approaches for early disease detection, dynamic risk stratification, digital twin modelling and precision intervention. His work spans maternal and child health, cardiovascular and metabolic disease, inflammatory disorders and cancer. Dr. Ling has also founded and co-founded translational ventures in precision diagnostics and population health AI, including OncoOmicsDx and HBI Solutions. He earned his Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from UCLA and completed his postdoctoral training at Stanford University.
