Digital Health Futurist and Best-Selling Author Emmanuel Fombu, MD to Keynote SoCalBio's 3rd Digital Health Conference

The Southern California Biomedical Council (SoCalBio) ? the voice and advocate for the bioscience and digital health industries in the Greater Los Angeles region ? today announced that Emmanuel Fombu, MD, MBA, Former Director of Digital Medicine and Innovation at Novartis, will deliver the keynote address at SoCalBio's 3^rd Digital Health Conference (December 13^th in Santa Monica). His remarks will focus on how the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning are revolutionizing the healthcare industry.

Dr. Fombu is a medical futurist, best-selling author and healthcare executive turned Silicon Valley entrepreneur. In addition to authoring "The Future of Healthcare: Humans and Machines Partnering for Better Outcomes," he has published numerous scientific papers in leading peer-reviewed journals. A long-time advocate for value-based healthcare, he was named 2017 winner of the prestigious New York City Health Business Leaders' award for "Boldest Digital Health Influencer."

Dr. Fombu was trained at Emory University Hospital Midtown (formerly Emory-Crawford Long Hospital) and earned an MBA from Cornell University's Johnson School of Business. He is certified in artificial intelligence by MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab and serves as an advisory board member for MIT's Nano Project.

"Dr. Fombu is a leading authority on the convergence of digital and medical technologies, and we are thrilled that he will keynote the 3^rd SoCalBio Digital Health Conference," said conference Co-Chair Ayman Salem, MD, president & CEO of iKioo and a SoCalBio board member. "He is a dynamic speaker who will inspire the digital health entrepreneurs attending our conference."

Dr. Fombu works extensively with venture capitalists and digital health/biotech start-ups. He is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences worldwide, including Pharma Digital Marketing & Design Thinking Summit, World Medical Innovation Forum, and ePharma Accelerate Your Digital Marketing Strategy.

SoCalBio's Digital Health Conference serves as a showcase for innovations that are poised to disrupt the $3.7 trillion US healthcare system. It is also a forum for providers, payers, entrepreneurs and investors to share information on how digitization can help improve care while reducing costs.

This year's 3^rd Annual Conference will focus on leveraging big data to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. In addition to keynote presentations and panel discussions, it will feature local health data and analytics ventures ? from industry-leading companies to early-stage start-ups ? that are pursuing disruptive innovations. It will also engage local healthcare providers in a dialogue over the opportunities and challenges of integrating new technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

"SoCalBio is pleased to recruit a dynamic group of speakers and digital health companies representing the future of value-based healthcare," said SoCalBio President & CEO Ahmed Enany. "We're helping make Los Angeles visible as one of the top five digital health hotspots in the world."

In addition to Dr. Fombu, keynote presenters include:

• Steve Rimar, President & CEO of Analytica Consulting, who will open the conference with a presentation titled "From Visualization to Machine Learning - How Different Healthcare Verticals Utilize Data Analytics."
• Milo Bissin, Director of Life Science & Healthcare at Silicon Valley Bank, with a presentation titled "Who Is Investing in Digital Health and Analytics Development, Where, and Why?"
• Wade Ackerman, Partner at Covington, who will deliver a presentation titled "The Digital Health Industry's Regulatory Challenges."

SoCalBio's 3^rd Digital Health Conference will be held on Friday, December 13^th at the historic Hotel Casa del Mar on the beach in Santa Monica. More information is available at http://socalbiodh.com.

SoCalBio thanks the following sponsors for their support:

• AMI-USC
• Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles
• Perkins Coie
• VWR

About SoCalBio

SoCalBio is a nonprofit, member-supported trade association that promotes bioscience research, development, manufacturing, job creation and overall economic growth in the Greater Los Angeles region. The Council's programs help local firms gain access to capital, potential partners and business support services. SoCalBio also promotes technology transfer and workforce training, while informing policymakers and the public-at-large about the benefits of the region's life-science industry. More information about SoCalBio is available at www.socalbio.org.