Today my partners and I are launching the program driving our third annual DOC summit, to be held in Sonoma, CA later this fall. When my close friend Dr. Jordan Shlain brought me his idea for a new kind of gathering back in 2023, I had no clue how much I would learn. It wasn’t just about medicine and healthcare science, but also about creating a community. It’s been a great journey so far, and in year three, it will really take off.
One reason is that while I’ve been the acting CEO for DOC’s early years, we now have a full-time, seasoned pro taking over: Dr. Neil Parikh, who joined us last month. Not only is Neil an entrepreneur, a physician, and an MBA, he’s also got the even temperament and quiet intelligence that commands a room through earned respect. With Neil at the helm, Jordan and I can focus on what we most love to do: bring a community together through the expression of a fantastic program.
The magic of DOC isn’t in its headliners or its location, though both are fabulous. It’s in the care we take in assembling the people who gather each year. Among the 300 members of our community are scores of physicians, scientists, investors, and business leaders who all share a passion for identifying, scaling, and supporting the highest-quality science behind the medical breakthroughs that have the potential to effect meaningful change, right now. They all are accustomed to keynoting conferences and events around the world. That’s why we consider each DOC program a conversation, not a dictation – and why every participant may interrogate the proceedings at any time with questions or insights that add to that conversation.
We have something of a “dinner party rule” at DOC – we only invite people we’d want to sit next to at a table filled with fascinating folks. We find these unique individuals via word-of-mouth – through our advisors, colleagues, past participants, and friends. It may not be the most efficient way to build an “events business,” but it’s certainly the best way to build a lasting community.
This year we’ll be focusing on a host of topics and issues at the forefront of our community’s minds: The impact of AI on medicine. The state of our healthcare system. Breakthroughs in neuroscience that push the boundaries between our minds and the emerging intelligence of artificial intelligence. Advances in women’s health. Joining us to push our thinking will be leaders from government, science, business, and finance, including:
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- Alicia Jackson, Ph.D., Director of ARPA-H. Dr. Jackson is responsible for determining where her agency will place billions of dollars in long term bets on the future state of medical science.
- Eddie Chang M.D., Chair of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, whose pioneering work on brain-computer interfaces is redefining the field.
- Laura Esserman M.D., MBA, Principal Investigator of the WISDOM Study and Director of the UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center, who will report on the initial findings from her ground breaking research on breast cancer detection and risk reduction.
- Travis Zack M.D., Ph.D, Chief Medical Officer, OpenEvidence. Zack is the medical mind responsible for the astonishing rise of OpenEvidence, one of the fastest growing and most respected AI companies in the world.
- Helen Messier M.D. Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer of Bioscope.AI. Dr. Messier is a physician-scientist and leader in precision and longevity medicine, working at the intersection of molecular biology, clinical care, and new models of care delivery.
- Larry Brilliant, M.D., a renown epidemiologist, technologist, philanthropist, and author, now CEO of Evity.AI, a startup integrating artificial intelligence with epidemiology and precision medicine.
- Nicole Gaudelli Ph.D., a life science entrepreneur in residence at Google Venture best known for her work in creating the Adenine Base Editor, a significant advance on the CRISPR gene-editing framework.
- George Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., Co-founder, Board co-Chair, President and Chief Scientific Officer, Regeneron. Dr. Yancopoulos is widely recognized as one of the most successful entrepreneurs, scientists and drug discoverers in biotech history.
- Divesh Makan, General Partner, Iconiq Capital. Makan is credited with being one of the tech elite’s most trusted investors, and is one of the most savvy and influential investors in the artificial intelligence industry.
And that’s not even half of the leaders that will join us for the extended conversation this year at DOC. We’re extremely proud of the community we’re building, and if you’re interested in joining us, please let us know! I hope to see at least some of you in Sonoma this Fall.
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