Professional Development

Luis Belén, CEO of NHIT, discusses how his personal history in Puerto Rico and the Bronx, as well as his cancer journey, have shaped his work in increasing care access for underserved communities.

IT executives who aspire to be chief AI officers should be passionate, understand that what they do improves lives, build strong partnerships to solve complex challenges, says Mouneer Odeh, the new chief data and AI officer at Cedars-Sinai.

Dr. Tamara Sunbul, digital health transformation and innovation strategic adviser in Saudi Arabia, advises digital health newcomers to gain both healthcare and technology education and to seek out mentors to help grow their careers.

Tjasa Zajc, special advisor for HIMSS, says HIMSS25 Europe will bring in government staff to talk about implementing the European Health Data Space and health system leaders to share use cases for AI and digital technology.

Dr. Ronald Rodriguez, professor of urology UT Health San Antonio, says that the MD/MS in AI dual degree program is designed to generate chief AI officers, clinical AI implementation specialists, healthcare data scientists and AI consultants.  

Dr. Ronald Rodriguez, urology professor at UT Health San Antonio, says a new dual MD/MS degree in AI assures that students are not just familiar with the concepts of AI but are actually users and developers of AI at its most fundamental level.

Nelita Iuppa, Cleveland Clinic's executive director of informatics and a 2025 HIMSS Changemaker Award recipient, advises aspiring health IT leaders build relationships, document their journeys to learn from the changes they've made and embrace flexibility as new tools emerge.

David Gibbs, associate professor and chair at Texas State University, says attending his first HIMSS conference led him to volunteer with his local chapter and, eventually, to move from consulting into higher education.

Monae Haskins, senior application analyst at Atlantic Health System is the recipient of the Changemaker Award for health equity. She says it impacted her on a personal level because she grew up in a low-income urban community.

Osama El Hassan, 2025 HIMSS Changemaker Award recipient and cofounder and chair of ZIMAM, recommends that aspiring healthcare IT leaders prioritize education and building relationships with leaders who can offer mentorship.