Karine Sargsyan 

The Future of Medicine and Humanity: The Convergence of Biology, Technology, and Society

Join #KAPTalks in Białystok with Karine Sargsyan of the Medical University of Graz and Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center on 24th April on global health challenges. The lecture is hosted by the Bialystok University of Technology. Register here to participate

Thursday 24.04.2025

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Soon, medicine will no longer be practiced within the walls of the hospital or the clinic—it will be in our biology, gadgets, and lifestyle. The discussion about the possible futures of medicine and healthcare, artificial intelligence, climate, and human augmentation makes us reconsider the meaning of humanity in a vastly different world. We are on the cusp of an era in which, for example:

  • Micro- and nanoplastics exist in human blood and organs, altering cellular function beyond what we comprehend.
  • Brain-computer interfaces will enhance human abilities, specifically cognition, memory, and perception. Call for new ethical norms and actions for identity and autonomy.
  • Artificial intelligence and machine learning will surely enhance human capabilities but also humans (bio-technologically), specifically in medicine and diagnostics – restructuring healthcare workers’ tasks and reshaping patient care.
  • Genome editing and bioengineering can cure disease or allow human enhancement beyond today’s norms. 

The future of medicine are not hospitals – it is data, predictive diagnostics and decentralization. Are we brave enough to revolutionize systems built for the 20th century in 21st or will we clip to the past? Will we build a better future, even if it is scary? 

Informed by the expert insight and cross-sectoral foresight laid out in her last book “Future Intelligence: The World in 2050”, Dr. Sargsyan presents a semi-empirical but visionary roadmap to the intersection of medicine with planetary health, digital sovereignty, and tomorrow’s socio-political landscape.

Are we curing disease or re-writing biology? Will future health systems heal or monitor? How can we ensure that we don’t abandon what it is to be genuinely human in racing toward the future? This is a scientific inquiry and a philosophical imperative—a call to create the future of health care not just for efficiency but also for global equity, ethics, and empathy.

Hosted by the Bialystok University of Technology.

The Kapuscinski Lectures is an initiative funded by the European Commission.

When: 24th April 2025 at 16:00 CET / 14:00 GMT. Check time of the event in different time zones.

Where: Białystok University of Technology and ONLINE.

Organized in partnership with:

Białystok University of Technology Białystok University of Technology

Prof. Dr. Karine Sargsyan, doctor, scientist, bestselling author, futurist. Her positions include Scientific Director, OncoBiobank Shared Resource, Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center; Managing Director International Biobanking at Medical University of Graz; Head of Department of Digital Medicine and Artificial Intelligence, Yerevan State Medical University.

Dr. Karine Sargsyan is a pioneer of high-end biobanking and data banking as well as research infrastructures in biomedicine. She established Biobank Graz (2007 -2019 as founding managing director) as a global model for sustainability and innovation, powering groundbreaking biomedical research and precision medicine advancements. She was also President of the ESBB – European, Middle Eastern & African Society for Biopreservation and Biobanking (2022-2023). She bridges the latest advances in biomedical innovation with worldwide strategies to address the challenges of a rapidly changing world.

Prof. Dr. Karine Sargsyan is a foresight visionaire, a digital health pioneer, and a global science diplomacy and innovation thought leader. Through over 150 keynote lectures worldwide—highlighted by TEDx and the UN-GA—she energizes people with ideas defining the future in health, tech, and humans.

As Editor-in-Chief of “Future Intelligence: The World in 2050” and leading science diplomacy, digital transformation, and AI in medicine scientist, she creates systems and inspires generations of compassionate innovators. Her influence extends off-platform as championing diversity and co-imagining a future where empathy powers progress.

From unlocking the doors to explainable artificial intelligence and laser physics in healthcare to mapping the path to a healthier world, she inspires, calls to action, and encourages the world to think larger—and create more.

Born with health difficulties and suffering from deep dyslexia, she transcended early challenges to master multiple languages and achieve double academic degrees. Her own life story, a tribute to resilience - after brain surgery and memory loss- compels her message with urgency: the future is not something we wait for—it's something we create.

Her motto is "I am not thinking out of the box because the box does not exist!"

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