D4 Summit · Edition 2026

D4 2026

Data Driven Digital Diagnostics

11 Sep–12 Sep 2026 · Salzburg, Austria

Full programme ↓ Talks & photos (attendees) →

Past edition

When: 11 Sep–12 Sep 2026
Where: Salzburg, Austria

About the summit

A biannual summit. International, interdisciplinary — bringing all medical diagnostic disciplines together (laboratory specialists, radiologists, pathologists), alongside clinicians, law makers, and data scientists. Speakers from around the world. A networking hub for collaboration across the boundaries that usually separate our fields.

Highlights

Two days of curated talks and panels
Cross-disciplinary by design
Hosted at Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg

Programme

The full D4 2026 programme.

Day 1 · 11 September 2026

Data, Rules & Possibilities

Day 1 sets the stage for data-driven diagnostics: how we make diagnostic data reliable, comparable, and ready for AI — while staying within legal and cybersecurity boundaries. Practical insights on standards, data prerequisites, anonymization, and what it takes to move from promising ideas to safe, real-world impact.

08:30–09:30

Arrival and Plug-In
09:30–09:40

Welcome Address: Putting Data to Work for Better Diagnostics

Janne Cadamuro Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Head of the Dept. of Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
Data Bootcamp: Codes, Quality & Privacy
09:40–10:00

From Codes to Care: Digital Metrology and the Future of Laboratory Data

Madeleen de Geus-Bosma Member of the IFCC Committee on Nomenclature, Properties and Units (C-NPU); Department of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

↓ Slides (PDF)
10:00–10:20

From Messy to Model-Ready: Turning Diagnostic Data into ML Fuel

Andrea Padoan Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Chair of the EFLM Committee on Artificial Intelligence; University of Padua, Department of Medicine DIMED, Padova, Italy
10:20–10:50

Explainable AI – Because ‘The Model Says So’ isn’t good enough

Alexander Tolios Department of Transfusion Medicine and Cell Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

↓ Slides (PDF)
10:50–11:00

Panel
Panel: From Data Dreams to Data Plumbing

All speakers
11:00–12:00

Networking: Coffee & Posterwalk
Innovation Meets Reality
12:00–12:30

Keynote
The Expert-led Madrid Action Plan for Implementing AI in Healthcare

Eric Sutherland Senior Health Economist leading the OECD’s work in Digital Health; former Executive Director of the Secretariat for a pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy, Paris, France

↓ Slides (PDF)
12:30–12:50

Cloudy with a Chance of Lawyers: AI, GDPR & Security

Pascal Bronner Attorney at law, Zirngibl; specialised in IT and data protection law and artificial intelligence, Munich, Germany

↓ Slides (PDF)
12:50–13:10

Routine Blood Counts as Crystal Balls: Clinical Insights from Canada’s First Approved AI Lab Algorithm

Nicolas Tétreault Clinical Biochemist, Directeur Scientifique et Innovation, Biron Health Group, Canada

↓ Slides (PDF)
13:10–13:30

Panel
Panel: Innovation vs Constraints — Who Wins?

All speakers
13:30–15:30

Networking: Lunch & Industry
14:00–15:00

Workshop
Lunch Workshop (Abbott): The Adoption of AI in Healthcare

Umar Ansari Head of AI Clinical Solutions, Abbott Global
Sharing Signals, Shipping Solutions
15:30–16:00

Keynote
What Does It Mean to Know? Diagnostics, Doubt, and Data in the Digital Age

Joe Lennerz Medical Director for Pathology Innovation, Natera; former Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School, and Associate Chief of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital; Chair of the EFLM Committee on Integrated Diagnostics, Massachusetts, USA
16:00–16:20

Heme Meets AI: From Paper to Pipeline

Gregor Hörmann Laboratory physician, Head of Diagnostics Phenotype Division, MLL Münchner Leukämielabor GmbH, Munich, Germany

↓ Slides (PDF)
16:20–16:40

One Patient, Many Signals: Making Data Work Together

Catharina Gerhards Dept. of Laboratory Medicine, Mannheim, Germany

Alexander Hertel Dept. of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Mannheim, Germany
16:40–17:00

Panel
Panel: Patient-Centered Diagnostics — From Routine AI to Integrated Data

All speakers
19:30–23:00

Social event
Social event: Data & Drinks Networking

Day 2 · 12 September 2026

Deploy, Adopt, Improve

Day 2 is about implementation and adoption: AI and CDSS in routine workflows, human–AI interaction, and how hospitals and regions are actually transforming diagnostics today. With real case studies, industry spotlights, and plenty of networking, the focus is on what scales — putting the patient first across disciplines.

Data at Scale: Infrastructure Meets Reality
09:30–09:50

Radiomics and AI: Leveraging Imaging Data for Public Health

Evis Sala Professor of Radiology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Radiation Oncology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy; former Minister of Health and Social Welfare of Albania
09:50–10:10

Nordic Lessons: Using Health Data at Scale

Arho Virkki Chief Analytics Officer, Varha – The Wellbeing Services County of Southwest Finland, Turku, Finland

↓ Slides (PDF)
10:10–10:30

The 3 Pillars of Change in Diagnostics

Janne Cadamuro Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Head of the Dept. of Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

↓ Slides (PDF)
10:30–10:50

Panel
Panel: Infrastructure Meets Reality

All speakers
10:50–12:00

Networking: Coffee & Posterwalk
Transformation Tales (with receipts)
12:00–12:30

Keynote
Leading Innovation in the Age of AI

Axel Unger CEO, Kaiser X Labs (Allianz Group); former Head of Health Practice and Partner at IDEO; founder of HiAxel GmbH, co-founder of NextVenture.ai, Munich, Germany
12:30–12:50

Digitizing a Hospital City: Nürnberg’s Journey

Herbert Quinz Head of Digital Process and Technology Management, University Hospital Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany

↓ Slides (PDF)
12:50–13:10

From Chat to Colleague: Building your Second Brain for AI

Tarkan Jäger Supplemental Head of the Dept. for Surgery, University Hospital Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

↓ Slides (PDF)
13:10–13:30

Panel
Panel: Lessons Learned, Mistakes Shared

All speakers
13:30–15:20

Networking: Lunch & Industry
14:05–15:05

Workshop
Lunch Workshop (Becton Dickinson & S4DX): What If Every Sample Could Talk? Turning Actionable Data into Better Outcomes

Brendan Meyer Medical Affairs Director EMEA SM, Becton Dickinson

Ruxandra Oprea Chief Operations Officer, S4DX

Experience how every sample generates actionable data. In this hands-on BD & S4DX workshop, participants follow real sample journeys, identify quality risks, and make operational decisions based on live tracking, temperature monitoring, and workflow insights — demonstrating the real-world impact of data on laboratory performance and patient care.
Decision Support in Practice: CDSS & Imaging
15:20–15:40

AMPEL (Traffic Light) in Action: Real-World CDSS at Scale

Toralf Kirsten Computer Scientist, Technical Lead AMPEL Project, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
15:40–16:00

AI-assisted CDSS in the Clinic: Freiburg’s Playbook

Christian Haverkamp Head of Unit, Institute for Digitalization in Medicine, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

↓ Slides (PDF)
16:00–16:20

Smarter Images: AI in Radiology Practice

David Baumgartner CEO, Diagnostic Imaging Center Doringer, Salzburg, Austria; CEO, MiraNext GmbH
16:20–16:40

Panel
Panel: Reducing Overuse, Increasing Value

All speakers
16:40–17:00

Abstracts
Oral presentations of selected abstracts

#1 When the LIS runs the algorithm: an implementation study of a machine-learning model for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (RADI-HIT) — H. Nilius, M. Stickel, G. Speierer, J. Miazza, J.A. Kremer Hovinga, M. Reusser, J. Waskowski, T. Hochgruber, M. Siepe, J.C. Schefold, M. Nagler
#2 A next-generation integrated laboratory information system: experience from the first Epic-Beaker implementation in Switzerland — H. Nilius, M. Stickel, K. Volken, A. Tolkmitt, M. Nagler
#3 Implementation of LLM-supported therapeutic drug monitoring reporting in a laboratory information system — J. Adler, J. Kirchhoff, F. Berns
17:00–17:10

Closing: Next Steps & New Friends

Janne Cadamuro Head of the Dept. of Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria