Speakers - PlatforMed 2026

Farhana Alarakhiya is a veteran in the world of Big Data analytics and AI and has spent the last decade building SaaS solutions that enable transformative outcomes by unlocking the power of data. She considers herself to be a DRIP destroyer, eradicating the problem for many of being “Data Rich but Insight Poor”.

As the Chief Data Innovation Officer at AKU, Farhana is focused on coupling data with smart driven people to deliver social, economic, and environmental impact that can change the world.

Farhana holds an Electrical Engineering and Management degree and serves as a director on several not for profits committed to improving gender equality in STEM; she is also an advisor to AI focused incubate firms.

Robert M. Wachter, M.D. is Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Author of 300 articles and 6 books, he coined the term “hospitalist” in 1996 and is often considered the “father” of the hospitalist field, the fastest-growing medical specialty in U.S. history. He is a past president of the Society of Hospital Medicine, past chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine, a Master of the American College of Physicians, and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. In 2004, he received the John M. Eisenberg Award, the nation’s top honor in patient safety. Modern Healthcare magazine has ranked him among the 50 most influential physician-executives in the U.S. more than a dozen times; he was #1 on the list in 2015.

His 2015 book, The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine’s Computer Age, was a New York Times bestseller. His new book, A Giant Leap: How AI is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future, is an Amazon and USA Today national bestseller.

Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Mayo Clinic, leads the world’s No. 1 ranked hospital. Powered by an 83,000-person global workforce, Mayo Clinic cares for 1.3 million people each year with serious and/or complex illnesses from all 50 U.S. states and across 130 countries.

With a distinct focus on advancing patient-centered healthcare transformation for the healthcare sector, Dr. Farrugia is a pioneering voice in moving healthcare from a linear pipeline operating model to a platform-based model. Under his leadership, Mayo Clinic launched and scaled Mayo Clinic Platform, which brings together data partners, solution developers and healthcare providers to transform care through insights derived from the world’s most comprehensive repository of longitudinal de-identified clinical data across four continents. To further enable transformation, Dr. Farrugia and his leadership team are rearchitecting Mayo Clinic’s physical and digital infrastructure to support the future of care. These efforts include Mayo Clinic’s over $7-billion investment to invent a new integrated physical and digital healthcare experience. This transformation includes bringing the first carbon ion therapy program in North America to Mayo Clinic, as well as advanced biomanufacturing capabilities to all Mayo Clinic destination medical center sites, among other advances.

Prior to his appointment as CEO, Dr. Farrugia served as CEO of Mayo Clinic in Florida, led the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine and co-founded the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation. He is a member of the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees and Governors.

Dr. Farrugia has been a Mayo Clinic physician for more than 35 years. He is jointly appointed in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, and the Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering. He is also a professor of medicine and physiology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. He completed his undergraduate training at St. Aloysius College and earned his medical degree from the University of Malta Medical School.

Dr. Farrugia is the co-author of “Think Big, Start Small, Move Fast: A Blueprint for Transformation from the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation,” a book highlighting the need for change in the delivery of healthcare. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s steering committee to create a Health Care Artificial Intelligence Code of Conduct, past president of the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society, and past co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Health and Healthcare Governors. An active translational scientist and NIH-funded researcher, he has published more than 380 academic articles.

Maneesh Goyal is Chief Operating Officer of Mayo Clinic Platform and drives its growth and financial performance. He is responsible for developing and executing strategic plans and overall operational excellence and for assessing and developing processes, systems, and infrastructure.

He identifies opportunities and provides direction on Mayo Clinic Platform’s investments in technology, artificial intelligence, and data analytics. Goyal creates and optimizes key strategic partnerships and builds and acquires businesses that advance the success and impact of Mayo Clinic Platform and oversees their performance.

Goyal manages teams across product and solutions development, technology, sales and marketing, and regulatory functions. He works with the teams to ensure that all initiatives and efforts help achieve Mayo Clinic Platform’s vision.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a master’s in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California, and an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA.

Goyal brings a cross-disciplinary background in finance, investing, product development, and engineering. He was most recently the Vice Chair of Corporate Development at Mayo Clinic. Before joining Mayo Clinic, he held key leadership positions at Welltok and Miramar Venture Partners, a leading early-stage investor focusing on the information technology space. Before entering the venture world, Goyal was an early employee with Broadcom Inc., a Fortune 500 company, leading product development and engineering efforts in more than a dozen communications technology solutions.

John D. Halamka, M.D., M.S., the Dwight and Dian Diercks President, Mayo Clinic Platform, and Michael D. Brennan, M.D., President's Strategic Initiative Professor, brings together solution developers, data partners and healthcare service providers to transform healthcare. Trained in emergency medicine and medical informatics, Dr. Halamka has been developing and implementing healthcare information strategy and policy for more than 25 years.

Prior to his appointment at Mayo Clinic, he was chief information officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he served governments, academia and industry worldwide. As the International Healthcare Innovation Professor at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Halamka helped the George W. Bush administration, the Obama administration and governments around the world plan their healthcare information strategies.

Dr. Halamka completed his undergraduate studies at Stanford University, earned his medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco, and pursued graduate work in bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He completed his residency at Harbor — UCLA Medical Center in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He continues to practice emergency medicine and is Professor of Emergency Medicine and the Michael D. Brennan, M.D., President’s Strategic Initiative Professor at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science.

Dr. Halamka has written 15 books and hundreds of articles. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2020. He and his wife run Unity Farm Sanctuary in Sherborn, Massachusetts, dedicated to the lifetime care of ill, disabled, senior, orphaned and surrendered farm animals.

Farhana Alarakhiya

Robert M. Wachter, M.D.

Gianrico Farrugia, M.D.

Maneesh Goyal

John Halamka, M.D., M.S.