The Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (Funglode) and the Santiago Metropolitan Hospital (HOMS) have announced the global forum, “The Health of the Future: Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Medicine,” scheduled for 24 March 2026. The high-level event will convene international experts, academics, and healthcare leaders at the HOMS Health & Wellness Center in Santiago de los Caballeros to analyze the integration of AI and data management in contemporary healthcare.
The summit aims to position the Dominican Republic as a regional hub for medical innovation and health tourism. Proceedings begin on 23 March 2026 with a welcoming reception featuring opening remarks from Dr. Gisselle Castillo, general coordinator of the forum, and Dr. Héctor Sánchez Navarro, deputy director general of HOMS.
Strategic vision and academic program
The core academic agenda on 24 March 2026 opens with a welcome from Dr. Rafael Sánchez Español, founder and chairman of the HOMS Board of Directors. former President of the Dominican Republic and president of Funglode, Leonel Fernández, will deliver a keynote on the strategic vision of healthcare within the context of global technological transformation.
The central address, “The Health of the Future: Santiago as a Health Tourism Destination,” will be presented by Mark Bünger, president of Futurity Systems. A Homs press release says the presentation will highlight the country’s potential to scale its specialized medical services for international patients.
Mark Bunger is currently the co-founder, CTO, and Principal Strategy Synthesist at Futurity Systems, a firm based in San Francisco and Barcelona that acts as an observatory and consultancy for deep tech and future-driven technologies.
A former chairman of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, Bunger researches science-based technologies, aka Deep Tech, ranging from synthetic biology to quantum computing, to help companies develop and deploy them. Over 20 years and across 40 countries, he has worked as a management consultant, technology analyst, lab researcher, and entrepreneur at Lux Research, Forrester Research, Accenture, and several successful startups. His business education at Mälardalen Polytechnic (Sweden) and the University of Texas (Austin) focused on market research, complemented by studies and lab work in neurology and bioengineering at the University of California (Berkeley and UCSF). He is a standing guest lecturer at UC Berkeley and has collaborated widely on studies of innovation with Fraunhofer Institute (Germany), LUMS (Pakistan), Masdar (Abu Dhabi), and the Moscow State University of Mechanical Engineering, among others.
Also on the program are Key discussion tracks and international speakers
The forum will feature specialists from the United States, Spain, Brazil, Chile, and Peru, covering four primary pillars:
• Clinical and Pharmaceutical AI: Analysis by Dr. Julio Mayol (Complutense University of Madrid) and Dr. José Manuel Martínez Sesmero (Spanish Royal National Academy of Pharmacy).
• Neuroscience and Tech Convergence: Insights from University of Chicago specialists Nicho Hatsopoulos and Dr. Samuel Volchenboum.
• Hospital Operations & Cloud Integration: Discussions on AI-driven efficiency featuring former Chilean Health Minister Dr. Jaime Mañalich, alongside experts from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud.
• Diagnostic Interpretation: Paco Cuevas, Health Cloud Architect at Google, will present on using AI for high-complexity diagnostic interpretation.
• Insurance Management: The impact of AI tools on Health Risk Managers (ARS) and overall sanitary system management.
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Homs
18 March 2026