IAP at TriesteNext 2025: Exploring Artificial Intelligence for Health and Society

From 26–28 September, the city of Trieste transforms into an open-air laboratory for TriesteNext, Italy’s annual science festival. Under this year’s theme, “Life Within: Conversations Across Science and Technology,” researchers, students, and the public will meet to discuss how science shapes our lives—from the microscopic to the global.

The InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) is proud to feature Dr. Ahmed Hassoon, a U.S.-based scientist originally from Iraq and Assistant Research Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in two events on Friday 26 September:

1. Morning Youth Session – 'AI and Human Values'

Time: 09:00 • Venue: IAP Booth, Trieste

Designed for school-age audiences, this interactive talk will introduce young minds to the safe use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in medicine and public health.
Dr. Hassoon—whose background spans medicine, public health, and music—will share how AI can learn to reason and align with human values, and why responsible evaluation is essential.

2. Evening Roundtable – 'Science and Technology: Changing Paradigms, Shaping Global Impact'

Time: 18:00–19:15 • Venue: Urban Center, Trieste 

In a public panel moderated by science journalist Cristina Serra, Dr. Hassoon will join international experts from Ethiopia and Bangladesh to explore how cutting-edge technologies are reshaping societies worldwide.

“AI's potential is immense, but we're just scratching the surface. This power demands responsible evaluation. The way forward is to let AI learn beyond human text, within complex experiences of realities, building a new foundation for true intelligent systems.”— Ahmed Hassoon, MD, MPH

Join IAP and Dr. Hassoon in Trieste to see how science and society can grow together in the age of AI.

For the full TriesteNext programme, visit triestenext.it