AT-AI4H-NW 2026

Agentic and Trustworthy AI for Health and the Global AI-Ready Nursing Workforce

A 2.5-day in-person symposium uniting researchers, clinicians, regulators, and nurse leaders working on trustworthy agentic AI for health, and on the competencies, education, and governance that prepare the nursing and clinical workforce to adopt it.

November 5-7, 2026 Westin Arlington Gateway Arlington, Virginia, USA

Call for Participation View Program

Why this symposium

Clinical AI is becoming agentic. The workforce that uses it must be ready too.

This symposium addresses two inseparable halves of one problem in clinical AI: how trustworthy agentic systems for clinical use are built, certified, and managed safely across their lifecycle, and how the nursing and clinical workforce that must adopt these systems is prepared through competency development, education, and governance.

A certified agent that no clinician trusts or knows how to supervise will not be adopted, and a workforce trained for AI it cannot evaluate will adopt systems uncritically. This symposium puts the people who build agentic clinical AI in the same room as the clinicians and nurse leaders who must integrate it, with human accountability maintained explicitly across design, deployment, and use.

Themes

Four tracks, one deployment problem

The program is organized around technical methods, deployment realities, the foundations of trust needed for clinical use, and the nursing and clinical workforce that must adopt these systems safely.

Track A

Agentic and generative medical systems

Multi-step LLM agents in EHR workflows, medical tool use and planning, reasoning models, evaluation harnesses, multimodal foundation models, synthetic patients, and clinician-feedback loops.

Track B

Deployment, regulation, and lifecycle management

FDA and EU AI Act readiness, certification for adaptive systems, edge deployment, privacy-preserving inference, federated learning, drift monitoring, AI scribes, and post-deployment improvement.

Track C

Foundations of trust

Uncertainty interfaces, adversarial robustness, prompt-injection defenses, causal AI, human-AI teaming, automation bias, explainability under distribution shift, and safety-centered evaluation.

Track D

Nursing competency, clinical integration, and the AI-ready workforce

Crosswalks between nursing competencies and the agentic AI lifecycle, anchored in ABNAI's national nursing AI competency framework; nursing education reform and faculty preparedness; AI literacy and change management; governance and human oversight at the point of care; implementation science; and equitable deployment across care settings.

Program

Tentative program, updated October 20, 2026. Times are Eastern Time and may change. Paper talks are 20 minutes plus 5 minutes of Q&A; invited talks are 25 minutes plus 5 minutes of Q&A.

3invited talks

21contributed talks

9sessions

1panel

Thursday, November 5

9:00–9:10Welcome and opening (Hong Qin, Old Dominion University)
Session 1: Trustworthy LLMs in Clinical Use
9:10–9:40
Invited talkTitle to be announcedFuhai Li, Washington University in St. Louis
9:40–10:05
Do LLM Agents Follow Therapeutic Boundaries? Evaluating Cross-System Drug Substitution HallucinationAftar Ahmad Sami, Shakib Absar, Shadman Sakib, Iftekhar Ahmed, Zahid Hassan Tushar(presented by Shadman Sakib)
10:05–10:30
When Calibration Depends on the Scoring Rule: Quantized Biomedical LLM ClassificationAnton Rasmussen, Hong Qin(presented by Anton Rasmussen)
10:30–11:00Coffee break
Session 2: Clinical Language Models and Health Data
11:00–11:25
Understanding Clinical Urgency Representations for Safer Medical Language ModelsMehar Prateek Kalra, Uday Devulapalli, Apurva Narayan(presented by Apurva Narayan)
11:25–11:50
Reaching for Mental Wellbeing via Reachy MiniAarat Satsangi, Sara Lahourpour, Sumira Allamraju, Apurva Narayan(presented by Apurva Narayan)
11:50–12:15
Synthetic EHR Time-Series Generation Using Diffusion ModelsYagni Patel(presented by Apurva Narayan)
12:15–12:30Session discussion
12:30–2:00Lunch
Session 3: Multimodal and Foundation Models for Biomedicine
2:00–2:30
Invited talkText Over Image: Investigating Sycophancy and Visual Underuse in AI Dermatology DiagnosisGangqing (Michael) Hu, West Virginia University School of Medicine
2:30–2:55
Evaluating Cross-Cohort Transfer and Model Explanations in a Fine-Tuned Single-Cell Foundation Model for Alzheimer's DiseaseAshish Acharya, Shunian Xiang, Nihir Patel, Yaping Feng, Hong Qin(presented by Ashish Acharya)
2:55–3:20
Comparative Mutational Analysis of AI-Predicted CIRBP Structures Reveals Conserved and Species-Specific Stability Landscapes in Humans and Long-Lived WhalesChristina Teng, Malcolm Anthony(presented by Malcolm Anthony)
3:20–3:35Coffee break
Session 4: AI for Biomedical Data
3:35–4:00
Structural Analysis of Missense Mutations on the Stability of the DISC1 Scaffold Protein: Insights into AI-Based Pathogenicity PredictionMalcolm Anthony, Sade Olajide, Shaolei Teng(presented by Shaolei Teng)
4:00–4:25
How Much Representational Work Does a Neural Network Require for a Clinical Prediction?Muhammad Umair Danish, Umair Rehman, Apurva Narayan(presenter to be confirmed)
4:25–4:30Day 1 wrap-up
5:30–6:30FSS poster session (pre-function area, near the conference break area)

Friday, November 6

Session 5: Preparing an AI-Ready Nursing Workforce I
9:00–9:25
The AI Discernment Framework for Teaching and Learning: Preparing Educators for an AI-Ready Health WorkforceDelaney La Rosa(presented by Delaney W. La Rosa)
9:25–9:50
Artificial Intelligence Competencies in Nursing: A Narrative Review of Current Evidence, Frameworks, and GapsJennifer Rossetti, Sally Carlisle, Vanessa Riley, Simmy King, Delaney La Rosa(presented by Delaney W. La Rosa)
9:50–10:15
Graduate Nursing Students’ Research Proficiency After Introduction of an AI Research Assistant: Implications for an AI-Ready Nursing WorkforceBeth McManus, Jennifer Rossetti, Delaney La Rosa(presented by Delaney W. La Rosa)
10:15–10:30Session discussion
10:30–11:00Coffee break
Session 6: AI-Ready Nursing Workforce II and Secure Clinical RAG
11:00–11:25
Self-Assessed Artificial Intelligence Competency Among Nurses: An International Cross-Sectional SurveySimmy King, Delaney La Rosa, Vanessa Riley(presented by Vanessa Riley)
11:25–11:50
Building an AI-Ready Global Nursing Workforce: An Interdisciplinary Consensus FrameworkVanessa Riley, Cory Sessum, Jennifer Ngure, Anthony Conti, Robylin Tweetie Diya, Caroline Bilen, Marife Aczon-Armstrong, Lorrie Davis-Dick, Amy Holton, Faila Santos, Sharonda Davis, Claude Bernard, Rasha Porter, Celia McIntosh, Jordan Howard, Ramkumar Selvaraj, Adrianna Sperkacz, Althea Miller, Jess Schnyders, Sharon Johnson, Bianca Cruickshank, Sara Rogers, Michelle Gilliland, Meredith Padilla, Faith Selchick, Delaney La Rosa, Agezegn Asegi, Kristi Hartman, Katherine Pearson, Lazarus Siafa, Simmy King(presented by Vanessa Riley)
11:50–12:15
Denominator Dilution: A Composability Failure of Ratio-Based Verifiers Under Indirect Prompt Injection in Clinical RAG SystemsMohamad Najafi, Jian Wu, Yaohang Li, Mohammad Ghasemigol(presented by Mohamad Najafi)
12:15–12:30Session discussion
12:30–2:00Lunch
Session 7: Human Oversight and Translational Clinical AI
2:00–2:30
Invited talkTitle to be announcedShunian Xiang, Admera Health
2:30–2:55
The Variance Problem in Human Oversight of Clinical AI: Measuring Four Safeguards Across Nine Reviewers on a Nurse-Facing Deterioration TestbedZhangfei Yang, Yuheng Zhao, Zhentao Fan(presented by Zhentao Fan)
2:55–3:15Session discussion
3:15–3:30Coffee break
Session 8: Trustworthy Medical Imaging
3:30–3:55
A Trustworthy and Clinically Interpretable Framework for Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Grading: Mitigating Automation Bias via Robust Optimization and Faithful XAIHossam Balaha, Nourhan Saad, Ali Mahmoud, Dibson Gondim, Mohammed Ghazal, Ayman El-Baz(presenter to be confirmed)
3:55–4:20
Can Rigid Registration Support Fixed-Coordinate Pixel-Anomaly Screening in Breast Ultrasound?Dikshya Karki, Meng Xu, Kuan Huang, Yingfeng Wang(presented by Dikshya Karki)
4:20–4:30Day 2 wrap-up
5:30–6:30FSS plenary session

Saturday, November 7 (half day)

Session 9: Agentic and Reviewable Clinical AI
9:00–9:25
From Reviewable to Reviewed: A Dialectical Standard of Care for Nurse- and Physician-Facing Clinical AIAizierjiang Aiersilan(presented by Aizierjiang Aiersilan)
9:25–9:50
Neuro-Oracle: A Trajectory-Aware Agentic RAG Framework for Interpretable Epilepsy Surgical PrognosisAizierjiang Aiersilan, Mohamad Koubeissi(presented by Aizierjiang Aiersilan)
9:50–10:15
The Case for Open-Weight, Locally Governed Healthcare AI AgentsAtiq Bhatti, Jonathan S. Takeshita, David C. Lieb, Hong Qin(presented by Hong Qin)
10:15–10:30Session discussion
10:30–11:00Coffee break
11:00–11:45Panel and open discussion: Agentic, trustworthy AI for health and the AI-ready nursing workforce
11:45–12:00Closing remarks

Potential invited speakers

Tentative speaker slate

Invited speakers are being developed across clinical leadership, regulatory practice, and technical methods.

Technical keynote (TBD)

To be confirmed.

Atiq Bhatti, MD

Innovation Fellow, Earl E. Bakken Medical Devices Center, University of Minnesota

Nursing and clinical-workforce keynote (TBD)

To be confirmed from Global Nursing AI Alliance and American Board of Nursing Artificial Intelligence leadership and international nursing-AI advisory boards.

Participate

Call for Participation and Papers

Submission requirements

We invite the following contributions, formatted using the AAAI-26 author kit:

AAAI FSS26 Author Kit Download the author kit (ZIP)

Full Papers (6-8 pages): Novel research, artifact submissions, or mature works in progress.
Short Papers (2-4 pages): Position papers, preliminary findings, smaller artifacts, and early-stage work.
Abstracts (1 page): For sharing ideas (non-archival only).

Participation is also open by statement of interest, with limited open registration. Presenters are expected to attend in person under AAAI policy.

Themes include, but are not limited to:

Agentic medical AI
Explainable AI
Clinical AI-assisted design
Policy for trustworthy healthcare AI
Nursing assistant AI
Elderly assistance AI
Curriculum design for healthcare workforce training

The combined pool draws on more than 65 interested technical, clinical, and regulatory participants and organizers, and on a global nursing and clinical informatics ecosystem of more than 6,000 members through partner networks Global Nursing AI Alliance and the American Board of Nursing Artificial Intelligence.

"Preferred" submission round, with the option to be included in the AAAI proceedings

Submission portal: EasyChair (FSS26)
Submission deadline: September 1, 2026
Author notification: September 15, 2026
Camera-ready deadline: September 29, 2026

Contact the organizers

Organizing committee

The organizing committee, across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom

AI research, clinical medicine, nursing leadership, health informatics, data science, regulation, and cybersecurity, including leadership from the American Board of Nursing Artificial Intelligence (ABNAI).

Hong Qin

Old Dominion University, USA

Co-chair

Apurva Narayan

Western University, Canada

Co-chair

Catherine Fang

Carnegie Mellon University, USA

Co-chair

Vanessa Riley

Global Nursing AI Alliance; PhD student, University of Rochester School of Nursing, USA

Co-chair

Simmy King

President, American Board of Nursing Artificial Intelligence (ABNAI)

Co-chair

Letu Qingge

North Carolina A&T State University, USA

Committee member

Ritambhara Singh

Brown University, USA

Committee member

Laleh Seyyed-Kalantari

York University, Canada

Committee member

Fuhai Li

Washington University in St. Louis, USA

Committee member

Jennifer Ngure

Director of Health Informatics, Global Nursing AI Alliance; President, Africa Chapter

Committee member

Delaney (Wright) La Rosa

Teaching Professor, Florida State University College of Nursing; Director at Large, ABNAI, USA

Committee member

Jess Schnyders

Data Scientist, Global Nursing AI Alliance, USA

Committee member

Sharonda Davis

Nursing Informaticist, Global Nursing AI Alliance, USA

Committee member

Lazarus Siafa

Cybersecurity, Global Nursing AI Alliance, USA

Committee member

Venue

Westin Arlington Gateway

This symposium will meet in person during the AAAI 2026 Fall Symposium Series in Arlington, Virginia, from November 5-7, 2026.

Location: Arlington, Virginia, USA
Dates: November 5-7, 2026
Format: In-person, 2.5 days