Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the life sciences, including how researchers study biology, develop vaccines and treatments, and detect disease outbreaks. While these advances could improve public health and preparedness, they also raise important questions about safety, security, and the possibility of misuse.
To better understand these issues, the National Academy of Medicine, in collaboration with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and with support from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), will convene a two-day workshop on August 11-12, 2026, on preparing for the future of AI-enabled biology.
The workshop will bring together experts from public health, medicine, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, biosecurity, government, and industry to explore how AI-enabled biological risks may evolve over the next decade.
Participants will consider how AI may meaningfully expand biological capabilities, with particular attention to AI-enabled biological and viral design.听The workshop will听examine how risks may听emerge听across the AI-bio lifecycle, from model development and biological design to synthesis, access, detection, and deployment.听Discussions will explore what become technically possible, what is plausible within real-world contexts, where important uncertainties remain, and听how preparedness systems may need to adapt.
Agenda Highlights (Detailed agenda coming soon)
- Keynote: AI-Bio 2045: What Becomes Possible?
- Grounding AI-Bio Risk in Real-World Actors and Constraints
- Assessing How AI and Emerging Technologies are Changing the Biological Landscape
- Where and How Could Novel Risks Emerge Across the Lifecycle?
- Looking Ahead鈥擶hat Possibilities Could Emerge in the Coming Decade?
- Priorities for Managing AI-Enabled Biological Risks: Prevention, Preparedness, and Future-Proof Governance
Workshop Planning Committee
- Lalitha Sundaram, PhD, University of Cambridge (co-chair)
- Herbert 鈥淪kip鈥 Virgin, MD, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine (co-chair)
- Kate Adamala, PhD,听University of Minnesota
- Christian Happi, PhD,听Redeemer鈥檚 University; Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
- Jasper G枚tting, PhD,听SecureBio
- Sebastian Maurer-Stroh, PhD,听A*STAR Bioinformatics Institute
- Harshini Mukundan, PhD,听Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Suryesh Kumar Namdeo, PhD,听Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
- Amarda Shehu, PhD,听George Mason University
- Yunyun Wang, OpenAI
Insights from the workshop will help inform a broader National Academies focused on strengthening preparedness against novel biological threats enabled by AI and other emerging technologies.
Learn more about Preparing for a Future of AI-Enabled Biology.
The 探花app, National Academy of Engineering, and National Academy of Medicine鈥攃ollectively, the National Academies鈥攁re independent, non-partisan, and tax exempt. The mission of the National Academies is the provision of trusted, evidence-based advice. It is essential to the execution of the mission that participants in our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. Statements and presentations made are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academies.
