Join the NIH Library September 15–17 during the NIH Research Festival for three days of symposia, demonstrations, and workshops, exploring emerging technologies and research tools.
Tuesday, September 15
Bioinformatics and AI Symposium: From Data to Discovery, NIH AI and bioinformatics experts
10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. | NIH Library Training Rooms 1&2
No registration necessary. This event is in-person only; seating first come, first served. A recording will be available after the event.
This symposium explores how artificial intelligence is transforming biomedical research and clinical medicine, from foundation models and multimodal learning to AI agents and co-scientists capable of reasoning across complex biomedical data and evidence. The talks will highlight applications in cancer research, precision oncology, medical imaging, pathology, disease, and clinical decision support, while examining the challenges of translating AI from promising algorithms into reliable real-world tools. A central focus will be on building trustworthy, reproducible, and generalizable AI through rigorous evaluation, high-quality data, evidence grounding, and realistic assessment of clinical utility. Together, the talks illustrate how AI can move beyond prediction and automated analysis toward accelerating scientific discovery, enabling precision medicine, and supporting better clinical decisions.
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Zhiyong Lu PhD FACMI FIAHSI (NLM)
Building Trustworthy AI Agents for Biomedical Discovery and Clinical Decision Support11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Ziv Yaniv PhD (NIAID/BCBB)
NIAID TB Portals Program: Leveraging Deep Learning for Tuberculosis Image Analysis, Research and Applications12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Daoud Meerzaman PhD (NCI/CBIIT)
AI and the Future of Cancer Research: From Data to Discovery and Precision Oncology1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Stephanie Harmon PhD, Fahmida Haque PhD (NCI/CCR/MIB)
Translational AI in Clinical Imaging2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Mat Koretsky, Faraz Faghri PhD (CARD, DataTecnica)
Developing an AI Co-Scientist: From Benchmarking to Agents and Applications
NIH Library Information Table, NIH Library staff
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Building 10 South lobby
Stop by the Building 10 south lobby and learn how the NIH Library can help you with your research and information needs.
Wednesday, September 16
Design Considerations for 3D Printing, Jonathan Krynitsky, IDEAS and Kim Castle, BETA Makerspace
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | NIH Library Training Rooms 1&2
No registration necessary. This event is in-person only; seating first come, first served.
Staff from IDEAS and the BETA Center Makerspace will lead a review of 3D printing principles and dive into CAD modeling considerations for 3D printing in scientific research. The presentation will also highlight the different 3D printing technologies available at NIH.
Virtual Reality Demos, John Ostuni, NIAAA and Chris Fortney, NHGRI
1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | NIH Library Reading Room
No registration necessary. This event is in-person only; availability is first come, first served.
Mock VR fMRI Simulator: Step into biomedical research with an in-person VR experience. See how a mock fMRI simulator uses virtual reality to prepare participants for the sights, sounds, and tasks of an MRI scan.
Food Choices in a Virtual Reality-based Buffet: An interactive VR experience that places participants in a simulated buffet, allowing them to explore and make food choices in a realistic, immersive environment. The experience was developed as a research tool for measuring eating behaviors and food choices in the context of genetic information.
Thursday, September 17
AI in Action at NIH
Watch live: Morning Symposium | Afternoon Workshops
Symposium presented by the NIH Library as part of the NIH Research Festival
9:00 a.m. –12:15 p.m. | Masur Auditorium and NIH Videocast
Discover practical, responsible ways AI can support NIH research and work during this session featuring NIH leadership, tool demonstrations, and expert discussions. Have a question about AI at NIH? Submit it by September 10 for a chance to have it addressed during the NIH AI Expert Panel. The session will be videocast live, and archived for later viewing.
- 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. | Opening Remarks and Keynote
Introduction by Alicia Lillich, NIH Library
Keynote by Brad Bower, NIH Chief AI Officer
- 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | AI Tool Presentations
Short vendor presentations highlighting AI tools available to NIH staff: ChatGPT, CHIRP, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, and Genesis
- 11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. | NIH AI Expert Panel
Hear from NIH AI experts as they share insights, opportunities, and considerations for using AI across NIH research and administrative work. The panel will also respond to questions that were submitted in advance.
Moderator: Alicia Lillich, Emerging Technologies Librarian, NIH Library
AI Workshops presented by OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google
1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | NIH Library Training Rooms 1&2 and online
No registration necessary. These workshops are in-person; seating availability is first come, first served, or watch online.
- 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | ChatGPT: Beyond the Chat: Putting ChatGPT to Work at NIH
ChatGPT is moving beyond conversation to help people complete complex, multi-step work. In this interactive workshop, NIH staff will explore how ChatGPT Work, Codex, and reusable skills can support biomedical research and NIH operations.
- 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Copilot: From Demo to Discovery: Applying Copilot to Your Work
Explore how Copilot can help you summarize your information, analyze data, generate insights, draft content, and automate routine tasks. This interactive workshop is designed to help you apply AI directly to your own work in a secure, practical setting.
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | Gemini: Google's AI for Science: Practical Applications for NIH
Join an interactive session exploring Google’s tools and models. This session will showcase how Google’s AI for Science ecosystem, including Gemini for Government, AlphaGenome, and our specialized medical models, can directly support and accelerate your research.