NHIT and the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust Convene a Community Health Innovation Summit in Puerto Rico to Drive Economic Development Through Community-Led Health Innovation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JOINT ANNOUNCEMENT · NHIT × PUERTO RICO SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH TRUST

June 10, 2026

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — The National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved (NHIT®) and the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust (PRST) will host the “NHIT Community Health Innovation Summit: Puerto Rico 2026” on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, at the Trust’s headquarters in San Juan.

The event marks the next chapter of the strategic alliance announced between NHIT and the Trust in September 2024, a collaboration focused on advancing Puerto Rico’s economic development through community-led health innovation.

The summit will bring together patient representatives, caregivers, health professionals, researchers, community health workers, community leaders, public health experts, representatives of the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries, innovators, and policymakers to jointly design health solutions centered on the real needs of communities.

The event will focus on the transformative potential of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), medicine and remote patient monitoring, and digital health platforms, areas in which Puerto Rico continues to position itself as a regional leader after being designated a federal “Tech Hub” in 2023.

“The convergence of artificial intelligence, research, and community participation in these arenas represents a historic opportunity for Puerto Rico. This summit seeks to transform that opportunity into specialized training and new entrepreneurial opportunities for our people,” said Lucy Crespo, Chief Executive Officer of the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust.

For his part, Luis Belén, the summit’s organizer and NHIT Chief Executive Officer, stated: “My roots are in El Papayo, a small rural community in Lajas, Puerto Rico, where I spent my earliest years before moving to New York City. Those experiences taught me that talent is universal, even when opportunity is not. That is why this Summit matters. The future of healthcare and innovation cannot be built for communities. It must be built with them and by them, with Puerto Ricans designing the solutions, leading the research, and building careers at the center of health innovation. Puerto Rico has the talent, resilience, and creativity not just to participate in this future, but to lead it, and the ideas and partnerships that emerge here will strengthen communities, improve lives, and help define what comes next.”

At the heart of the summit’s agenda is a single principle: communities as co-designers of health innovation. That principle is carried across four pillars: Community Voice & Trust; AI-Enabled Care & Digital Health; Clinical Research & Life Sciences Access; and AI-Ready Workforce.

Dr. Marianyoly Ortiz, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Public Health Institute, a program of the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, noted that “modern public health requires actively listening to communities and developing strategies grounded in data and access. Puerto Rico has the talent and the capacity to become a national model for community health innovation, with a real impact on the quality of life and the medical care of our population.”

Likewise, Dr. Amarilis Silva, Director of the Puerto Rico Clinical Research Consortium, stated that “expanding our communities’ access to clinical research and clinical trials is essential to ensuring more responsive, equitable health care and to advancing precision medicine. Puerto Rico has the scientific and clinical ecosystem needed to lead this effort at the national level.”

The Puerto Rico Summit is part of the NHIT Health Innovation Impact Tour, a nationwide initiative that transforms local insights into national action. The Tour began with NHIT’s engagement at HIMSS26 in Las Vegas this past March and continued through the NHIT Congressional Roundtable, the Baltimore Roundtable, and continues to the NHIT Legislative Summit on July 21 in Washington, D.C., building a network of partnerships and ideas to help shape the future of healthcare. The recommendations and partnerships emerging from Puerto Rico will help inform national priorities and advance NHIT’s mission of Reimagining Health and Modernizing Care.

Genentech, Lead Sponsor of the Summit, joins a growing coalition of partners working to strengthen population health, expand access to innovation, and build the healthcare workforce of the future.

ABOUT NHIT
Founded in 2008, the National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved (NHIT®) promotes the inclusion of historically underrepresented populations in the development and use of health information technologies to support the transformation of health systems and economic mobility. Its work is anchored in five pillars: workforce, innovation, public policy, research, and community.

ABOUT THE PUERTO RICO SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH TRUST
Established under Act 214-2004, the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering Puerto Rico’s participation in the global knowledge economy and promoting job creation in innovation sectors. Its initiatives include PRPHI (the Puerto Rico Public Health Institute), PRCCI (the Consortium for Clinical Research and Precision Medicine), and BioLeap (a health technology and life sciences venture initiative).

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