PRI Innovation Forum: Empowering Hyperlocal Response

The NYC Preparedness & Recovery Institute (PRI), in partnership with Columbia Engineering, invites you to attend the 2026 PRI Innovation Forum: Empowering Hyperlocal Response. Building on the momentum of the 2024 Innovation Forum and the 2025 Innovation Showcase, the 2026 Innovation Forum advances PRI’s commitment to generating, refining, and scaling practical innovations in public health preparedness and response.

This one-day conference will bring together researchers, government officials, industry leaders, community-based organizations, technologists, funders, and social entrepreneurs to move from exploration to execution. The focus for 2026 is clear: strengthening sustainable partnerships and advancing solutions that can scale to support New York City’s long-term public health resilience.

This year’s theme, Empowering Hyperlocal Response, addresses a central challenge in public health preparedness: emergencies are felt first at the neighborhood level, yet resources and decision-making are often centralized. This theme is informed by PRI’s COVID-19 Review.

This event has ended and registration is now closed.

What to Expect

Keynote & Panels – Hear from experts who are advancing promising innovations in hyperlocal preparedness and response. Discussions will explore emerging challenges, pathways to scale, sustainable partnership models, and real-world implementation strategies. Panels will also highlight progress, lessons learned, and next steps from the 2024 Innovations Grant awardees and other emerging projects.

Demo Expo – Engage with new tools, technologies, ideas, and research throughout the event space. Meet solution providers, try out prototypes designed to support hyperlocal preparedness and response. Featured exhibits will showcase tools, partnerships, and models that deliver timely data, resources, and decision-making support tailored to local community needs. Interested in exhibiting your work? Learn more below.

Real-World Workshops – Help design upcoming AI, data and tech-driven prototypes that will bring innovation into the world of preparedness. Join researchers and entrepreneurs as they present real-world concepts to be refined in conversations with community, government and private sector partners. 

Networking Opportunities – Connect with community members, researchers, policymakers, investors, funders, and technology innovators throughout the day. Dedicated networking breaks, the Demo Expo, and a closing reception will provide space for collaboration, partnership building, and future funding pathways.

Innovation Champions

The PRI Innovation Forum is supported by Champions who help elevate the event and the work of innovators and partners. We’re grateful for their support in expanding the event’s reach across New York City and beyond, strengthening connections across public health leaders, community organizations, and innovators, and bringing more people into the conversation around practical solutions for local preparedness and response. Interested in becoming a Champion? Contact Tara Abularrage for more information.

Featured Speakers & Moderators

Moaz Abdelwadoud, MD, DrPH, MPH
Research Scientist & Senior Director of Training
CUNY Center for Systems & Community Design

Brett Branco, PhD
Principal Investigator, FloodNet
CUNY Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay

Ayman El-Mohandes, MBBCh, MD, MPH, FAAP
Founding Dean
CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy

Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, MPA
Director
ICAP at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Furhana Husani, MPA
Director of Programs and Climate Initiatives Waterfront Alliance

Ayo Harrington
Co-Chair
LES Ready!

Rob Johnson, MS
Board Member
NYC Mesh

Andrew Kemendo, BS
Founding Instructor
Direction

Jonathan Mermin, MD, MPH
Dean
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Lee Moreau, M.Arch.
Founding Director
Other Tomorrows

Scott Ratzan, MD, MPA
Distinguished Lecturer CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy

Sam Sia, PhD
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Columbia Engineering

Andrea Silverman, MS, PhD
Principal Investigator, FloodNet
NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Jeanette Stingone, PhD
Assistant professor Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Mitch Stripling, MPA
Director
NYC Preparedness & Recovery Institute

Harry West, MS, PhD
Professor of Professional Practice in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research Columbia Engineering

Karmen Williams, DPH, MBA
Assistant Professor
Health Policy and Management
CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy

Eric Viera, PhD
Director of Strategic Collaborations
Columbia Engineering

Note: This year’s fireside chat will feature Andrea Silverman and Brett Branco from FloodNet. FloodNet builds and deploys real-time flood monitoring tools in New York City, making accessible data available to residents, community groups, agencies, and researchers.

Panelists

Noga Aharony, MS
PhD Candidate
Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Science

Sondos Alnamos, MBA, MS
Founder
iCleanMedX

Larry Au, PhD, MSc, MA
Assistant Professor of Sociology
City College of New York, CUNY

Adama Bah
Executive Director
Afrikana

Michelle Bascome, MA
Director of Programs & Development
Nonprofit Staten Island

Allie Bohm, JD
Senior Policy Counsel
New York Civil Liberties Union

Marcel Botha, SMArchS
CEO and Founder
10xbeta

Jonathan Brennan-Badal
CEO
Opentrons Labworks, Inc

Nicole Cook
Founder and CEO
Alvee

Analee Etheredge, PhD, MPH
Senior Research Scientist NYC Department of Health

Matthew Hill, PhD
Policy Researcher and Data Scientist
CUNY Graduate Center

Zachary Horvitz, MS
PhD Student
Columbia Engineering

Sam Hosmer, PhD
Data Scientist
NYC Department of Health

Harry Kabodha, MS
Co-Founder & CEO
Varosync

Henry Lam, PhD
Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
Columbia Engineering

Mike Loeffelholz, PhD
VP of Scientific Affairs
Cepheid

Monica Maloney, MPH
Vice President of Life Sciences and Healthcare, Innovation Industries
New York City Economic Development Corporation

Christopher McLaughlin, MPH
Chief Operating Officer for PRI
CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy

Ann-Gel Palermo, DrPH, MPH, TIPC, ACC
Vice President of Life Sciences and Healthcare, Innovation Industries
East Harlem COAD

Korin Parrella, MPH
Executive Director, Community Resilience & Response
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Rachael Piltch-Loeb PhD, MSPH
Assistant Professor
CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy

Erica Rowe-Owen, MS
AI-Native Operations Strategist
Pursuit

Jeanne Sullivan Meissner, MPH
Director of Epidemiology
NYC Health Department Bureau of Tuberculosis Control

Hugh Thomas, BSc
Associate Director for Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship
Columbia Engineering

Kyle Wing, B.Arch
Associate Director, Design Strategy
Other Tomorrows

Xiaomai Zhang, MS
CMO
HopeAI

Demo Expo

Starting at lunch and running through the afternoon, the PRI Innovation Forum will feature a Demo Expo where attendees can engage with new tools, technologies, and ideas designed to empower hyperlocal public health preparedness and response. The Expo spotlights innovations that help communities, organizations, and responders act quickly and effectively when systems are constrained. 

We invite organizations, startups, innovators, and researchers to showcase their work, demonstrate real-world applications, and gather feedback from public health leaders, community members, and other stakeholders. Attendees are encouraged to ask questions, and contribute insights on how these solutions and lessons learned could be adapted and implemented in New York City and beyond. The application period to be an exhibitor has closed.

Cash prizes of $1,000 each will be awarded for Most Engaging, Most Innovative, and Most Community-Minded exhibits!