Seven Key Moments from UPMC Enterprises at HLTH 2025

UPMC Enterprises proudly participated at HLTH 2025, held in Las Vegas, NV, Oct. 19-22. Dive into seven of our key highlights from this year’s international conference.

1. Ahavi and Penguin Ai: Celebrating the Future of Health Care AI

In the week leading up to HLTH 2025, we announced our strategic partnership with and investment in Penguin Ai. Penguin will apply UPMC Enterprises’ Ahavi data platform to validate new AI models in a secure testing environment, and use the technology to refine its Small Language Models for record summarization and prior authorization optimization. Both UPMC Enterprises and the Penguin Ai team celebrated the announcement throughout the conference, highlighting the impact this partnership will have on the future of health care AI. 

2. A Spotlight on Pittsburgh at the “Vision to Venture” Luncheon

To spotlight the exciting digital health innovation coming from Pittsburgh, UPMC Enterprises participated in in the “Vision to Venture” luncheon sponsored by Pittsburgh Life Sciences Alliance (PLSA) and Pittsburgh Region. Next is Now. Mary Beth Navarra-Sirio, vice president of market development, moderated a discussion featuring Deepan Kamaraj, director of analytics and informatics, and experts from our portfolio companies — Reba Schenk (Abridge) and Fawad Butt (Penguin Ai).

The panelists led an inspiring discussion on how collaboration and innovation are transforming health care right here in Pittsburgh.

“We may not be as big as Boston or Silicon Valley, but we are as deep,” said Dr. Kamaraj. “It is the strength of our ecosystem that is pushing health care innovation forward in Pittsburgh.”

3. Exploring “AI’s Mission to the Medical Margins” with Matthias Kleinz

Matthias Kleinz, DVM, PhD, executive vice president of Translational Sciences, participated in a thought-provoking panel, “AI’s Mission to the Medical Margins.” He was joined by Mathai Mammen MD, PhD (Parabilis Medicines), Aliza Apple, PhD (Eli Lilly and Company), and Jessica Federer (Angelini Ventures), as moderator.

The conversation explored how AI is driving breakthroughs in rare diseases by leveraging computational power to identify new drug targets, accelerate discovery, and make drug development more inclusive.

Dr. Kleinz highlighted Ahavi and its ability to foster the creation of curated datasets to speed up research, inform clinical trial design, and support AI innovation. He added that UPMC Enterprises is eager to collaborate with industry partners in both digital health and pharma.

4. Amy Meister Provided Ambulatory Insights in “Market Force Winds” Panel

Amy Meister, DO, president of Community and Ambulatory Services at UPMC, joined a panel of industry leaders for “Market Force Winds,” a discussion focused on the financial pressures and innovation pathways reshaping health care. The session explored how health systems can navigate investments in long-term transformation, especially with the emergence of AI, while balancing Medicaid demands, value-based care, and falling reimbursements that challenge traditional financial models.  

“If you don’t have this technology, people on the front lines may not want to come to your facility,” Amy Meister said at the panel, regarding documentation tools. Her quote was featured in a Healthcare Dive article exploring the impact of AI and digital documentation in health care management.

5. Mary Beth Navarra-Sirio Quoted in Business Insider

Ms. Navarra-Sirio also shared insights on the influx of AI development seen at this year’s HLTH conference, and how it can be best applied to the health care space, in an interview with Business Insider. 

“I’ve seen a lot of really great technologies fail from other industries because they don’t understand how it works in health care,” she said to Business Insider. “You could have the best technology in the world, but if you really don’t understand how it needs to support a clinical process, you won’t win in this space.” 

6. Speakers, Attendees, and Sponsors from the Enterprises Portfolio

Ten of our portfolio companies were in attendance at HLTH 2025, with some using the national stage as a platform for major announcements.

Elektra Health and Oscar Health announced their collaborative launch of HelloMeno — the first menopause-focused health plan in the individual marketplace. The program offers members free primary care, gynecologist, and behavioral health visits, labs, and more, according to Fierce Healthcare.

Julia Chou, COO of Abridge, appeared on the Main Stage for the panel “AI’s Power Trio: Documentation, Devices, and Data.” The panelists discussed the importance of pioneering trustworthy, people-centric AI that integrates into clinical workflows to improve care delivery.

Other companies in attendance included: Arrive Health, Butterfly Network, Carta Healthcare, Koda Health, Optain, Parachute Health, Penguin Ai, Percipio Health, and Redesign Health.

7. Business Development at DiMe Community Pavilion

The Digital Medicine Society (DiMe) Community Pavilion became UPMC Enterprises’ hub for Ahavi during HLTH 2025. Team members including Deepan Kamaraj, Andrew Adrian-Karlin, Craig Ball, and Dan Tarpey showcased the benefits and successes of the Ahavi platform and the benefits of partnering with UPMC Enterprises.

Next Steps

• Read more about our strategic partnership with Penguin Ai. 

• UPMC Enterprises has been part of the top innovation conversations in Pittsburgh this fall. Learn more about our regional impact.  

Note: UPMC has a financial interest in Abridge, Elektra Health, Arrive Health, Butterfly Network, Carta Healthcare, Koda Health, Optain, Parachute Health, Penguin Ai, Percipio Health, and Redesign Health.