Keynote Speaker

Maxim (Max) Topaz, Ph.D., RN, MA

Elizabeth Standish Gill Associate Professor of Nursing, Columbia University Medical Center

Maxim (Max) Topaz, Ph.D., RN, MA, is the Elizabeth Standish Gill Associate Professor of Nursing at Columbia University Medical Center. He is also affiliated with the Columbia University Data Science Institute and the Center for Home Care Policy & Research at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. His research focuses on applying data science and advanced technologies, including natural language processing and data mining, to improve health care delivery and patient outcomes.

Topaz is a pioneer in applying natural language processing to nursing-generated health data. His current work focuses on developing artificial intelligence and natural language processing tools to support clinical decision-making and improve health care quality.

Topaz earned his Ph.D. as a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Haifa in Israel and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Prior to joining Columbia University, he served as a senior lecturer at the University of Haifa’s School of Nursing, where he led a health information technology laboratory.

He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles on health informatics and has received numerous awards recognizing his contributions to the field.