6th Nordic RWE and AI conference 2026 Using the excellent RWD assets in the Nordic Region to improve Drug development, Value-based Decision Making and Healthcare where the Patient needs are in focus

The University of Helsinki and Åbo Akademi University organize the 6^th Nordic RWE and AI conference in Helsinki 27.-28.1.2026.

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Venue: University of Helsinki, The Main Auditorium and Agora Hall

Date & time: Tuesday 27 January from 12.00 to 17.45, Wednesday 28 January from 9.00 to 15.30 (EET)

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The Nordic Real World Data conferences have been organized since 2016. The goal has been to increase the attractiveness of the Nordic Region and EU for conducting research and increasing investments in the Region. The Networking between the Stakeholder and Country representatives from the Nordic and other European countries as well as US is also playing a vital role, and therefore the conference is designed to be a two day on site conference.

The conference is free of charge (no-show fee and registration needed) to all stakeholders thanks to our Sponsors. The conference will be in the Auditorium Main building of the University of Helsinki, for max 490 participants. We expect to attract at least 300 participants.

The aim is to keep the scope broad from discovery to use of data in regulatory decision making, HTA, use of data to allocate resources, value based healthcare including the voice of the patients etc.

The Program

Day 1

12.00 Opening of the Registration and the Exhibition in the Agora Hall

13.00 Welcome, background and practicalities, Mia Bengtström Visiting Researcher, University of Helsinki and Associate professor, Åbo Akademi University

Chair: Visa Manni, Medical Director Finland, Merck Oy

Use of RWD and AI in Drug development

13.10 Value and drivers of clinical trials and RWD studies, Erkki Soini, Chairman of the Board, Health Economist. ESiOR Oy

13.30 AI-Driven Real-World Evidence: Unlocking Early Detection and Drug Repurposing in Dementia, Christian Jonasson, Research Director, NordicRWE

13.50 Fingenious® service and Finnish biobanks offer unique opportunities for biomedical research, Johanna Mäkelä, PhD, Director of Research and Services, FINBB

Use of RWD and AI in Value-based Decision Making

14.10 Unlocking the Power of RWE and AI for Cardiovascular Health: Insights from Helsinki Riikka-Leena Leskelä, Research Director, Nordic Healthcare Group

14.30 A Finnish Nationwide Register Study Describing People With and Without ADHD, Tuire Prami, RWE Team Lead, Oriola

14.50 The Power of Three – A Tripartite Collaboration in Register Research, Katja Nolvi, Associate Director, Quantify Research

15.10 Coffee, exhibition and networking

Chair: Nicolas Vaugelade-Baust, Nordic Evidence Generation Director, Novartis

16.00 Advancing Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) prevention through health and social data in Finland session by Novartis

• Janne Martikainen, Professor, Data Science and Evidence Generation, ESIOR

• Annukka Kivela, Nordic Evidence Generation and Early Pipeline Lead, Novartis
• Tanja Hakkarainen, Healthcare Partnership Director, a.i, Novartis Finland

16.45 FIREFLY: classifying induced vasomotor symptoms using RWD and natural language processing, Samu Kurki, Strategic Project Lead, Bayer

17.10 Session with Nordic Health Data Access Bodies

Moderator: Nicolas Vaugelade-Baust 

Setting the scene: Navigating for health data – into the perfect storm? Michel Silvestri, The Swedish eHealth Agency

Short country overviews and moderated discussion with:

Michel Silvestri, The Swedish eHealth Agency

Øystein Kyrre Johansen, Section for Heathdataservice, Norwegian Institute of Public Health

Maari Parkkinen, Finnish Social and Health Data Permit Authority Findata

18.10 Thank you for the Day and walking to the City Hall, Mia Bengtström Visiting Researcher, University of Helsinki and Associate professor, Åbo Akademi University

18.30-19.30 Reception at the City Hall

Day 2

Chair: Riikka-Leena Leskelä, Research Director, Nordic Healthcare Group

9.00 Welcome to Day 2, Mia Bengtström, UH and ÅAU

Value-based Regulatory and HTA Decision-Making

9.05 External Control Arms in Regulatory and HTA Decision-Making, session by MedEngine

Host: Karin Luttropp, Senior Advisor - Real World Evidence NE Hub, Eli Lilly

• Evolving Guidelines on External Control Arms in Regulatory Decision-Making in Europe; Elina Asikanius, Biostatistician, FIMEA
• The Role of Real-World Evidence in Nordic Health Technology Assessment; Saku Torvinen, Market Access Director, MedEngine
• Methodological Approaches to Optimize Clinical Trials with External Control Arms; Maria Guzman-Castillo, Senior Data Scientist, MedEngine

10.05 Transportability and External Validity: Approaches to Generalizing Evidence, Iiro Toppila Data Analysis Lead, Medaffcon

10.30 Real-world data enabling Value Based HealthCare transformation at HUS Psychiatry, session by HUS, University of Helsinki, Johnson & Johnson

• Grigori Joffe, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki University Hospital (HUS)
• Petri Näätänen, Development Manager, Department of Psychiatry, HUS
• Paulus Torkki, DSc, Associate professor, University of Helsinki, Department of Public Health
• Irene Eriksson, PhD, VBHC Partnership Lead EMEA, Johnson & Johnson

11.10 Coffee, light lunch, networking Agora Exhibition hall

Chair: Minna Korolainen, Director - Medical Affairs Neuroscience, Eli Lilly

12.00 Value of Patient Experience Data When Addressing Nordic Stakeholders’ Needs, session by IQVIA

• James Turnbull, Senior Principal, Patient Centered Solutions, IQVIA
• Daniel Eek, Medical Evidence Scientific Lead, AstraZeneca
• Frida Bayard, Sr. RWE Consultant, IQVIA

12.30 Strengthening Confidence in RWE for Assisted Reproductive Technology: Merck KGaA’s Commitment to Scientific Rigor, Lise Braathen-Pettersen, Global Medical Director Fertility, Merck Healthcare

12.55 Transforming Patient Pathways: AI-Driven Risk Prediction and Cross-Sector Optimization in Cardiovascular Care, Jesper Eriksen, Head of Data Analytics, Healthcare Nordics, IQVIA

13.15 The Journey from Care to Evidence: Tackling Registry Hurdles, Hanna Heloterä, Senior Consultant, Pharmaca Health Intelligence Oy

13.35 Coffee and networking Agora Exhibition hall

14.10 Next-Generation Anonymization: Securing Nordic RWD for Cross-Border AI & RWE Innovation, Tuomo Pentikäinen, CEO of VEIL.AI

14.30 Bright Future for the use of RWE and AI in the Nordic Region for the best of the Patients, Society and Economy: Visionary moderated discussion on using the excellent RWD assets in the Nordic Region to improve Drug development, Value-based Decision Making and Healthcare

Moderator: Lisse-Lotte Hermansson, Managing Director at Medaffcon AB Sweden

Olli Kallioniemi, Research Director at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) presenting findings from Sitra’s project A plan for the Finnish Health Data Space (FHDS) in the AI-era.

Elina Asikanius, Biostatistician, Fimea

Janne Martikainen, Professor, UEF/ Esior

Samu Kurki, Strategic Project Lead | Clinical Data Scientist, Bayer Global R&D

Paavo Raittinen, Head of Commercial Insights and Data, Oriola

Christian Jonasson, Research Director and Co-Founder at NordicRWE

15.20 Next steps. Thank you for participating and funding, Mia Bengtström, Visiting Researcher, University of Helsinki and Associate professor, Åbo Akademi University

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The conference is free of charge but requires registration with the cancellation policy; The last chance to cancel the registration is January 19th, after which there will be a fine of €100/day and €50 for the networking event.