My One Hope for 2026

As we step into 2026, I find myself with just one simple hope.

That medical research continues to move quickly, helping fight the life-ending and life-altering diseases that touch far too many families.

We hear a lot these days about Artificial Intelligence: its promise, its risks, and its rapid evolution. But where I feel the greatest sense of optimism is in how AI is already accelerating medical breakthroughs that can help us live longer, healthier lives.

Artificial Intelligence is quietly transforming biotechnology. It’s speeding up drug discovery, improving genomics, enhancing medical imaging, and making personalized medicine more achievable than ever before.

Today, AI is most commonly used in two areas of medicine: clinical decision support and medical imaging. Clinical decision tools help doctors make better, faster decisions around treatments, medications, mental health, and patient care by quickly surfacing relevant research and data. In imaging, AI is helping analyze CT scans, X-rays, and MRIs, sometimes identifying abnormalities that the human eye may miss.

But the potential goes much further.

AI can support earlier disease detection by continuously monitoring patient data and alerting clinicians when risk factors change. It can help personalize treatment by learning patient preferences and providing real-time, tailored recommendations. In medical imaging, research has shown that AI can be as effective as human radiologists at detecting early signs of cancer, where early detection can make all the difference.

AI is also improving the efficiency of clinical trials by reducing the time spent coding outcomes and analyzing massive datasets. And perhaps most importantly, it’s helping accelerate drug development (one of the longest and most expensive parts of medical innovation) by improving drug design and identifying promising new combinations faster than ever before.

We saw a real-world example of this during COVID-19.

When the pandemic swept across the globe, AI played a critical role in accelerating vaccine development. Machine-learning algorithms analyzed vast amounts of viral genomic data in a fraction of the time it would have taken human researchers. AI helped identify the spike protein as the key vaccine target and allowed scientists to simulate and test countless molecular configurations, compressing a process that normally takes years into mere months.

AI was also used to improve clinical trials by identifying high-risk participants, ensuring diverse representation, monitoring outcomes in real time, and quickly flagging potential side effects. Even manufacturing and distribution benefited, with AI helping manage production bottlenecks and maintain the strict cold-chain requirements needed for temperature-sensitive vaccines.

We are the first generation to truly benefit from medical and pharmaceutical advancements powered by Artificial Intelligence.

From an investment perspective, the opportunities are exciting. From a human perspective, the possibilities are inspiring.

My wish for 2026 is simple: good health – for you, your family, and those you love.

Warm regards,
Ed