At the first White House Frontiers Conference held at the University of Pittsburgh, Barack Obama proved while he only has three and half months left as president he wants to solidify the administration as "science-forward."
Obama furthered this stance at the event co-hosted by the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon, while making a few tongue-in-cheek jabs at a particular presidential candidate. He also hosted the conversation on progress made with technological innovations - and its promise.
"Innovation is in our DNA. Science has always been central to our progress, and it's playing a leading role in overcoming our greatest challenges," said Obama as he opened the Presidential Panel on Brain Science and Medical Information. "Only with science do we have a chance to cure cancer, Parkinson's or other diseases."
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Along with touting the scientific advancements made while he was in office, Obama also took a stand against his critics.
"I am a science geek, and I don't make any apologies for it," he added. "It's the thing that sets us apart. That's why I get so riled up when I hear people willfully ignore facts or stick their heads in the sand about basic scientific consensus."
"It's not just that bad position leads to bad policy," he added. "It's also that it undermines the very thing that has always made America the engine for innovation around the world…. We don't just listen to science when it fits our ideologies. That's the path to ruin."
When Russians sent Sputnik into space 60 years ago, the U.S. didn't deny that it was up there. We built our own space program, almost overnight - then beat them to the moon, Obama said.
After his opening, Obama sat among a panel of three scientists and a patient advocate to discuss the future of the healthcare technology landscape. Among the discussion of current AI, machine learning and other high-tech projects, the panel discussed concerns that security fears hindering innovation.
Genomic data is one of the most complicated sets of data to be handled, explained panelist Ricardo Sabatini, research and data scientist for Human Longevity, a long-term genomics study. Researchers want to publish and share information, but security is still a concern.
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"We need to remove fear and allow people to reengage in their own health and on their own data: There are technologies to keep them safe and secure," Sabatini said. "This shouldn't be a limit to access your own information and feel comfortable to own your own information."
Security is going to be an ongoing problem across discipline. As lives become more digitalized, it will become more challenging to provide it, Obama said.
"The opportunities to hack your information will be just as great or greater in a poorly integrated, broken down healthcare system, as it will be in a highly integrated effective healthcare system," Obama said. "It's important for us not to overstate the very real dangers of cybersecurity and ensuring the privacy of our health records."
"We don't want them so overstated that ends up becoming a significant impediment to us making the system work better," he added.
Twitter: @JessieFDavis
Email the writer: jessica.davis@himssmedia.com