Mount Sinai and Hasso Plattner Institute Launch International Graduate Student Exchange Program to Advance Digital Health and AI Innovation
Program aims to prepare the next generation of leaders at the intersection of medicine, technology, and data science
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Engineering (HPI) are expanding their academic collaboration in digital health through the launch of a new graduate student exchange program offered through Mount Sinai’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
The program will provide graduate students from both institutions with opportunities to study, collaborate, and participate in leading-edge research projects focused on artificial intelligence (AI), digital health, biomedical informatics, and data-driven health care innovation. It will begin accepting applications in the fall of 2026.
The exchange program builds on the longstanding Digital Health Partnership between Mount Sinai and HPI, led through the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health at Mount Sinai and the Windreich Department of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, as well as the Digital Health Cluster at HPI. Together, these institutions have helped establish a robust international collaboration that brings together academic and research expertise in medicine, technology, data science, and digital health. The new exchange program extends that partnership into education, creating new pathways for graduate students to engage directly with faculty, researchers, and multidisciplinary teams across both institutions and contribute to more than 40 collaborative research projects currently underway.
The exchange program will focus on students enrolled in the Master of Digital Health at HPI and the Master of Biomedical Data Science and AI at the Icahn School of Medicine. Students selected for the exchange program will gain access to a diverse portfolio of more than 40 active collaborative research projects spanning areas such as AI in health care, clinical decision support, population health, precision medicine, digital therapeutics, and health systems innovation. By fostering international collaboration and cross-cultural learning, the program aims to prepare the next generation of leaders at the intersection of medicine, technology, and data science.
“The future of education and research is increasingly global. This exchange program empowers students to cross geographic and intellectual boundaries and experience firsthand how international collaboration can accelerate learning, discovery, and innovation,” said Marta Filizola, PhD, Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “By connecting students with our ongoing digital health collaborations and more than 40 active research projects, we are strengthening the partnership between Mount Sinai and HPI while empowering future innovators to develop solutions that can improve human health worldwide.”
“The future of AI in health care will be shaped at the intersection of technology and clinical practice for the benefit of patients. Our transatlantic partnership brings those two worlds together: HPI’s technological expertise and the Icahn School of Medicine’s deep connection to patient care and a leading hospital environment. By giving students the opportunity to learn directly in both settings, the exchange turns collaboration into hands-on experience and helps prepare a generation of leaders who understand not only what AI can do, but how it can meaningfully improve health care,” said Lothar H. Wieler, DVM, Co-director of the Digital Health Partnership for HPI.
Through academic exchanges, research placements, and collaborative learning experiences, students will have the opportunity to work alongside leading investigators and gain firsthand exposure to the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of health care. The program reflects both institutions’ shared commitment to advancing innovation through international partnerships and interdisciplinary education.
The first cohort of exchange students from HPI will study at Mount Sinai in spring 2027, while the initial group from Mount Sinai will travel to HPI in fall 2027.
About the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Engineering
The Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Engineering gGmbH (HPI) is a nonprofit research institute founded in 1998. Together with the University of Potsdam, HPI operates the Digital Engineering Faculty, a privately funded faculty of the University of Potsdam established in 2017. The faculty brings together more than 30 professors across computer science and digital engineering, combining leading-edge research with interdisciplinary, practice-oriented education. Its degree programs and research address key challenges in digital engineering, with a strong focus on innovation and real-world application. Close collaboration with business and industry, international partnerships, and interdisciplinary approaches are central to the faculty’s mission. By bringing together research, education, and practical application, HPI prepares students and researchers to develop technologies that address the challenges of an increasingly digital world.
About the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is internationally renowned for its outstanding research, educational, and clinical care programs. It is the sole academic partner for the seven member hospitals* of the Mount Sinai Health System, one of the largest academic health systems in the United States, providing care to New York City’s large and diverse patient population.
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai offers highly competitive MD, PhD, MD-PhD, and master’s degree programs, with enrollment of more than 1,200 students. It has the largest graduate medical education program in the country, with more than 2,700 clinical residents and fellows training throughout the Health System. The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences offers 12 degree-granting programs, conducts innovative basic and translational research, and trains more than 470 postdoctoral research fellows.
Ranked 11th nationwide in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is among the 90th percentile of U.S. private medical schools in Sponsored Programs Direct Expenditures per Principal Investigator, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. More than 6,900 scientists, educators, and clinicians work within and across dozens of academic departments and multidisciplinary institutes with an emphasis on translational research and therapeutics. Through Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (MSIP), the Health System facilitates the real-world application and commercialization of medical breakthroughs made at Mount Sinai.
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* Mount Sinai Health System member hospitals: The Mount Sinai Hospital; Mount Sinai Brooklyn; Mount Sinai Morningside; Mount Sinai Queens; Mount Sinai South Nassau; Mount Sinai West; and New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the nation’s leading integrated academic health systems and one of the largest in the New York metropolitan area. Its comprehensive system includes seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, over 600 research and clinical laboratories, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing. Together, the Health System comprises approximately 48,000 employees, more than 9,000 physicians, and 8,600 nurses.
As a leading learning health system, Mount Sinai combines clinical expertise with scientific discovery to improve patient care while training the next generation of health care and biomedical leaders. The Health System provides care across every stage of life, from prenatal care through geriatrics, while advancing personalized medicine through artificial intelligence, data science, and biomedical research.
Mount Sinai is consistently recognized among the nation’s leading academic health systems for patient care, research, and education. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 1 in New York by Newsweek and No. 5 on the magazine’s World’s Best Hospitals list. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ranks No. 11 among U.S. medical schools and No. 1 among freestanding medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding, reflecting the strength of its scientific enterprise and leadership in biomedical research.