Symposium on Model Accountability, Sustainability and Healthcare
SMASH 2026
November 3-4 2026 @ Mila
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The Symposium on Model Accountability, Sustainability and Healthcare (SMASH) is an interdisciplinary gathering focused on operationalizing AI safely and responsibly. The goal of this event is to identify challenges and propose technical, ethical and regulatory solutions to AI safety, data privacy, model interoperability and accountability. This symposium will explore these research topics through the lens of healthcare and sustainability.
The healthcare sector is rapidly embracing AI, and the insights gained are likely to inform future sustainability research. These disciplines operate within interconnected ecosystems of stakeholders, technologies, and datasets, sharing both the potential benefits and inherent risks.
Accepted Papers
Congratulations to all the accepted papers! You can see them and the spotlight papers on the accepted papers page.
Best Paper Awards
The SMASH 2026 Best Paper Awards recognize outstanding research contributions presented at the Symposium on Model Accountability, Sustainability and Healthcare (SMASH).
One Best Paper Award will be presented in each of the conference’s five tracks:
- ML Safety, Privacy, Model Accountability and Alignment
- Interdisciplinary Submissions from Law and Social Sciences
- Healthcare Applications
- Methods for ML Sustainability
- Sustainability, Healthcare and Safety
These awards celebrate research that advances the responsible development, evaluation, governance, and deployment of AI systems.
Eligibility
All accepted papers that are registered and presented at SMASH 2026 are automatically eligible for consideration within their respective track.
For gift distribution, at least one author of the awarded paper must be studying at a Canadian university.
Selection and Evaluation
Best Paper Awards are selected by members of the SMASH Program Committee. Eligible papers are evaluated based on reviewer assessments, the quality of the written submission, and the conference presentation.
Awards are granted to papers that demonstrate exceptional quality, originality, technical rigor, significance, and potential impact. The selection committee considers scientific merit, innovation, clarity, and the potential contribution of the work to advancing responsible AI research, policy, and practice.
Given the interdisciplinary nature of SMASH, particular consideration may be given to contributions that foster meaningful connections across technical, healthcare, sustainability, legal, policy, and social science perspectives.
The Program Committee reserves the right not to confer an award in a track if no submission is deemed to meet the required standard of excellence.
Announcement
Award recipients will be announced during the closing session of SMASH 2026.
Recognition
Award recipients will receive:
- Official recognition as a SMASH 2026 Best Paper Award recipient
- A Monetary Gift
- A certificate for all authors
Guiding Principles
- Partnership over competition
- Common ground over differences
- Practicality over hyperbole
- Questions over answers
- Nuance over platitudes
Whitepaper
Conference Agenda
Note: the below agenda is still subject to some minor changes prior to the event.
Day 1 (Tuesday, November 3)
| Section | Time in ET |
|---|---|
| Check-in, registration, snacks & coffee | |
| Welcome and Agenda Hugo Larochelle | |
| Keynote Finale Doshi-Velez | |
| Keynote Vrushali Gaud | |
| Keynote Sasha Luccioni | |
| Spotlight Talk Preview | |
| Lunch | |
| Poster session | |
| Invited Speaker Emma Kondrup | |
| Break | |
| Keynote Khaled El Emam | |
| Breakout Sessions Dialog & connection | |
| Closing remarks |
Day 2 (Wednesday, November 4)
| Section | Time in ET |
|---|---|
| Check-in, registration, snacks & coffee | |
| Welcome and Agenda Doina Precup | |
| Keynote Joaquin Vanschoren | |
| Break | |
| Panel Discussion Alan Forster, Kathy Malas, Danina Kapetanovic, Samer Faraj (Moderator) | |
| Lunch | |
| Invited Speaker Lyse Langlois | |
| Invited Speaker Pierre-Luc Bacon | |
| Break | |
| Invited Speaker Alejandra Parra-Orlandoni | |
| Invited Speaker Jesse Michel | |
| Break | |
| Invited Speaker Michelle Lin | |
| Invited Speaker Amir Kadivar | |
| Spotlight talks | |
| Awards/Closing remarks |
Speakers
- Pierre-Luc Bacon, Université de Montréal, CIFAR, Mila
- Finale Doshi-Velez, Harvard University
- Khaled El Emam, CHEO Research Institute, University of Ottawa
- Vrushali Gaud, Google Sustainability
- Amir Kadivar, Tali AI
- Emma Kondrup, Mila, McGill University
- Lyse Langlois, International Observatory on the Societal Impacts of AI and Digital Technology (OBVIA)
- Hugo Larochelle, Mila, McGill University, Université de Montréal
- Michelle Lin, Mila, Université de Montréal
- Sasha Luccioni, Sustainable AI Group
- Jesse Michel, Tutor Intelligence
- M. Alejandra Parra-Orlandoni, Harvard Kennedy School
- Joaquin Vanschoren, TU Eindhoven, AMORE
Program Committee
- Audrey Durand, Université Laval
- Samer Faraj, Institute for Transforming Healthcare, McGill University
- Jin L.C. Guo, McGill University
- Bettina Kemme, McGill University
- Maroussia Lévesque, Harvard Law School, Queen's University
- Doina Precup, Google Deepmind, Mila, McGill University
- Parthasarathy (Partha) Ranganathan, Google
- Adriana Romero-Soriano, FAIR at Meta, Mila, McGill, CIFAR
Partners
Venue
Mila, 6650 Rue Saint-Urbain, Montréal, QC H2S 3H1