The Royal College is pleased to announce Bertalan Meskó, MD, PhD, as the 2025 Professor-in-Residence. Dr. Meskó has been a trusted and influential voice for the Royal College. He contributed strategic insights to the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Digital Technologies, and he more recently offered thoughtful perspectives as a panelist at the 2023 Royal College Research Forum, “Generative AI and Medicine.”

In this new role, Dr. Meskó will contribute his extensive expertise to support and guide AI-driven initiatives and actively engage in discussions on the impact of AI in specialty medicine and education.  

“It is an honour to join the Royal College as Professor-in-Residence,” says Dr. Meskó. “I see this as an opportunity to bring futures thinking into the heart of medical education and specialty care — not only to anticipate how technologies like AI will shape the future, but to help medical professionals actively design that future with empowered patients at the centre. I would like to help prove that the future of medicine isn’t just about algorithms and data, and I hope to contribute to a culture of curiosity, collaboration, and long-term vision across health care and medicine in Canada.”

Dr. Meskó obtained his medical degree and his PhD in genomics from the University of Debrecen in Hungary. Known as The Medical Futurist, his research focuses on the role of AI and digital health technologies in shaping the future of health care. Dr. Meskó is director of The Medical Futurist Institute, a private professor at Semmelweis Medical School in Hungary, and a public member of the Scientific Subcommittee on Statistics and Futures Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Dedicated to pioneering medical futures studies as a scientific discipline, Dr. Meskó aims to make futures methods – such as trend analysis, anticipatory thinking and other forecasting methods – widely accessible in health care. He is a leading voice in the field of health care technology and has delivered over 900 keynotes, including for the World Health Organization and Harvard University, Standford University and Yale University.

“I’m especially excited about Dr. Meskó's residency because I’ve had the chance to get to know him and have seen firsthand just how engaging, collaborative, dedicated and expert he truly is,” says Tanya Horsley, PhD, Director of Research and Evaluation at the Royal College. “These qualities make him a natural choice for Professor-in-Residence and make this partnership a clear and strategic step toward embedding AI as a core corporate priority now and in the years ahead.”

Dr. Meskó will deliver the annual Professor-in-Residence lecture virtually for all participants in early 2026. More details and a registration link will be shared in the new year. 

Learn more about the Professor-in-Residence Program.