Vall d’Hebron appoints Susanna Aussó as the new Director of Information Systems to drive digital transformation in healthcare

The Vall d’Hebron University Hospital has appointed Susanna Aussó as the new Director of Information Systems, with the goal of leading the hospital’s digital strategy, enhancing the integration of innovative technologies, and strengthening the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a tool to improve healthcare quality, research, and health system efficiency.

With this appointment, Vall d’Hebron reinforces its commitment to digital transformation in healthcare and to the implementation of reliable and ethical technological solutions, which have a direct impact on patient care and the daily work of professionals, and support the consolidation of the care model by areas of expertise.

Profile with strategic vision and strong technological background

A telecommunications engineer, electronics engineer, and trained in bioinformatics, Susanna Aussó has a highly versatile professional background that combines technological expertise, knowledge of the healthcare system, and experience in innovation and research.

Her early career focused on the telecommunications sector, where she developed connectivity and ICT infrastructure projects in national and international environments. This experience provided her with a solid technological foundation and a broad perspective on information systems.

Later, after studying bioinformatics, she transitioned to the healthcare field through the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), where she participated in biomedical research projects in oncology, applying machine learning techniques to omics data. During this period, she collaborated in multidisciplinary teams and scientific publications, consolidating her profile in data science and applied bioinformatics analysis.

Leader in reliable AI and healthcare innovation

In recent years, Susanna Aussó has been Head of the Artificial Intelligence Area at the TIC Salut Social Foundation, playing a key role in defining and promoting the AI strategy for Catalonia’s public health system. In 2023, she was appointed Secretary of the Artificial Intelligence Program at the Department of Health, contributing to the development of technical guides, best practices, and evaluation methodologies for AI-based healthcare technologies.

Her expertise focuses on reliable AI. One of her most notable contributions is participating in the development of the international FUTURE.AI principles, a global consensus of over 100 experts from 50 countries that establishes recommendations for creating and implementing reliable AI: ethical, robust, and human-centered in healthcare.

At the national level, she has led the drafting of several AI technical guides: explainability methods, best practices in generative AI, application of European AI regulations and medical device regulations for AI solutions, and has collaborated with the Catalan Agency for Health Quality and Assessment (AQuAS) in developing an evaluation methodology for AI-based healthcare technologies.

She has been a speaker at multiple national and international conferences, including her recent participation in an OECD expert dialogue series on AI transformation and governance strategies in healthcare. Additionally, she has represented the Department of Health’s AI strategy to various international delegations.

A strategic move by Vall d’Hebron

The arrival of Susanna Aussó is part of Vall d’Hebron’s digital transformation strategy, which aims to consolidate the hospital as a leading center in technological innovation and artificial intelligence application. As a reference in care, research, and education, the hospital is committed to digitalization as a driver to advance toward a more proactive, predictive, and personalized healthcare model.