Aims and Scope

The Blue Sky Ideas Track at KDD 2025 Health Day seeks bold, visionary contributions at the frontier of AI and healthcare. We invite original, forward-thinking papers that challenge conventional paradigms, propose high-risk/high-reward ideas, or open new interdisciplinary directions in health-focused AI and data science.

This track is designed to foster dialogue, imagination, and long-term impact across academia, industry, and policy. It especially welcomes speculative proposals that provoke discussion on future research priorities and societal implications in digital health.

Topics of Interest Include (but are not limited to):

• Radical rethinking of AI's role in clinical decision-making

• AI approaches addressing global or underserved health needs

• Ethical frameworks for AI deployment in healthcare

• AI-assisted models for public health, prevention, or pandemics

• Challenges and promises of LLMs in medical settings

• Human-centered AI and explainability in health applications

• Future infrastructures for multimodal or federated medical data analysis

Why Submit?

• Shape bold, long-term research visions in AI and health

• Engage with leaders across computing, medicine, and policy

• Gain recognition through CCC- and NIH-sponsored awards

Submission Guidelines

• Submissions must be no more than 2 pages, excluding references

• Please use the ACM conference proceedings template

• Author names and affiliations should be included (single-blind review)

• Submit via: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=healthkdd2025

Presentation Format and Awards

Accepted papers will not be formally archived. Instead, we aim to invite all accepted papers to be presented in person during KDD 2025 Health Day and featured in a high-profile session aimed at shaping future priorities in health-related AI research.

With generous support from the Computing Community Consortium (CCC), the top three best papers will receive cash prizes:

• First Prize: $1,000

• Second Prize: $750

• Third Prize: $500

With additional generous support from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), we will further select papers for Distinguishable Vision Awards with traveling supports.

All awards will be selected based on the submitted paper and the in-person presentation together, with votes from event participants including invited NIH PDs during KDD 2025 Health Day.

Important Dates

• Submission Deadline: Friday, June 27, 2025 (23:59pm AoE)

• Notification of Acceptance: July 8, 2025

• Presentation Date: August 5, 2025 (in-person required)

Questions?

Contact the organizers at: health2025@kdd.org 

KDD 2025 Health Day Co-Chairs:

Wei Ding, University of Massachusetts Boston

Carl Yang, Emory University

Peipei Ping, University of California, Los Angeles

Chair, ACM SIGKDD

Wei Wang, University of California Los Angeles

We look forward to receiving your most daring and visionary ideas!