LAS VEGAS, the United States, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- During the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), leaders of major U.S. medical associations emphasized that artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies are generating breakthrough solutions for humanity's most pressing challenges while collaboration with China could play a vital role in advancing these developments.

The leaders from the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and the Alzheimer's Association shared the view with Xinhua in an interview on Thursday during the world's annual largest tech show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"I think the application of AI and those tools in healthcare is absolutely transformative. If we can apply it for research in medicine, it's going to impact lots of lives positively. So I think it's a great thing and a great opportunity," said Wayne A. I. Frederick, the interim CEO of both the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

When talking to the digital health technologies on display at the CES, Frederick said, "The companies that are able to rationalize the cost and to make it more accessible for a wide variety of people are going to be able to compete."

"At CES this year, there's a lot of focus on how we can get that to more people. I think that's a good thing -- the more people access and benefit (from technologies), the better," he said.

Joanne Pike, president and chief executive officer of the Alzheimer's Association, said AI provides a huge opportunity that everybody can potentially benefit from diagnostics or treatment. "How we apply AI within the medical system to provide better care is an incredibly huge opportunity."

Pike noted the potential for U.S. and Chinese researchers to work together to pushing this forward as both countries have "a really large aging community that needs the support."

Her association has been working with some members in the Chinese research community to make sure that the treatment landscape and the diagnostic landscape are open and that there's a learning environment for physicians.

"In fact, the World Dementia Council, along with our chief science officer, were just at a conference in China, hosting a really large group," she added.

Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, also highlighted some collaborations between her organization and Chinese counterparts, including having Chinese hospitals participate in the association's quality improvement programs.

"We are taking technology and guidelines into hospitals (in China) to help identify and treat people with cardiovascular diseases. We've been doing this for a number of years," she said.

Another example is the Great Wall International Congress of Cardiology in China. "We send scientists to the Great Wall meeting and that's a great place where our scientists and clinicians can collaborate with cardiologists and scientists in China," said Brown.

In the area of cancer research and treatment, Frederick said there's a lot for both countries to work with each other.

"In both countries, we have different causes of cancer and different incidences of cancer. Ultimately, we could learn from each other in a collaborative way," he said. "What we should be focused on is collaboration. I think when we focus on collaboration, we're going to amplify everybody's humanity. I think competition is not going to get as far as, and as fast as collaboration would."

A practicing cancer surgeon, Frederick noted that lots of techniques that U.S. surgeons use today were initially developed in China and vice versa. "So it has not been unusual in the medical field, especially in surgery, for us to share that information back and forth, and that ultimately has benefited patients," he said. Enditem

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