ISMAI opens 1st journal special issue on medical AI governance, ahead of August EU AI Act obligation

DUBLIN - May 5, 2026 - PRLog -- The International Society of Medical AI (ISMAI) today opened the first special issue of the ISMAI Journal, on philosophy, integrity, and governance in medical AI, with submissions closing 31 July 2026, ahead of the EU AI Act's high-risk obligations entering application in August. The call follows ISMAI's inaugural symposium, SOPHIA 2026, convened on Thursday 30 April at the William Fry Theatre, Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin, in association with the UCD School of Philosophy.

The special issue draws on contributions across SOPHIA 2026's six tracks: Mind, Meaning and Machine Intelligence; Clinical Reasoning and AI in Practice; Trust, Expertise and Public Reason; Patient Voice and Human Dignity; Power, Policy and Governance; and Ethics, Responsibility and the Future of Care.
"A patient can be harmed even when no one was wrong. Medicine is action under uncertainty in the life of another human being, and that is what gives clinical decisions their moral weight."
Dr Omar Tujjar — President, ISMAI

Call for papers
Submissions are invited through the ISMAI Journal's established editorial sections, primarily Implementation and Governance in Health Systems and Ethics and Philosophy of Medical AI, and will be handled under the journal's peer-review process. The journal is published via Ubiquity Press at https://journal.ismai.org (E-ISSN 2978-8870).

SOPHIA 2026 brought together philosophers, ethicists, legal scholars, clinicians, and patient advocates to examine the moral, legal, and clinical foundations of artificial intelligence in medicine.

The opening keynote, The Moral Anatomy of Medicine, was delivered by Dr Omar Tujjar, Founder and President of ISMAI. The day closed with a final panel, Humane Medical AI: Trust, Responsibility and the Future of Care, moderated by Dr Leda Berio. Speakers contributed from the University of Limerick, KU Leuven, UMC Utrecht, John Cabot University in Rome, the Rome Bar Association, University College Cork, and University College Dublin, with a patient advocacy contribution from Marie Ennis-O'Connor, who shared, "As AI becomes more embedded in healthcare, it is already shaping decisions before patients reach a clinician. Patients are not just looking for answers; they are looking for care, and they retain the right to remain human within these systems."

About the ISMAI Journal

The ISMAI Journal (Journal of the International Society of Medical AI; E-ISSN 2978-8870) is the official peer-reviewed publication of the International Society of Medical AI, published via Ubiquity Press at https://journal.ismai.org. The journal provides a clinician-led, vendor-neutral venue for scholarship on the safe, ethical, and evidence-based integration of artificial intelligence into clinical practice, health systems, and biomedical research, organised across five editorial sections.

About ISMAI

The International Society of Medical AI (ISMAI) is the clinician-led, charity-governed professional society for the safe, ethical, and accountable use of medical artificial intelligence, grounded in European regulatory standards. ISMAI is registered as a non-profit in Ireland (RCNI 20206982; EU Transparency Register 281433223148-81), operates independently of political, economic, and commercial interests, and is governed by qualified medical professionals. ISMAI does not endorse, certify, rank, or evaluate specific AI products, systems, or vendors.