La Plata – Professor Mario Plebani, former Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology at the University of Padua and former President of its School of Medicine, has received two prestigious international honours within the space of a few days. Plebani has been appointed Honorary Professor at the National University of La Plata, where he has also been invited to deliver the plenary lecture at the CALIILAB Congress this November, one of Latin America's leading conferences dedicated to laboratory medicine. The appointment was unanimously approved by the Board of the University's Faculty of Exact Sciences. Laboratory medicine is undergoing rapid transformation, driven in large part by advances in artificial intelligence. Researchers therefore play a crucial role in introducing and managing AI-driven innovation, ensuring that these technological developments translate into tangible benefits for both patients and healthcare systems. With more than 1,550 scientific publications, an h-index of 132, and prestigious honours including the AACC Award for Outstanding Clinical Laboratory Contributions to Patient Safety, the IFCC Distinguished Award for Laboratory Medicine and Patient Care, and most recently the Roman Lecture Award 2025 from the Australasian Association for Laboratory Medicine, Plebani is recognised as one of the world's foremost authorities in laboratory medicine. The latest honour was quickly followed by another appointment on 27 July in Salt Lake City, where he was named Global Editorial Director of the publishing division of the Project Santa Fe Foundation. In this role, he will oversee the launch of the new journal Value-Based Care and Population Health Diagnostic Journal. "This appointment marks a major milestone in the Project Santa Fe Foundation's mission to transform laboratory medicine, moving from a reactive model centred on reporting test results to a proactive, predictive approach to population health management," the Foundation said in announcing the appointment. "Professor Plebani brings unparalleled global stature to this role." (9colonne)