Perplexity forms health advisory board to guide AI medical information
TL;DR: AI search company Perplexity has created a Health Advisory Board staffed by practising physicians and researchers to shape its health product decisions. The board’s initial members include Dr Eric Topol, one of the most cited medical researchers globally. Perplexity also announced tools allowing users to input their own health data through its Perplexity Health platform.
Perplexity has appointed a panel of medical professionals to advise on content quality, patient safety and clinical workflows across its health-related AI products. The company framed the move as recognition that health information demands clinical rigour that most online search and social media platforms have historically failed to provide.
The Health Advisory Board will guide product decisions and help define what responsible AI-generated health information looks like in practice.
The founding members
The board launches with four members spanning cardiology, digital health, paediatrics and health technology:
Dr Eric Topol, a cardiologist and professor at Scripps Research, is the author of Deep Medicine and one of the most frequently cited medical researchers worldwide. His work covers genomics, digital medicine and AI in clinical care.
Dr Devin Mann leads digital health innovation at NYU Langone Health, focusing on chronic conditions and AI-assisted clinical workflows. Dr Wendy Chung, the Mary Ellen Avery Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, directs NIH-funded research in human genetics and rare diseases. Tim Dybvig brings experience building patient-facing health technology at scale.
Context and timing
The announcement comes alongside Perplexity’s launch of health data connectors, allowing users to input personal health information and build personalised dashboards through Perplexity Health and Perplexity Computer.
The timing matters. Earlier this month, the ECRI Institute placed AI diagnostic shortcomings at the top of its 2026 patient safety concerns, warning that over-reliance on AI tools risks reducing clinician vigilance. In the UK, the NHS has been cautiously exploring AI-assisted triage and diagnostic support, making the quality standards set by commercial AI platforms directly relevant to how patients arrive at GP consultations.
Looking forward
Perplexity says additional board members will be announced in the coming weeks. The company emphasises that its health tools are educational rather than diagnostic, with treatment decisions remaining between patients and their clinicians. For UK users, the question is whether advisory boards like this produce meaningful guardrails or serve primarily as credibility signals. The answer will depend on what the board actually changes in practice.