Leaders in life sciences identify key priorities in healthcare

Physicians, researchers, CEOs, reporters, and more gathered in downtown Boston Wednesday night to celebrate STAT’s 2024 STATUS List, which features 50 leaders in the life sciences. Members of this year’s list (and a few past honorees) spoke about what issues in their fields — ranging from investment to clinical research to bedside treatment — need to be prioritized in order to improve health care across the U.S. and the rest of the world.

Equity and inclusion were highlighted as key areas that need to be addressed to achieve true progress in medical science. Jonathan Jackson, executive director of Community Access, Recruitment, and Engagement Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, emphasized the need to divest research from elite institutions to prioritize the needs of marginalized populations. He criticized the tendency for researchers and advocates to offer the same solutions to institutions that do not prioritize these populations.

Similarly, Stuart Orkin, a professor at Harvard Medical School, pointed out the underinvestment in sickle cell research by powerful institutions such as the National Institutes of Health and the pharmaceutical industry for decades. He has unintentionally become an equity spokesperson after his research provided the blueprint for Vertex’s gene therapy for sickle cell disease, which disproportionately affects Black individuals. These discussions underscore the importance of addressing equity and inclusion in the life sciences to improve healthcare outcomes globally.