Amidst a hectic year for global health, several prominent figures at the forefront of innovation and policy-making convened on Thursday evening for the TIME100 Health Impact Dinner.
The list recognizes a varied assembly of scientists, physicians, advocates, educators, and other innovators who are at the vanguard of developing groundbreaking treatments, enhancing healthcare access, and raising consciousness about new public health challenges. The event included a and concluded with a series of toasts by four honorees, who addressed the significance of sustained health funding, reframing the narrative on aging, and promoting altruism to assist those with medical needs.
Investing in health
Dr. Kiran Musunuru, director of the Genetic and Epigenetic Origins of Disease Program at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, delivered the evening’s first toast. He utilized a customized CRISPR treatment to modify a mutation that transformed a severe genetic disease in an infant named KJ into a controllable condition.
Nevertheless, he emphasized that this remarkable achievement was built upon decades of prior research, including milestones such as the Human Genome Project, rapid whole-genome sequencing, CRISPR gene editing, lipid nanoparticle development, and RNA technology—the life’s work of numerous unsung scientists.
“We are merely one link in an extensive chain… and naturally, none of that chain could have been created without robust federal government backing” and financial support from the National Institutes of Health, he stated. “The professional staff at the Food and Drug Administration were equally crucial, collaborating closely with us to achieve the proper equilibrium of scientific rigor, adaptability, and expediency in developing KJ’s therapy.”
With medicine and healthcare entering an exciting phase, “this is not the moment to ease up on progress,” he remarked.
An alternative narrative for aging
The evening’s second toast was presented by a gerontologist who created the term “joyspan” to transform perspectives on aging. “The real tragedy of aging isn’t that we grow old and pass away. It’s that this journey is often made needlessly, and sometimes agonizingly, painful and degrading,” she stated. While this storyline propels the profitable, fear-driven anti-aging market, she encourages us to envision a different approach.
“If those of us fortunate enough to be aging while also caring for aging individuals can recognize and honor the capabilities and contributions of older adults, instead of succumbing to the illusion of eternal youth and immortality,” she said, “we can address the formidable issues confronting our country.”
Shrinking the kidney transplant waiting list
An actor and director, who last year donated a kidney to an anonymous recipient at the top of the transplant list, concluded the dinner with a final toast promoting awareness about selfless organ donation that could benefit over 90,000 individuals awaiting kidney transplants. “I must admit I’m likely the least intelligent person present and the most unqualified to speak,” he said, yet he concentrated on his direct experience with the “risk-free” procedure of his donation, which he felt compelled to pursue after learning about such donations through a podcast.
“I’ve never encountered anyone or read any interview where someone struggled with this choice… It was consistently: ‘I discovered it and registered,'” he observed. “This leads me to question whether the challenge isn’t persuading people to act, but rather identifying those who are already willing.”
“That’s why I wanted to address you tonight—and momentarily enlist this assembly of exceptionally bright individuals—because I believe there’s no better-suited group to determine how to connect with these potential donors, how to reduce that staggering figure of 90,000 down to nearly nothing.”
The TIME100 Impact Dinner: Leaders Shaping the Future of Health was brought to you by Novartis and Aster DM Healthcare.
