Health Leaders Talk Expanding Access to Specialty Care

When there are breakthrough technologies like xenotransplants, or novel cancer therapies, they’re transformative for diseases and conditions once thought incurable—but they can only save lives if the people that need them can access them. On September 10, TIME hosted the third annual TIME100 Health Leadership Forum in New York City, bringing together the TIME and TIME100 Health communities to discuss equity, longevity, and solution-driven care. The evening featured five expert panels, including The Access Gap: Expanding Pathways to Life-Saving Care. Moderated by TIME senior health correspondent Alice Park, the panel invited faculty physicians specializing in cell therapies from Oregon Health & Science University and Penn Medicine to take part in conversation with Amy Ronneberg, chief executive officer of NMDP, a global nonprofit connecting patients with lifesaving cell therapies and transplants. NMDP is a sponsor of the 2026 TIME100 Health Leadership Forum.While modern science has solved some access issues, others still remain. “If we go back six years, the biggest barrier was the fact that there were not donors to match,” says Ronneberg. “As more patients have a donor, we now ...