John Walsh

Impatient Patients: How Disease Organizations Are Accelerating Research

Margaret Anderson, Lou DiGennaro, Jonathan Simons, Gordon Gunn, Deborah Black, John Walsh

Representatives from Faster Cures and five major disease-focused nonprofits outlined how venture philanthropy and patient-led activism accelerate cures by de-risking early-stage research and navigating the "Valley of Death" between discovery and clinical application. Leaders from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Prostate Cancer Foundation, and the Alpha-1 Foundation detailed strategic investments that generated massive financial leverage and established critical infrastructure, such as patient registries and rapid autopsy programs, to overcome funding gaps and accelerate trial recruitment. The panel concluded that sustainable progress requires aligning academia, industry, and regulators while empowering patients to actively define research priorities and drive policy changes for faster approvals and reimbursement.