IIn 2018, we collaborated with Bill Gates to create a special issue of TIME dedicated to the power of optimism. Gates’ view, shared by many of the issue’s contributors, was that people are wired to focus when things go wrong, and when things go wrong. This attention can distract us from the moment we are making progress. Journalists fall prey to this phenomenon just like everyone else.
As I was putting this issue together, I remembered the conversation I had with Gates that led to that project. Led by Dr. David Agus and Arianna Huffington, a team of health correspondents and editors led by Emma Barker and Mandy Oaklander spent months consulting with sources and experts around the world. We’ve selected the 100 most influential people in the world of health. right now. The result is TIME100 Health, a community of scientists, physicians, advocates, educators, policy makers and other leaders from a variety of industries working to create tangible, authentic change for healthier people. I’m dedicated to that. Together they remind us that much is going well, and their work is enough to inspire belief that the world of health is in the midst of a golden age of achievement and transformation.
The global pandemic has made painfully clear the distance we still have to go to build a healthy and safe world, but our emergence from that period is a sign of the many ways humanity has progressed. It also sheds light on methods. New investment and attention is fueling a boom in drug discovery and disease eradication.
TIME100 Health includes a group of scientists such as Dan Drucker, Joel Habener, Jens-Juul Horst, and Svetlana Modisov, whose discoveries have led to GLP-1 weight loss drugs and diabetes drugs such as Ozempic. Ta. Khalid Kabir ran a program to eliminate hepatitis C infection from Egypt, even though just 10 years ago the country had one of the highest rates of hepatitis C infection in the world. French neuroscientist Grégoire Courtine and Swiss neurosurgeon Jocelyn Block have developed a brain-spinal implant that allows a paralyzed man to walk again. Peter Attia, your friend may be the reason he’s adopting a high protein diet.Jonathan Haidt’s book is a big hit anxious generation He is leading a campaign to ban mobile phones in schools and prevent children from accessing social media until they are 16. And immunobiologist Akiko Iwasaki, one of the leading researchers in long coronavirus research, has proposed an intranasal new coronavirus vaccine that she hopes will completely prevent infection and, ultimately, long-term symptoms. is being developed. Medical innovations like this list reflect humanity at its best. In other words, people are using all their wisdom and ingenuity to help each other improve their lives.
The introduction of TIME100 Health is part of our continued effort to expand TIME100, the world’s most influential community, into the areas most likely to define our future, including artificial intelligence, climate, and health. is. Whether you’re familiar with the people on this list or reading about them for the first time, their work is changing the lives of people in your community and around the world. We are excited to announce the first of his TIME100 Health and look forward to his New York City in May when this group will gather in person for the first time.