Patient advocacy leaders work every day to make sure patient voices do more than get heard. They want those voices to shape decisions, improve care, guide research, and advance policies that affect patients’ lives. In this episode of Patient Advocacy Voices, we hear from an organization doing exactly that.

Host Eric Racine is joined by co-host Melissa Dupont, Global Public Affairs Lead, Neurology at Sanofi, for a conversation with Lisa Butler, President and CEO of the GBS-CIDP Foundation. Through patient listening, global expert collaboration, data generation, and advocacy, the GBS-CIDP Foundation is helping ensure that patient perspectives inform standards of care, research priorities, regulatory conversations, and the everyday support for people living with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP), and Multifocal Motor Neuropathy (MMN).

Lisa shares how her family's experience with GBS inspired a lifelong commitment to advocacy and explains how the Foundation is helping transform rare disease care by bringing patients into conversations from the very beginning. The discussion highlights how the Foundation combines peer connections, global medical expertise, data, advocacy, and research to support patients, establish common clinical language, partner with regulators, strengthen education, and advance research grounded in what matters most to patients.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• How patient input can shape research, clinical terminology, care standards, and regulatory conversations
• Ways to use registries, symptom tracking, and community engagement to identify unmet needs and guide research priorities
• Why patient-to-patient connection remains essential, even as digital tools and data become more important
• How partnerships with healthcare providers, industry, and regulators can accelerate innovation
• Why hope must be grounded in listening and paired with action to build a better future for patients as science and care continue to evolve

This episode offers a practical look at what it really means to embed patient advocacy across the full lifecycle of care and innovation. For advocacy leaders in any disease community, the conversation provides a powerful example of how patient experience can be turned into evidence, action, and lasting impact.

What does it take to make sure innovation, policy, and public health actually work for older adults? Too often, patients and caregivers face a hard path from diagnosis to treatment, shaped by Medicare complexity, out-of-pocket costs, communication gaps, and administrative barriers that get in the way of care.

In this episode of Patient Advocacy Voices, host Eric Racine is joined by co-host Katie Oppenheim, Head of US Government Relations at Sanofi, for a conversation with Sue Peschin, President and CEO of the Alliance for Aging Research. Together, they discuss how aging research, Medicare policy, vaccine education, and patient advocacy come together to shape access and outcomes for older adults.

Sue shares how the Alliance for Aging Research is working to change the narrative on healthy aging, advance evidence-based policy, and help patients better navigate the system. Drawing both on her leadership experience and her personal perspective as a caregiver, she offers practical insight into the barriers older adults face and what it takes to reduce them.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• How Medicare benefit design, affordability, and utilization management can affect real patient access
• Why aging research matters for chronic disease, infectious disease, and healthier lives as people age
• How advocacy organizations help translate complex policy changes into useful guidance for patients and families
• Why vaccine education and trusted communication still matter, especially for older adults
• What mission-driven leadership looks like during times of policy and public health change

This episode offers practical lessons for advocacy leaders, policymakers, and anyone working to make the healthcare system easier to navigate for older adults and caregivers.

When someone is diagnosed with cancer, the expectation is that care begins quickly and smoothly. In reality, many patients and caregivers find themselves navigating a complicated system, juggling access barriers, approvals, and logistics before treatment even begins.

In this episode of Patient Advocacy Voices, host Eric Racine is joined by Meagan O’Neill, Executive Director of the Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC), alongside co-host Rachel Solomon of Sanofi. Together, they explore how cancer care is shaped not just by scientific advances, but by the systems, operations, and local realities that determine whether patients can access timely, effective care.

Drawing on her background in oncology consulting and her personal experience as a caregiver for her mother, Meagan shares why so many of the biggest challenges in cancer care are structural rather than scientific. The conversation dives into the crucial role of community oncology, the operational gaps that delay access to care, and how ACCC is working to bridge the gaps between innovation and practical, everyday solutions for both providers and patients. With most cancer care delivered in community settings, advocacy leaders will learn about ACCC’s “how to” approach that helps close the gap between breakthrough science and real patient access.

In this episode, you’ll gain insights on:

• Why access to care is often determined by where a patient lives
• Non-clinical barriers to patient outcomes, including fragmented systems, administrative burden, and workforce shortages
• The critical role community care settings play in delivering the majority of care in the U.S.
• How collaboration across clinical centers, care teams, and advocacy organizations can reduce friction for patients and providers alike
• How data and patient stories together can drive more effective advocacy and system change

This episode is a timely reminder that improving patient care requires more than medical innovation alone. It takes practical solutions, stronger collaboration, and systems designed to help patients move through care with fewer delays and less burden. It also reveals how patient advocacy organizations can play a critical role in making this happen.