TIME on Wednesday released its first TIME 100 Next list, naming the 100 "rising stars who are shaping the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, science, health, and more."
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How TIME made the list
For 15 years, TIME has published an annual list of the 100 Most Influential people. However, in recent years, editors have observed that the list is increasingly dotted with people "who did not need an establishment to command international attention," TIME editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal writes. As such, TIME has engaged in an "ongoing expansion" of the TIME 100 franchise. The TIME 100 Next list is one such expansion, recognizing "rising stars," according to Felsenthal.
While many of the honorees are young, there was no age criteria for the list, according to Felsenthal.
TIME classified the 100 honorees into five broad categories:
- Advocates;
- Artists;
- Innovators;
- Leaders; and
- Phenoms.
Here are the 12 rising stars who are making a difference in health care:
Advocates
Amanda Nguyen: In 2013, Nguyen was raped in her dorm room at Harvard University and had to navigate what she called a "legal labyrinth" to seek justice, TIME reporter Abby Vesoulis writes. Since then, Nguyen has founded Rise, a nonprofit focused on legally empowering sexual assault victims. So far, Rise has helped with the passage of over 25 state and federal laws codifying civil rights for sexual violence survivors.
Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi: Five years ago, Osowobi dedicated herself to starting an organization to help provide resources for sexual assault survivors in Nigeria, TIME senior reporter Suyin Haynes writes. In that time, she started Stand to End Rape, which has reached about 200,000 people throughout Nigeria through services such as health worker training and survivor counseling.
Innovators
Sylvia Caballero: Caballero, a microbiologist and immunologist, worked at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to develop a type of lab mouse that can replicate the human systems affected by drug-resistant bacterial infections, TIME senior writer Jeffrey Kluger writes. Caballero was then able to utilize natural bacteria with the mice's guts to combat the infections. Now she works with Vedanta Biosciences, heading the company's multidrug-resistant organism decolonization program, aiming to help fight drug-resistant infections in humans like she was able to do in mice.
Mei Mei Hu: Hu is the CEO of United Neuroscience, which she co-founded in 2014 to find new ways to fight brain diseases, TIME staff writer Alice Park writes. With United, Hu is making strides to fight degenerative brain diseases using "a new class of endobody vaccines, which train the immune system to produce specific antibodies that some people naturally make against the toxic proteins that cause problems in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's," Park writes.
Keller Rinaudo: Rinaudo is the former CEO and co-founder of Zipline, a health startup that has overseen the development of medical goods delivery via drone, TIME correspondent Aryn Baker writes. Since its founding in 2014, Zipline has made more than 23,000 emergency deliveries across Rwanda, and plans to start making deliveries in the United States soon.
Nat Turner and Zach Weinberg: Turner and Weinberg together co-founded Flatiron Health, a company aimed at helping researchers track which cancer treatments work for patients using medical records data, TIME staff writer Jamie Ducharme writes. In 2016, Flatiron partnered with FDA to help improve drug research and was purchased by Roche in 2018 for nearly $2 billion.
Leaders
Pete Buttigieg: South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president. Steve Adler, the Democratic mayor of Austin, Texas, writes that he has watched Buttigieg "lead mayors across the country" for the past five years. "Other city leaders stop to listen to what he says and learn from what he does," Adler writes. On health care reform, Buttigieg in September unveiled his so-called "Medicare for All Who Want It" plan. Unlike other Medicare-for-All proposals, Buttigieg's plan would not eliminate private health insurance and would allow those who choose so to remain enrolled in their employer-sponsored or other private health plans.
Aly Raisman: A U.S. Olympian and one of the victims of former USA Gymnastics team physician Larry Nassar, Raisman has gone beyond gymnastics, speaking out against body shaming and "showing young women her confidence in who she is … giving a voice to thousands who struggle with the pressure to be perfect—to have the perfect body, to excel at everything they do and never show weakness," model and activist Ashley Graham writes.
Kyrsten Sinema: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is a veteran and a former Ironman competitor, alongside being a member of Congress, Mark Kelly, former candidate for the Senate from Arizona, writes. Sinema is "dedicated to making health care affordable and to serving our veterans, and laser-focused on things that keep families up at night," Kelly writes.
Francis Suarez: Suarez, the Republican mayor of Miami, "is a passionate advocate for the community he represents," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) writes. Rubio writes that Suarez has worked to solve "everything from sea-level resilience to solutions to gun violence" and that Suarez's "desire to serve his community has consistently guided the city toward a promising future."
Lauren Underwood: Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), an RN, last year became the youngest black woman ever elected to serve in Congress when she was elected to the House of Representatives, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) writes. Underwood has fought "for an end to the gun-violence epidemic; for an economy where everyone has access to opportunity; and for every person's right to quality, affordable health care, regardless of pre-existing conditions," Booker writes (2019 TIME 100 Next list, accessed 11/14; Felsenthal, TIME, 11/13).