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.

A highly respected patient advocacy organization with a trusted identity and decades of impact made a bold decision to change – the reasons behind this decision matter for every organization.

For many advocacy leaders, brand identity is deeply tied to trust and recognition. But as science evolves and patients’ needs become more complex, organizations must ask themselves: are we reaching all the patients we’re meant to serve?

In this episode of Patient Advocacy Voices, host Eric Racine is joined by Anders Kolb, President and CEO of Blood Cancer United, alongside returning co-host Elizabeth Franklin of Sanofi. Together, they explore one of the most difficult and necessary decisions an organization can make: transforming an already strong identity to better serve patients.

What may look like a simple rebrand is, in reality, a story of leadership, courage, and a deep commitment to patients. Dr. Kolb shares both his professional journey as a pediatric oncologist and his personal connection to blood cancer. He reveals how data, listening, and lived experience uncovered a critical gap: too many patients did not see themselves reflected or served by the organization. This resulted in a strategic change from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to Blood Cancer United, a name and movement designed to be more inclusive, more representative, and expand access and support for everyone affected by blood cancer.

In this episode, you’ll gain insights on:

• How to recognize when your organization’s mission has outgrown its brand
• How to make a bold, forward-looking decision by reading the right signals
• Why inclusive language helps more patients feel seen, supported, and connected
• How to tie culture, strategy, and success metrics around real patient impact
• Ways to lead a large-scale organizational change

This episode reveals how proactive leadership decisions can transform an organization to expand its impact, remove barriers, and ultimately connect more patients to the support they need when it matters most.

How can patient advocacy leaders ensure that artificial intelligence truly serves the people it is meant to help?

As AI rapidly reshapes the healthcare system, patient advocates have both an opportunity and responsibility to influence how these technologies are designed, governed, and implemented to transform patient health.

In this episode of Patient Advocacy Voices, host Eric Racine welcomes back Randy Rutta, President and CEO of the National Health Council (NHC), alongside Fabrice Bocquillon, Global Head of Digital Patient Experience at Sanofi, for a timely conversation on AI, innovation, and patient-centered leadership. Together, they explore how AI is being applied across healthcare, from accelerating drug discovery to improving disease diagnosis and enhancing how patients navigate care and access support. They discuss what it will take to ensure patients are not just beneficiaries of AI innovation but also active partners in shaping it.

In this episode, you’ll gain insights on:

• Why patient groups must actively shape the future of AI in healthcare
• Ways that AI can help reduce friction across the patient journey
• What “responsible AI” means including fairness, transparency and accountability
• How patient advocates can collaborate with tech innovators, policymakers, and other health system players to ensure AI is patient-informed from design to deployment
• How NHC’s Patient Experience + Innovation Center (PXI) is creating new pathways for patient groups and technology innovators to work together

This is a pivotal leadership moment for the patient advocacy community. This episode is a call for advocacy leaders to engage, ask critical questions, and help set the standards that ensure AI truly benefits patients while remaining ethical, transparent, and grounded in lived experiences.

How do we rebuild trust in vaccines when fear and misinformation stand in the way, especially for autistic individuals and their families?

In this episode of Patient Advocacy Voices, host Eric Racine is joined by co-host Heather Entenmann, U.S. Public Health Engagement Lead at Sanofi, for a thoughtful conversation on vaccine confidence, trust, and inclusion. Together, they welcome two leading voices in public health and advocacy: Danielle Hall, former Vaccine Education Lead at the Autism Society of America, and Dr. Kelly Moore, President and CEO of Immunize.org.

Drawing on lived experience, decades of public health leadership, and frontline advocacy work, the conversation explores why the long-debunked myth linking vaccines and autism continues to persist, and why rebuilding trust requires more than facts alone. The discussion highlights how healthcare experiences, sensory needs, anxiety, and empathy all play critical roles in shaping vaccine decisions, and what advocacy leaders and providers can do differently to better support autistic individuals and their families.

In this episode, you’ll gain insights on:

• Why misinformation about vaccines and autism endures, and how to address it with empathy, not judgment
• How healthcare experiences and sensory needs influence vaccine confidence in the autism community
• Practical ways providers and vaccination sites can reduce anxiety and create more inclusive, respectful experiences for immunizations in any disease area
• How advocacy organizations, healthcare professionals, and trusted messengers can counter misinformation by leading with empathy and authenticity

This conversation is a powerful reminder that rebuilding trust in public health starts with listening, understanding lived experiences, and meeting people where they are, because confidence is built not just through evidence, but also through empathy.

2025 was a year of transformative change and opportunity across the patient advocacy community, Sanofi, and for patients.

In this special year-end episode, host Eric Racine, joined by Adam Gluck, Head of U.S. & Global Specialty Care Corporate Affairs, and all Sanofi Season 2 co-hosts, revisit the most powerful conversations and lessons from the 2025 season while exploring the year’s defining theme, transformation. We are living through an unprecedented moment where sweeping shifts in healthcare policy, groundbreaking AI capabilities, and breakthrough scientific advances are unfolding at the same time, creating both extraordinary opportunity and profound responsibility to ensure these developments truly improve patients’ lives.

Eric and the team surface insights on how patient advocacy organizations and Sanofi are rising up to meet this incredible moment. Together they recall key lessons from advocacy leaders across immunology, lung health, vaccines, mental health, rare diseases, maternal health, and more. Learn how collaboration, co-creation, and patient integration can help organizations transform capabilities and deliver more impact for patients.

In this episode, you’ll gain insights to:

• Uncover transformation opportunities during this time of rapid shifts in healthcare, policy, technology, and science
• Adapt new tools and engagement models to better meet the needs of patient communities
• Scale community-centered programs creatively, from helplines to peer networks and proactive outreach
• Strengthen collaborations across advocacy groups, policymakers, and industry to drive meaningful change
• Accelerate the “last mile” between scientific breakthroughs and real-world patient access
• Embrace continuous learning and mindset shifts that are essential for organizational transformation that delivers results

As we close out the year, we’re grateful to every patient advocacy leader whose insights helped us renew our commitments and elevate our performance for patients moving forward into 2026. Looking ahead, the pace of change will only accelerate, but so will our collective ability to anticipate and respond, guided by the advocates who inspire and inform this work. We’re excited to build on this momentum next season with new conversations, fresh discoveries, and more lessons that move us closer to a healthcare system that truly works for every patient.

What does it take to move beyond patient-centric slogans and truly integrate patient voices across every part of a global organization?

In this episode, host Eric Racine is joined by Michael Osso, President & CEO of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, along with Sanofi leaders from around the world: Kersten Sharrock, Amy Akers-Teets, Catherine Coulouvrat, and Nick Taylor. Together, they explore how Sanofi’s Patient Community Promise initiative is transforming culture, clinical research, and collaboration – with measurable results and lessons for patient advocacy leaders.

In this episode, you’ll hear insights on:

• Why co-creation and global collaboration are key to accelerating meaningful innovation
• How data, digital tools, and real-world evidence are changing the way research reflects patients’ priorities
• What it takes to simplify processes and make partnerships easier and more impactful
• How to measure progress in patient engagement and why transparency builds trust
• The power of persistence and intentionality in making patient integration more than a promise

Tune in to hear how Sanofi, in collaboration with advocacy organizations like the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, is redefining what it means to listen, act, and co-create a healthcare system that truly works for patients.

How does an advocacy organization with a historic legacy transform and lead on the most pressing issues facing its constituents today?

Host Eric Racine and co-host Robin Johnson sit down with Cindy Rahman, President & CEO, and Erin Jones, Senior Director Legislative & Strategic Counsel, at March of Dimes. From its historic role in eradicating polio to its modern fight for the health of all moms and babies, March of Dimes evolves by mobilizing data, storytelling, and collaboration to drive meaningful change in maternal and infant care.

In this episode you’ll gain insights on how to:

• Stay mission-driven in a rapidly changing environment by empowering your teams to engage in the community and share ideas
• Activate and sustain a nationwide network of advocates and volunteers whose voice and efforts make a difference
• Deploy partnerships and hyper-local collaborations to build trust and address healthcare gaps
• Leverage data and patient storytelling for effective advocacy and policy change

Tune in to hear how March of Dimes turned its deep-rooted history into forward-looking advocacy and solutions, and learn about capabilities to help your organization make an impact in this dynamic healthcare environment.

When patients are living with a misunderstood condition, and healthcare providers may not always have the answers, advocacy organizations have the power to step in and help close the gaps. In this episode, host Eric Racine and co-host Elizabeth Franklin sit down with Caroline Kruse, President & CEO of the Platelet Disorder Support Association (PDSA), whose personal experience with ITP, a rare autoimmune disease, profoundly shapes how she leads. From helping patients and clinicians recognize ITP sooner, to connecting patients, engaging in R&D, and advocating for patient-focused policies, PDSA is powered by a team of people with lived experience.

In this episode you’ll hear insights on how to:

• Amplify disease awareness through storytelling and creative outreach
• Overcome the challenge of educating healthcare providers about a misjudged disease
• Build connections that transform patient isolation into patient empowerment
• Contribute to the leading edge of innovation by generating patient data and bringing patients’ perspectives directly to the scientific community

Whether you work in a rare disease area or any underserved patient community, this conversation offers fresh ideas and practical approaches for expanding your organization’s reach and impact.