The 2025 STATUS List is LIVE

Dear Readers,

After months of vigorous, even heated, deliberations, I'm pleased to announce our 2025 STATUS List — our roster of leaders in health, medicine, and the life sciences whose work over the past year has made headlines.

To come up with 50 names for this fourth annual list, our editorial team painstakingly researched hundreds of finalists. The list is wide-ranging: from the biotech and health system executives who lead the market, to scientists developing AI technologies and breakthrough therapies, to patient advocates and activists.

These selections also reflect the leaders and powerbrokers of a new era in Washington. As such, we expect some of these choices to be controversial. For example, whether you agree with his policies or not, we could not imagine not including HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who arguably now has more impact on health and medicine than any other person.

Some are big names you've surely heard of; others are behind-the-scenes players. Some you may respect, and some you may not. What these 50 people have in common is their influence on our health care system, and why they're worth our readers' attention in the year ahead.

One note: Our news coverage is independent of this list, and we remain committed to tough-minded reporting on the people and institutions shaping life sciences.

While I have your attention, I want to point you to some of our vital coverage in recent days: Our whole newsroom has been energetically and authoritatively reporting on which senior FDA officials have left the agency; the potential legal challenges to mass layoffs at HHS; the ongoing battle over NIH cuts to research overhead payments for universities and academic medical centers; and the MAHA push for making soda ineligible for SNAP benefits.

Please consider purchasing a STAT+ subscription to gain full access to our exclusive stories and investigations you can't find anywhere else. Use code STAT15 for 15% off an annual subscription when you check out.

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As always, please reach out to me with feedback. I'm at rick.berke@statnews.com.