Twenty-one years ago, when President Bill Clinton declared March as National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, he highlighted the importance of early detection in improving outcomes associated with the disease and pointed to the lack of identifiable symptoms as a major impediment to early diagnosis. As is always the case, many of the 130,000 colorectal cancers diagnosed in the U.S. that year were found after the cancers had progressed too far to be effectively treated.

As we seek to increase awareness of bladder cancer and the patients we serve, it is important to celebrate the enormous strides we have made in further understanding this disease. Recent scientific breakthroughs have resulted in novel treatments that have directly and positively impacted the lives of patients with bladder cancer. Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, with more than half a million people diagnosed in 2018. Unfortunately, in that same year, more than 200,000 have died from this terrible disease.

The lack of diversity in clinical trials has been recognized as a major impediment to healthcare equality for decades. Unfortunately, attempts to increase participation among underserved groups have not adequately altered the makeup of clinical trial populations to make them representative of the populations most likely to benefit from the interventions under investigation.

Growing up with atopic dermatitis and severe plaque psoriasis, Howard Chang frequently encountered negativity because of his skin. In addition to managing the discomfort and painful symptoms of plaque psoriasis, he also faced bullying that chipped away at his confidence and made him question his self-worth.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer death in men worldwide, with an incidence of approximately 1.4 million and mortality of approximately 375,000 annually. It’s these sobering statistics that motivate us to advance science and innovative therapies despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on research programs across the industry.

The Johnson & Johnson Our Race to Health Equity initiative aims to help increase access to health care, including clinical trials, for underserved and underrepresented communities. Better access to more effective treatments, and increased diversity among health care providers are goals we are determined to reach.

COVID-19 has been an ever-present part of our lives since 2020 and has altered nearly all the ways in which we interact with the world and with one another.

What does “innovation” mean to you?

We hear it so often in today’s world; it appears as though everyone is innovating. In fact, it would almost seem odd if a core pillar of a company’s mission wasn’t “innovation” or an “innovative approach.” It may be hard to pin down a definition because innovation isn’t often tied to a single tangible output.

Patients and advocates have asked me this question over the course of my career, especially those outside of the United States. The repetitive nature of the question shows there is an information gap regarding expanded access – one that needs to be filled.