The nominations are in, the votes have been counted. After considerable debate, detailed analysis, and some inspiration from The Beatles, we present The Medicine Maker Power List 2015 – our index of the 100 most influential people in the field.
The list was developed in three stages. In stage one, we invited readers to nominate those who they thought deserved recognition. In stage two, a jury of four noted medicine makers (who prefer to remain anonymous) selected their top 100 from the slate of nominees: the results were consolidated into a list of 100 names. In the final stage, the jury ranked the list, and the average rankings were combined to provide the final Power List.
We make no claims that this is a definitive list – there really can be no such thing. We don’t expect that all of our 20,000 print and 60,000 online readers will agree with who’s on the list, let alone the order of the Top 20. So why make a list at all? In the immortal words of Kool and the Gang, it’s a celebration. We want to recognize the achievements of the field’s big hitters and unsung heroes alike – please do let us know of any glaring omissions you’d like to see recognized on the next list. I hope we can all agree on one thing: that celebrating the achievements of peers and colleagues is good for the industry.
There were some disappointments, with only eight women on this year’s list, and a lack of cultural diversity. We hope to see those statistics change over the years, and we would welcome your feedback on how we can better serve under-represented groups.
That said, we were pleasantly surprised by the huge range of sectors and job roles encompassed in your nominations. We asked you to cast your net wide, and you obliged, putting forward everyone from Nobel Prize-winning scientists to leaders of global corporations, not forgetting payers, philanthropists and entrepreneurs. They may not all be traditional medicine makers, working in pharmaceutical development or manufacturing, but they all contribute to bringing medicines to patients. And after all, that is what this industry, and The Medicine Maker, is all about.
To all those who participated, our thanks. To those who feel aggrieved, let us know. And to those who made it into the Top 100, congratulations! Finally, please enjoy The Power List!
Charlotte Barker
Editor
As an Editor at Texere, I’m working closely with our audience to create vibrant, engaging content that reflects the hard work and passion that goes into bringing new medicines to market. I got my start in biomedical publishing as a commissioning editor for healthcare journals and have spent my career covering everything from early-stage research to clinical medicine, so I know my way around. And I can’t think of a more interesting, challenging or important area to be working in.
