Featured Articles
Read our latest stories on the people and scientific innovations making a difference in patients’ lives.
Real People
5 Inspiring STEM Women Who are Making Medicine Happen
Numbers don’t lie, so the saying goes. And in the United States, statistics about women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) seem to speak less than impressive volumes of truth. Here are the facts: In 2021, only 24% of people working in the United States held jobs in a STEM field1. And while women made up 50.5% of the total U.S. population2, they accounted for only 35% of people employed in STEM jobs.1 Moreover, out of the 24% of all people who worked in STEM1, 65% of...
Living & Wellbeing
What is Sarcoidosis?: Your Questions Answered
Imagine waking up one morning and finding tender, red bumps all over your skin. Your vision is a bit blurry, so you check your eyes in the mirror. They’re red and teary. Is it allergies? Weeks go by, but you don’t get any better. One day, you feel feverish and short of breath, and you notice that your lymph nodes are swollen. Something is amiss. You make a doctor’s appointment, but the symptoms miraculously vanish. The cycle repeats for years as you bounce from doctor to doctor, taking...
Programs & Initiatives
A Billion Doses Delivered: 3 Lessons from the Fight Against Trachoma
Credit: Brent Stirton/Getty Images for ITI Imagine an infection that causes your eyelids to turn inward, so that your lashes—intended to protect your eyes—scrape against the sensitive outer surface of your eye every time you blink. The pain is excruciating and constant. Your eyes water. Your lashes scratch and scar your cornea, the clear tissue covering your eye. Your vision becomes increasingly hazy. That’s reality for nearly two million people. According to the World Health Organization (WHO...
Living & Wellbeing
How to Dispose of Unused Medicine Responsibly to Protect the Environment
Would it surprise you to learn that taking prescription medication is part of the daily routine for an estimated 60% of adults in the United States?1 Each prescription comes with extensive instructions about how to take the medication but offers little guidance on how to dispose of unused medicine. Responsible medication disposal is important. Improper disposal of unused or expired medications has the potential to result in pharmaceuticals getting into the environment.2 In fact, pharmaceuticals...
Science & Innovation
What Does mRNA Mean for the Flu Vaccine?
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, messenger RNA, or mRNA, has been in the spotlight for the critical role it’s playing in the first-ever approved mRNA vaccine.1 But in fact, Pfizer and BioNTech had entered into a worldwide collaboration agreement in 2018 to work on an mRNA vaccine for a different virus. “Pfizer's first partnership with BioNTech was to look at ways to develop a more effective flu vaccine,” says John McLaughlin, who is Vice President, COVID-19/Flu Vaccines & Antivirals Lead with...
Real People
Equitable Access to Multiple Myeloma Treatments Can Help Close the Survival Gap
Jennifer Flowers thought her pain and fatigue were a side effect of working out. Perhaps she’d pushed herself too hard or strained a muscle. But the pain persisted, so she scheduled an appointment with her doctor. Her diagnosis—multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer—was unexpected. “I was stunned,” Flowers says. “I’m a health-conscious professional and was exercising multiple times a week.” Her first thought, Flowers says, was “How long do I have to live?” Medical Innovations Extend...
Trusted Voices
Why Compliance Matters and Why Patients Should Care
In 2020, as pharmaceutical companies raced to develop a vaccine in record time, the public got a rare and exciting glimpse into an area of science that’s not usually in the spotlight: drug development. Clinical trials recruited hundreds of thousands of patients, while families in lockdown waited, hoping for regulatory approval of a COVID-19 vaccine that would change the course of the pandemic. Along the way, those who watched learned a lot about the technical processes involved in creating...
Purpose & Ideals
Equity in Advanced Prostate Cancer Care Begins with Changing the Conversation
Prostate health is not a popular topic of conversation. Even in healthcare settings, patients and providers might be hesitant to discuss prostate health or cancer screening. But talking openly is not only the key to destigmatizing an important topic, it’s one of the first steps in addressing global health inequities that impact those diagnosed with prostate cancer.“In the past 10 years, we have seen advances in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer (aPC), but some people are still being left...
Programs & Initiatives
Operation Eradication: The Global Health Community Comes Together to Defeat Meningitis by 2030
Bacterial meningitis strikes fast. Within hours, a fever, headache, nausea, and stiff neck can lead to brain damage, hearing loss, and other permanent disabilities, and potentially even death.1,2 Meningitis stems from infection in the fluid around the brain and spinal cord, causing inflammation to the membranes surrounding them, called meninges.1,3 Bacterial meningitis is the most common form of the illness. As its name suggests, bacteria like Haemophilus influenzae (type B), Streptococcus...
Purpose & Ideals
Patients’ Voices Shape the Drug Development Process Through a Preference Survey
Cory Lewis has sickle cell disease. Some days, the pain from the blood disorder hits him hard. Even on days without pain, he worries about his future and the health conditions that might arise. “It’s definitely 365 for me,” he says. As a program coordinator with Sick Cells, a sickle cell disease advocacy organization in Washington, D.C., Lewis regularly educates people about what it’s like to live with this disease—a rare, inherited condition, predominately (but not exclusively) impacting Black...
Programs & Initiatives
Three Pfizer Partnerships to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine into African Countries and Vaccinations into Arms
In 2020, as Pfizer and BioNTech were still developing the COVID-19 vaccine, Julie Jenson was thinking about how to distribute that vaccine to every country around the world, regardless of that country’s means. Jenson, who is Director of International Product Access for Pfizer’s Global Health and Social Impact Team, knew even in those early days that the ultracold storage demands and shipping requirements of the vaccine could pose challenges in reaching people living in remote areas of low- and...
Living & Wellbeing
Five Ways Climate Change Impacts Our Health—and What We Can Do About It
It took a split second, recalls Louise Proud. Something in the air triggered an asthma attack in her 18-month-old daughter. The baby’s lips turned blue as Proud rushed her to the hospital in a panic. Thankfully, the healthcare team helped the child breathe normally, and she was back to herself quickly. But Proud’s sense of safety and stability didn’t snap back so readily. For her, it was a moment of realization about how the environment and health are intimately linked. Proud, who is Vice...
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