Jennifer Carlson loves the intricacies, fine points and bigger pictures of public policy. “That’s what drives me, the progress we’ve made and what we can offer our patients through better public policy,” says The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center associate vice president for external relations and advocacy in the Office of Health Sciences. Carlson and her team work with and advise senior OSUCCC – James leaders on local, state and federal regulations as well as strategies to help researchers and physicians better serve their patients and extend treatment to underserved populations. Watch the video player above or listen to our Cancer-Free World Podcast to learn more about cancer public policy. One of those strategies drives The James Cancer Drug Repository Program, which accepts donations of unused medications from patients, pharmacies, hospitals and non-profit clinics to be re-dispensed to patients who cannot afford their treatment. “This is so important because some drugs can cost thousands per month,” Carlson says. “It’s quite common for patients to change medications or switch doses, and before, these medications would have been disposed of.” The OSUCCC – James is the first cancer hospital in Ohio to offer this service to patients. “We’ve had this wonderful history of advocating strategies that help our patients,” Carlson says. Another recent initiative of Carlson and her team was the introduction of a bill that would ensure immediate access to treatment for stage IV cancer patients in Ohio. The goal is to eliminate what are known as “fail first” provisions that force patients to try their insurers’ preferred drugs initially prior to receiving the necessary financial coverage for different therapies prescribed by treating physicians. The bill is currently before the Ohio state legislature. “At The James, about 20 percent of the patients we see have stage IV cancer, which means it has traveled to other parts of the body,” Carlson says. Studies have shown that tailored approaches to patients’ specific types of cancer and mutations lead to better cancer control and fewer side effects for those who qualify for newer, molecularly driven targeted therapies. “Insurers should not be allowed to override the physician’s choice of treatment,” Carlson says. “Stage IV cancer patients should not be denied access, and care should not be delayed because they have to go through a fail-first procedure.” Moving the public policy needle forward and helping patients is what drives Carlson. “I know we can do even more to help people.”