Yale Law School professor Natasha Sarin and surgical oncologist Vinod Balachandran have been featured in The Washington Post’s inaugural ‘Post Next 50’ list, recognizing emerging changemakers of 2025. This list highlights individuals whose contributions are expected to shape local, state, and national policies.
Natasha Sarin, a professor at Yale Law School and the Yale School of Management, was recognized for her influential research on public finance, financial regulation, and tax policy. Before joining Yale, she served as deputy assistant secretary for Economic Policy and later as a counselor to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at the U.S. Treasury Department.
During her government tenure, she observed that legislation was often assessed solely on cost without considering its long-term societal impact. To address this, she co-founded the Budget Lab at Yale, a research center aimed at expanding policy analysis beyond traditional cost estimates. The lab seeks to explore how investments in areas like early-childhood support can yield long-term benefits for society.
With the expiration of the first Trump administration’s tax cuts in 2025, Sarin’s work is expected to play a key role in the upcoming policy debates on wealth inequality and deficit reduction.
Vinod Balachandran, a surgical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), was recognized for his pioneering work in developing personalized mRNA vaccines for pancreatic cancer treatment. He serves as the founding director of The Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines at MSK, a hub for cutting-edge vaccine research.
Balachandran’s team conducted a landmark phase-1 clinical trial demonstrating that personalized mRNA vaccines targeting cancer-specific ‘neoantigens’ could trigger strong immune responses, potentially delaying pancreatic cancer recurrence. His groundbreaking research has spurred global interest in using mRNA technology for cancer treatment, paving the way for future advancements in immunotherapy.
Balachandran credited his team’s dedication, stating that their relentless efforts drive progress in developing new therapies for pancreatic and other deadly cancers.
