“It is necessary to sit on equal terms with health institutions, clinicians and scientific societies, to better design treatment pathways, innovative therapies and access to care in our region and in our country”. This is what Emanuele Monti, president of the IX Commission for Social Sustainability of the Lombardy Region, said during the event “The new role of patient associations in the health sector: the Patient Association Academy is born”, during which Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine presented a new model of collaboration between patient associations and civic organizations operating in different therapeutic areas.