The "Elevate" by MAPS Podcast

Carolina Lau, Associate VP at United Therapeutics, and Sonia Rivera, VP at Veeva Link, dive into the art of optimizing medical congresses. They share strategies for selecting the right events and enhancing collaboration across teams. The conversation covers the vital role of technology and data in maximizing engagement with Key Opinion Leaders. They emphasize the importance of strategic planning post-COVID and innovative approaches that leverage real-time insights for impactful conference outcomes.

Diana Morgenstern, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and an Executive Strategist at IQVIA, alongside Javier Lopez-Molina, Senior Director at IQVIA, delve into the critical need for measuring the impact of Medical Affairs. They discuss the transition from a support role to strategic leadership, exploring the challenges of demonstrating measurable outcomes. Highlighting advancements in machine learning for attribution, they emphasize a holistic approach to data-driven evaluations and advocate for embracing change in mindset and tools within the industry.

As Medical Affairs professionals, many of us have moved from first careers in academia or healthcare. What did your colleagues say when you told them you were transitioning to pharma? Did they say you were going to the "dark side"? In this episode, we speak with Robert Atkinson, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and author of the recently published book, Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths About Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today’s Innovation Economy. And we explore the origins of negative opinions of the pharmaceutical industry, and whether a for-profit model can support both innovation and the society's best interests. 

Murali Gopal is the Vice President and Head of Medical Affairs at Phathom Pharmaceuticals, known for his expertise in modernizing scientific storytelling. Dave Gulezian is the Co-Founder and CEO at Alucio, contributing insights on implementation in organizations. They discuss the importance of understanding audience needs in scientific storytelling, emphasizing two-way engagement with healthcare professionals. They reveal a crucial strategy for transforming communication without requiring a budget, highlighting the shift towards more personalized narratives that improve patient care.

We know the expectations of our job and we likely know the purpose of our organization. But what is the purpose of your role? What is the golden thread that guides your work? Does it connect to your personal purpose, your organization's purpose or both? Here we speak with Jill Donahue, author of the recently published (free!) book, "A Dose of Inspiration: 100 Purpose Stories from Pharma Leaders" about the individual and organizational benefits of discovering your purpose as an employee in the Life Sciences industry — as well as previewing some of the purpose stories Jill uncovered while writing the book.Links:A Dose of Inspiration: 100 Purpose Stories from Pharma LeadersArticle: Tired of Being Told You Went to the Dark Side?

Continuing Medical Education (CME) is transitioning from in-person, day-long seminars to bite-sized, virtual, learn-at-your-own pace courses. Here we talk with experts from Wiley and the world of consulting about new directions in CME — and how to address the continuing need for social learning and perceived authority even as we make information more consumable. 

Many of us think about machine learning and AI as a way for an audience to get information: We ask ChatGPT a question and it provides the answer. Here we explore machine learning as a way to get information about an audience — both audience segments/personas and individuals within these groups. We also discuss the limitations and data privacy concerns that distinguish what we "could" know from what we "should" discover. And it turns out machine learning is not just a tool for mining he external environment, but also a way to make sense of a company's internal data to discover hidden experts and resources within the company.

Join Matt Lewis, a generative AI expert, as he explores the transformative impact of AI on medical communications. He dives deep into prompt engineering, emphasizing its critical role in shaping AI outputs. The conversation unpacks challenges like bias, misinformation, and ethical concerns, urging interdisciplinary collaboration for better results. Matt also discusses the creative applications of AI, and the importance of training teams to recognize and mitigate hallucinations in generative AI, ensuring trustworthy and effective communication in healthcare.

In this podcast, we delve into the world of omnichannel strategies in Medical Affairs, where understanding your audience's educational needs and communication preferences is pivotal for delivering relevant and engaging data dissemination. Join us as we explore how to develop effective communications by leveraging various sources of audience understanding, and how to translate information into actionable insights. Discuss what the gold standard for insights could look like and highlight practical suggestions for how to yield robust insights while navigating common challenges often associated with using insights. This podcast provides an overview into the multifaceted process of understanding your audience and explains the complexities and opportunities within the Medical Affairs space to ensure that your communications resonate with your audience, and ultimately, support their educational goals.

Sonal Bhatia, Chief Medical Officer for rare disease at Pfizer, shares her insights on the groundbreaking role of AI in medical affairs. She discusses how AI tools are revolutionizing clinical practices and transforming patient outcomes by enhancing diagnostic accuracy and streamlining workflows. The conversation delves into AI's potential in drug development and clinical trials, highlighting its ability to identify rare disease patients and improve collaboration across medical teams. Get ready for an enlightening exploration of AI's future in healthcare!