Health misinformation is a critical threat to global public health. It erodes confidence in vaccines and medicines, fuels pandemic denialism, promotes unproven treatments, and undermines public health efforts. Medical Affairs sits at the centre of this challenge. We have a clear ethical responsibility to ensure patients make informed, evidence-based decisions about their care, and to equip healthcare professionals with the information and tools needed to address misinformation in the clinical setting. However, this approach carries inherent time and resource limitations.

In this episode, we explore the role of Digital Opinion Leaders (DOLs) as a core pillar of modern healthcare communications. DOLs have the power to shape conversations, steer search behaviours, and can either amplify misinformation or help correct it. We examine the different DOL profiles and personas, discuss best practices for building effective long-term partnerships that leverage their individuality, preferences, and regional specificities, and consider how DOL engagement should be embedded into medical and cross-functional planning.

We will draw on early insights from an ongoing pilot in Sub-Saharan Africa, analysing how patients and healthcare workers use social platforms and messaging apps – enabling us to identify trusted DOLs we can partner with to design effective health education and advocacy programmes.  

On today's MAPS "Elevate" episode, we'll deep dive into how Medical Affairs professionals can strengthen their business knowledge, expand their influence across organizations, and position themselves for executive leadership. Through personal stories and practical advice, our speakers reveal how. through working with and absorbing business acumen, they are helping people become more effective and more strategic leaders, and rising within their organizations.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this podcast, listeners will learn:

1. Why business acumen is important
2. What the balance is between business and medical needs
3. What motivates companies to develop and commercialize a new medicine
4. How Medical Affairs adds value
5. What qualities make a great partner

Speakers:

Moderator: Michael Kahn, Executive Director, Medical Excellence, Amicus Therapeutics

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kahnmichael/

Speaker 1: René Russo, PharmD, President & CEO, Xilio Therapeutics

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rene-russo-7488966/

Speaker 2: Ruth du Moulin, PhD, SVP Medical Affairs, Xilio Therapeutics

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-du-moulin-phd-472b843/

Learning Objectives:

After listening to this episode, the audience will be able to:  

1. Describe how a Medical Affairs organization prioritized and implemented AI use cases to address HCP needs through faster, more intuitive, conversational engagement with medical content.
2. Identify key considerations for scaling external-facing AI solutions in Medical Affairs, including compliance, governance, and long-term sustainability.

How can Medical Affairs Professionals connect teams, harmonize processes, and enable consistent, high-quality scientific communications?

In today's podcast episode, experts from our Medical Information FAWG explore what it really means to build a truly global medical information function to reach customers across the regions.

For years, patient involvement in drug development was limited to trial participation and post-approval education. But things are evolving. Patients today aren’t just participants—they actively co-build the healthcare ecosystem.

In today's podcast episode, experts from the MAPS Scientific & Technical Knowledge Domain dive into a topic that’s transforming clinical development: Patient engagement.

In the first episode of our series on innovation in Medical Affairs, we focused on the mindset that allows ideas to flourish and on why innovation matters at all. So where do we go from here...

How do we move from ideas to implementation? How do we build systems that make innovation repeatable, measurable, and scalable?

In today's podcast episode, experts from the MAPS Leadership and Management Domain dive deep into the topic of how to convert great ideas into real world value for patients, physicians, and in general, the health care ecosystem.

Medical Affairs is evolving faster than ever. It demands not only execution, but imagination. In fact, innovation in Medical Affairs isn't just needed. It's already happening, and we have the responsibility to guide it with intention.

In today's podcast episode, our speakers explore the foundations of innovation and how having an innovative mindset can help fuel a curious and collaborative Medical Affairs organization to reach new goals.

Join us for a fun look back at the top publications of 2025 — and info your publications team can use to find success beyond only impact factor and citations in 2026.

In this podcast, lead by members of the MAPS Business Knowledge Domain, our experts will:

1. Recognize marketing terminology and implications for Medical Affairs activities
2. Identify the relevance of market analysis for business decision-making
3. Define the importance of competitor analysis and forecasting in marketing and sales
4. Recall the value of cross-functional perspectives in decision-making
5. Outline the consequences of non-compliance in pharmaceutical activities
6. Provide a perspective on how Medical Affairs can bring value to marketing and sales organizations

This three-part podcast explores how Medical Affairs leaders can navigate and lead through disruption with clarity, structure, and resilience.

We explore how to construct and lead an agile, cross-functional crisis team. From defining roles to ensuring aligned decision-making across Medical, Regulatory, and Commercial functions, this episode emphasizes rapid coordination, internal trust, and shared accountability under pressure.