The "Elevate" by MAPS Podcast

When you think about innovation in Medical Affairs, perhaps the first things that come to mind are GenAI or maybe new approaches to KOL network mapping. But what about innovation in the ways we approach the profession itself? What about innovation in how we continue to evolve our own skills and understanding of our roles in industry and beyond? Here we speak with Tim Mikelhashvili, CEO of Amedea Pharma about innovation in Medical Affairs leadership -- and innovation for leaders. We also look forward to Tim's 2024 Medical Affairs Innovation Olympics. Enter your innovative idea now or register to attend!

A PubMed search on the day this was written finds 36,735 new publications in the last 24 hours. Adding the word “oncology” narrows the number to 4,334. Substituting “lung cancer” for “oncology” results in 534 articles. How many of these do you think your HCPs and KOLs will be able to read before the next batch of publications comes out tomorrow? This is to say that publishing a scientific study or article can feel like squeezing an eyedropper into the ocean and it is the job of the publication’s team to ensure this drop-in-the-ocean has impact — especially when publishing a study with the potential to change clinical practice. Here we learn practical tips straight from the source – namely, experts at Wiley. How can you translate peer-reviewed publications to clinical impact? How can licensing extend (or perhaps restrict…) the reach of published research? How can publications be leveraged as the hub of an omnichannel approach? Listen to learn more.

Is there a correlation between a higher journal impact factor and increased reach and engagement? The answer has always been, "Of course!" But now with companies driving their own engagement, and alternatives to the journals becoming more mainstream and accepted everyday, the answer is more nuanced. Join our expert guests from Digital Science to discuss the NEW metrics of journal publication.

In this podcast, we discuss a data-driven approach for optimizing congress planning and execution. MAPS speaks with experts from United Therapeutics and Veeva for tips on finding the right events, effectively engaging the right experts, and enabling medical teams to do more with less.

When Medical Affairs was a support function, it was enough to count the actions we performed to aid the missions of our collaborators in Commercial and R&D. Now that Medical is a strategic partner alongside these other functions, we must measure and message our OWN mission. But how can we draw a line of causality or at least contribution from actions to impact? Here we speak with Diana Morgenstern, MD, Fellow of the American College of Physicians, member of the MAPS EvGen Domain Team, and Executive Strategist in the IQVIA US Medical Affairs Center of Excellence, and Javier Lopez-Molina, MBA, Senior Director of in the US Medical Affairs Center of Excellence, IQVIA about exactly this challenge. And we ask a very important question: now that we appreciate the need to demonstrate impact and technologies exist that allow us to measure impact...what's holding us back?

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. 

Modern scientific storytelling is about more than data dissemination — it's about creating meaning for the audience, and as such (as any good bard on the stool of a Medieval tavern knows) it requires truly understanding the audience's motivations and needs. However, scientific storytelling goes further. Our goals are not fiction nor purely entertainment — it's helping HCPs and KOLs make patients lives better. Here we talk about this approach with Murali Gopal, Vice President and Head of Medical Affairs at Phathom Pharmaceuticals and Dave Gulezian, co-Founder and CEO at Alucio. And we ask what is the ONE thing a company must implement in their transformation from the 40-slide deck to modern scientific storytelling. Spoiler alert: They actually agree and it's something that doesn't require budget.

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 Leaders

Article: 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.