The Thought Leaders Driving Thought Leader Select–A Blog Series: Lisa Smith

November 2, 2010 · 1 comment

Lisa Smith helped to start Thought Leader Select in 2006 with Paul Meade and Kristen Smithwick. As Executive Vice President of Research and Development, Lisa ensures the company’s highest research standards. She has years of experience leading research and consulting projects for the biopharmaceutical, diagnostic and healthcare industries. Through her work, Lisa has helped scores of companies improve thought leader engagement strategies and strengthen medical affairs, commercial and clinical development functions.

The Thought Leader Select Blog sat down with Lisa, the bedrock of Thought Leader Select’s industry-leading research, to learn more about her role within the company, what drives her at work and the extracurricular passions that make her unique.

TLS Blog: Good morning, Lisa. Why did you help to found Thought Leader Select?

Lisa Smith: I was working at Clear Point Health with Paul Meade on a variety of interesting projects for biopharmaceutical clients. One client, in particular, needed our help to understand how to make advisory boards more effective. Paul and I interviewed executives in several pharmaceutical companies and key opinion leaders to identify best practices in developing, planning and executing effective advisory board meetings. This work sparked our interest in thought leader engagement. Following our work on advisory board best practices, Paul and I helped the same client better engage a group of KOLs by devising an organized system ... read more »

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The Thought Leaders Driving Thought Leader Select: A Blog Series—Kristen Smithwick

May 6, 2010 · Leave a comment

Kristen Smithwick joined Thought Leader Select as its director of research operations in 2006. Kristen leads sales, marketing and strategic planning in her current role as vice president of the company. A 1998 graduate of Duke University, Kristen spent the first seven years of her career as manager of membership services at a North Carolina firm providing best practice benchmarking services to the biopharmaceutical, medical device, and health care industries.

The Thought Leader Select Blog recently sat down to catch up with Kristen Smithwick to learn about her background and how she makes her professional contribution to the work of Thought Leader Select.

TLS Blog:  Good morning, Kristen.  Tell us why you joined Thought Leader Select.

Kristen Smithwick:  After seven years working to help a small company grow its market share, I wanted a new, different challenge in my career.  I saw a great opportunity at Thought Leader Select—I loved the concept that Paul Meade and Lisa Smith (Thought Leader Select’s founders) had put together.  This concept—providing unbiased, objective data on key opinion leaders to assist pharmaceutical companies in developing new medicines—was something we all thought the industry really needed. I had worked with Paul and Lisa at my previous company, and I appreciated Lisa’s sharp-minded approach to research and Paul’s big-picture, strategic mindset.

TLS Blog:  How does your academic background and/or professional career ... read more »

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