October 18, 2012 ·
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October 18, 2012 (CHAPEL HILL, NC) Thought Leader Select, a Chapel Hill, NC-based consulting firm serving the biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics industries, announces the commencement of a national engagement focused on medical centers of excellence in obesity with a top U. S. biopharmaceutical company.
The company, part of a select group of global leaders in drug development for products treating the condition of obesity, approached Thought Leader Select for support with a variety of collaborative efforts, including medical science liaison outreach to leading universities, medical schools, teaching hospitals, and specialty clinics in this area. Having already worked with Thought Leader Select to form rosters of key opinion leaders in endocrinology, primary care, nursing, pharmacy, and long-term care in the treatment of type I and type II diabetes and obesity, the company has now chosen Thought Leader Select to pinpoint the leading centers of excellence in the treatment of obesity in the United States.
Known for the versatility of applications for its in-house research and analysis, Thought Leader Select’s research group will assess the skills and experience of selected centers, detailing the collaborative activities of leading physicians and other health care professionals, including registered nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical pharmacists, and medical researchers, the people who advance the science of medicine and patient care, through basic and clinical research, scientific journal ... read more »
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basic research biopharmaceutical industry biotechnology Brian Castle centers of excellence identification centers of excellence profiling centers of excellence strategy clinical pharmacists clinical research drug development endocrinology health care professionals key opinion leaders KOL identification KOL profiling KOL strategy long-term care medical device industry medical diagnostics medical researchers medical schools medical science medical science liaison outreach nursing obesity obesity centers of excellence obesity KOLs patient care pharmaceuticals pharmacy physician assistants physicians primary care medicine registered nurses scientific journal publishing specialty medical clinics teaching hospitals Thought Leader Select Thought Leader Select consulting group Thought Leader Select research group treatment guidelines type 1 diatbetes type 2 diabetes universities
October 4, 2012 ·
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(CHAPEL HILL, NC) Thought Leader Select, a Chapel Hill, NC-based consulting firm serving the biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics industries, announces the commencement of a national engagement in obesity with a top U. S. biopharmaceutical company.
The company, part of a select group of global leaders in drug development for products treating the condition of obesity, approached Thought Leader Select for support with scientific advisory boards, consulting, and medical science liaison outreach to leading physicians in this area. Having already worked with Thought Leader Select to form rosters of key opinion leaders in endocrinology, primary care, nursing, pharmacy, and long-term care in the treatment of type I and type II diabetes, the company has now chosen Thought Leader Select to pinpoint the leading experts in the treatment of obesity in the United States.
Known for the versatility of applications for its in-house research, Thought Leader Select’s research group will analyze the skills and experience of specialists in multiple areas where they collaborate with leading physicians to advance the science of medicine and patient care, including basic and clinical research, scientific journal publishing, treatment guidelines, and more.
Throughout the remainder of the engagement, Thought Leader Select’s consulting team will provide strategic guidance, tactical recommendations for strengthening key opinion leader relationships in the area of obesity, and a suite of tools to promote collaborative work ... read more »
TAGS: advisory boards biopharmaceutical biotechnology Brian Castle clinical research drug development health care professionals health care providers healthcare key opinion leader key opinion leaders KOL KOL engagement KOL identification KOL mapping KOL profiling KOLs medical experts medicine obesity obesity key opinion leaders obesity specialists public health
August 16, 2012 ·
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Industry Insights from Brian Castle
There are many ways that life science companies approach finding the right key opinion leaders in medicine to collaborate on next-generation treatments.
Some have the privilege of retaining staff members with decades of experience, during which they get to know the top doctors in their therapeutic area or disease state. This do-it-yourself (“DIY”) method can be fraught with challenges, but it can also provide valuable insights through sound relationship building.
Other companies, to fill gaps in compliance or expertise within a given area, will contract with research organizations for their KOL work. There are now over fifty companies (and counting) engaged in some form of key opinion leader identification, profiling, mapping, or engagement planning activities, and that’s not even counting the dozens of specialty medical communications agencies and larger agencies that list medcomms as a specialty area.
Contracting with external vendors can result in great work, full of insights on the right medical professionals who can make a difference in whether a product succeeds or fails in getting in the right hands—those of patients. But it can also result in really bad work—a data dump—that basically tells the buyer nothing.
We can define bad research quite easily—you know it when you see it. It often comes from methodologies that are suspect at first glance, those that rely upon too much ... read more »
TAGS: Brian Castle clinical trials communications agencies editorial boards key opinion leaders key opinion leaders in medicine KOL identification KOL mapping KOL profiling KOL relationship building KOL research life science companies life sciences media exposure medical communications agencies medical journals medical professionals patient health public health regulatory approval reimbursement approval scientific advisory boards scientific journals Thought Leader Select thought leaders treatment guidelines
March 14, 2012 ·
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Industry Insights from Brian Castle
As in nearly all other aspects of life, social media is fast becoming a dominant force in the world of healthcare. Leading centers of excellence—hospitals, clinics, research foundations, and universities—are utilizing social media to educate patients about medical resources and treatments on a daily basis. Biopharmaceutical companies are using social media to promote new medications and further educate patients about other wellness resources at their disposal to help with debilitating diseases and conditions.
Physicians and other healthcare professionals, like practically every other profession, are embracing social media at unprecedented levels, engaging with each other on everything from new medical devices to tough medical cases. Due to this rise in HCP use of social media, some have begun to question the very essence of what makes a key opinion leader in the medical profession.
Some of these questioners have gone a step farther, at their ultimate peril, in misinterpreting physician involvement in spaces like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and physician-only social media networks like Sermo. They incorrectly perceive that social media participation is the new thought leadership. Last year, I sat in the audience for a presentation by a leader in the pharmaceutical industry. This person posited a talking point she’d heard from an executive at a physician-only social media network: “If you’re not in their social network, you’re not ... read more »
TAGS: basic research biopharmaceutical companies biotechnology Brian Castle centers of excellence clinical research diseases Facebook global KOL HCPs health care professionals healthcare hospitals key opinion leaders KOL engagement KOL identification KOLs LinkedIn local KOL medical clinics medical conditions medical congresses medical devices medical diagnostics medical meetings medical resources medical treatment options medications national KOL patient education pharmaceuticals physician-only social networks physicians public health regional KOL research foundations scientific journal publishing Sermo social media thought leader engagement thought leader identification Thought Leader Select thought leaders thought leadership treatment guidelines Twitter universities wellness
February 14, 2011 ·
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February 14, 2011 (CHAPEL HILL, NC)—Thought Leader Select, a Research Triangle, NC firm focused on collaborations between the biopharmaceutical industry and the medical community, announces the launch of a new media partnership with biopharmaceutical industry blog Marketing4Health.
The research and consulting firm (Thought Leader Select) has signed on to become the blog’s exclusive sponsor, beginning February 14, 2011. With a growing international following and strong readership bases in the United States, Canada, and Europe, Marketing4Health focuses on healthcare and pharmaceutical marketing practices and challenges, as well as emerging trends in technology and social media. Natalie Bourre, the editor of Marketing4Health, is a 13-year industry veteran, with leadership positions at Alcon, Serono, and, most recently at Solvay, where she led the marketing team for Pantoloc (Protonix), which became the 5th largest Rx brand in Canada during her tenure.
“When we were seeking a media partner for 2011, the choice was obvious,” stated Brian Castle, the firm’s director of global marketing and client relations. “Natalie Bourre and Marketing4Health represent a perfect fit for our company, in that she is committed to advising the industry to market new medications in the right ways, whether to medical experts or consumers. With any advertising partnership, we want to drive potential clients our way, and we know that Natalie’s readers are our kind of people—leaders in the industry ... read more »
TAGS: biopharmaceutical industry blog Brian Castle Canada ethics Europe healthcare marketing international following KOL leaders Marketing4Health medical experts Natalie Bourne Partnership pharmaceutical marketing social media social media trends Thought Leader Select thought leaders United States
November 3, 2010 ·
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New press release out today from the offices of Thought Leader Select:
November 3, 2010 (Chapel Hill, NC)—Thought Leader Select, a Research Triangle, NC-based company dedicated to thought leader collaboration services for the healthcare and biopharmaceutical industries, announces the launch of the all-new ThoughtLeaderSelect.com.
Along with the launch of the site, the company has re-launched a branded suite of integrated services geared at facilitating better industry collaborations with experts in the global medical community, along with a new corporate logo. The project, spearheaded internally by Kristen Smithwick, the firm’s vice president of business development, marketing, and strategic planning, and Brian Castle, director of global marketing and client relations, is the culmination of six months of work with internal and external strategic partners, including web design firm Design Hammer and innovation consultant Studio Hagler, both of Durham, NC.
“We are very pleased with the work of Tevan Alexander and the team at Design Hammer in leading the re-design of our site,” stated Smithwick. “We wanted our site not only to showcase our dedicated team and the services they provide to the industries we serve, but also to have a space where we could interact with our clients and people within the industry, through our blog and social media efforts.”
“Ty Hagler of Studio Hagler was also quite ... read more »
TAGS: biopharmaceutical Brian Castle corporate branding Design Hammer healthcare key opinion leaders KOL engagement KOL identification KOL profiling Kristen Smithwick medical experts medicine Studio Hagler Thought Leader Select website
March 30, 2010 ·
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 30, 2010 (CHAPEL HILL, NC)—Thought Leader Select, a North Carolina firm dedicated to better engagement and more sophisticated deployment of key opinion leaders for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, announces the hiring of Brian Castle as director of global marketing and client relations.
Mr. Castle, a native of Jackson, MS, spent 11 years leading business development teams in the financial services industry for a variety of Fortune 500 banking institutions. More recently, through his independent consulting company, Parklife Communications, Mr. Castle has collaborated with companies and individuals in consumer product design and development, engineering, business services, manufacturing, and fine arts on multiple marketing, communications, public relations and social media projects.
“Brian brings a unique set of skills to Thought Leader Select,” stated Kristen Smithwick, vice president of global sales, marketing, and planning at the firm. “His work is taking us to the forefront of our marketplace, in terms of his abilities to connect us even more with our clients, prospects, and industry leaders.”
Castle earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 1998. He will be serving Thought Leader Select in several capacities, executing marketing strategies, managing client relationships, and assisting senior management with issues related to strategic planning.
About Thought Leader Select
Thought Leader Select is a specialty firm focused on providing solutions—research, ... read more »
TAGS: biotech Brian Castle client relations key opinion leaders marketing pharma research Thought Leader Select
