July 14, 2010 ·
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Brian Castle joined Thought Leader Select in January of 2010, as director of global marketing and client relations. Brian has 12 years of experience leading teams in business development, sales, marketing and customer services. He spent 11 years in the financial services industry, managing business units for several top banking institutions. Upon leaving the financial sector, Brian used his expertise in business development, communications and marketing to help business and non-profit clients develop and execute marketing, social media and branding strategies. In his new role at Thought Leader Select, Brian is helping the company expand its sales and marketing efforts and create a larger presence in the KOL identification and profiling marketplace.
The Thought Leader Select Blog sat down with Brian, the powerhouse behind Thought Leader Select’s social media strategy, to learn more about his role within the company, what drives him at work and the extracurricular passions that make him unique.
TLS Blog: Good morning, Brian. What made you sign on with Thought Leader Select?
Brian Castle: I spent most of my career working in the financial services industry. When the industry started experiencing its recent turmoil, I decided it was time to make a change. So I reached out to several business owners and started collaborating with them on a host of projects in marketing, business development, social media, and public ... read more »
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banking biotechnology business development communications customer services financial services health care hockey key opinion leaders KOL deployment KOL development KOL engagement KOL identification KOL mapping KOL profiling KOLs Kristen Smithwick Lisa Smith marketing medical device non profit objective research Paul Meade pharmaceutical pop culture public relations RBC rock star sales social media Thought Leader Select thought leaders wachovia wells fargo
May 12, 2010 ·
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May 12, 2010 (CHAPEL HILL, NC) Thought Leader Select, a North Carolina firm dedicated to delivering the most accurate and effective key opinion leader (KOL) profiling research for the biopharmaceutical industry, announces the commencement of a significant new research assessment for a top-10 global pharmaceutical company.
The pharmaceutical company chose Thought Leader Select to identify and profile 50 key opinion leaders to collaborate with the company in the development and launch of new medicines for children. The scope of the research includes the identification and profiling of pediatricians, primary care physicians, internal medicine specialists, emergency doctors, and other key specialists in pediatrics. Thought Leader Select’s deep-profiling methodology will match key opinion leaders with the appropriate development areas for the company, based on the respective KOLs’ skills, experiences, and interests.
In addition to the KOL identification and profiling research, the company has contracted Thought Leader Select to develop a set of activities to assist with the advancement of new and better medicines for children. This collaborative effort will result in a better working relationship between the pharmaceutical company and thought leaders in pediatrics.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to assist our client in improving their relationship with important thought leaders as they develop better medicines to address childhood illnesses,” stated Paul Meade, Thought Leader Select’s president. “Physicians who care for children are also ... read more »
TAGS: activity planning biopharmaceutical biotechnology deep-profiling emergency doctors internal medicine specialists key opinion leaders KOL deployment KOL development KOL engagement KOL identification KOL profiling KOLs Paul Meade pediatric specialists pediatricians pharmaceutical physicians Thought Leader Select thought leaders
May 11, 2010 ·
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May 11, 2010 (CHAPEL HILL, NC) Paul Meade, founder and president of Thought Leader Select, a North Carolina firm dedicated to key opinion leader (KOL) development solutions for the biopharmaceutical industry, received a master of public health degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on May 8, 2010.
The Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC awarded Meade, a 25-year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry, with a master of public health degree and a certificate in public health ethics in the Public Health Leadership Program. Meade’s research report, “How Volunteer Community Organizations Can Assist State Public Health Departments During Pandemic Influenza,” explored specific possibilities for the Civil Air Patrol, a volunteer non-profit national organization and an auxiliary of the United States Air Force, to assist state public health officials during widespread outbreaks of influenza.
The master of public health degree is Meade’s second master’s degree. He earned a master of science in biomedical science from the University of Guelph (Canada) in 1977, following his bachelor of science degree in biology and chemistry from Acadia University (Canada) in 1971.
During his 25-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, Meade served in a variety of leadership positions at Merck and GlaxoSmithKline. During his ten years at Merck, Meade worked his way from a sales representative position to director of marketing planning for ... read more »
TAGS: biopharmaceutical biotechnology certificate Civil Air Patrol Clear Point Health clinical operations clinical researchers Gillings School of Global Public Health GlaxoSmithKline healthcare ethics healthcare policy healthcare research key opinion leaders KOL deployment KOL development KOL engagement KOL identification KOL profiling KOLs marketing planning master of public health medical affairs Merck nurses Paul Meade pharmaceutical pharmacists physician assistants physicians predictive medicine public health ethics Public Health Leadership Program research and development Thought Leader Select United States Air Force University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill veterinarians
May 6, 2010 ·
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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 »
TAGS: benchmarking best practices biotechnology Duke University health care key opinion leaders KOL deployment KOL development KOL engagement KOL identification KOL mapping KOL profiling KOLs Kristen Smithwick Lisa Smith medical device objective research Paul Meade pharmaceutical Thought Leader Select thought leaders
May 5, 2010 ·
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A recent Pharmaceutical Executive article outlined new US Food and Drug Administration draft guidance that would “expand transparency and disclosure when the agency grants a conflict of interest waiver to permit an individual’s participation at an FDA advisory committee meeting.”
The FDA, much like the many public and private companies that make up the biopharmaceutical industry, relies on the expertise and advice of research scientists and health care professionals as resources for policy-making that affects the public health of the United States. The draft guidance seeks to implement new guidelines for identifying potential conflicts of interest among the scientists and physicians drafted to help form wide-ranging policy throughout the health care industry.
The FDA’s self-policing initiative mirrors the ongoing trend in the biopharmaceutical industry for greater ethics and transparency. Pharmaceutical companies are embracing greater disclosure of their activities with thought leaders in the medical community, and they are turning to companies like Thought Leader Select for targeted advice on a variety of fronts where they engage thought leaders. Thought Leader Select’s advisory services span a variety of KOL development areas, including help with advisory boards, conferences, regulatory approval, clinical research, and many other aspects of the development of new medicines.
Thought Leader Select provides an unbiased, third-party perspective that proves vital to evolving pharmaceutical development needs through intensive documentation of the skills ... read more »
TAGS: advisory boards biotechnology clinical research clinical trials conferences conflicts of interest disclosure draft guidance ethics FDA key opinion leaders KOL deployment KOL development KOL engagement KOL identification KOL mapping KOL profiling KOLs pharmaceutical regulatory approva Thought Leader Select transparency
