October 23, 2012 ·
Leave a comment
Industry Insights from Paul Meade, M.Sc., MPH
There are several companies that claim to identify and profile key opinion leaders in healthcare, and they using an array of methodologies and techniques to arrive at defining the practitioners who drive a given therapeutic area or disease state. And yet, while all claim to have built a better mousetrap for profiling these thought leaders, what is sadly lacking among many these vendors is quality control and good quality measures.
Notwithstanding the variety of definitions of a key opinion leader emblematic of the lack of standardization across the industry, there is also a wide variation in the quality of the output from one vendor to the next. For instance, some companies utilize automated web-crawlers (think: glorified Google Alerts) to mine public information—for the most part, scientific publications data, and simply foist upon their clients a “data dump.” The content of these data dumps is often completely devoid of sound quality control—for example, it is not uncommon for an IT-based vendor to offer up John Smith, John D. Smith, and JD Smith as three separate KOLs, when, in reality, Dr. John D. Smith is a true one-of-a-kind. Likewise, we have also seen lists where vendors may conflate Dr. David Lee from Sacramento with Dr. David Lee from Shanghai, when human researchers would see these to ... read more »
TAGS: 
biostatisticians biotech clinical trials disease state google alerts key opinion leaders KOL assessments KOL identification KOL profiling KOL research KOLs medical devices medical diagnostics medicine peer nomination pharmaceuticals principal investigator quality control research studies scientific journal publishing social network analysis therapeutic area thought leader activities thought leaders web crawlers
February 16, 2012 ·
Leave a comment
Thought Leader Select, a Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based research and consulting firm for the biopharmaceutical and healthcare industries, announces the commencement of a key opinion leader assessment for a top five global pharmaceutical company.
For the assessment, Thought Leader Select will use its proprietary identification methodology to pinpoint 40 Canadian key opinion leaders in oncology, with sub-specialty in the area of skin cancer. The company will study the skills and experience of Canadian oncologists in several areas of thought leadership in the medical field, including areas of expertise, leadership in basic and clinical research, and research publishing in leading scientific journals.
The client company will utilize Thought Leader Select’s research to engage key opinion leaders in oncology on a number of fronts, including advisory boards, consulting, and medical science liaison outreach.
“We are excited about this opportunity to support a great company as they prepare to enter the Canadian market with a new medicine that will improve the lives of patients suffering from skin cancer,” stated Neil Mellor, Thought Leader Select’s global business development consultant. “Our position in the advancement of this new treatment is critical, since our work ensures that the company will be reaching out to the right physicians during the company’s earliest phase of assisting in the treatment of patients in this disease area.”
About Neil Mellor
Neil Mellor is ... read more »
TAGS: basic research biopharmaceutical industry Canadian key opinion leaders clinical research healthcare key opinion leader assessment KOL engagement KOL identification KOLs medical research medical science liaisons medicine MSLs Neil Mellor oncologists Oncology pharmaceuticals physician public health publishing scientific advisory boards scientific journals skin cancer therapeutic area Thought Leader Select
February 2, 2012 ·
Leave a comment
New Press Release from the Offices of Thought Leader Select
February 2, 2012 (Chapel Hill, NC) Thought Leader Select is pleased to announce a pair of key opinion leader (KOL) identification and profiling projects to support the development pipeline of a leading pharmaceutical client focused in the therapeutic area of gastroenterology.
In the first research assessment, Thought Leader Select will identify and profile leading medical experts in the treatment of patients suffering from non-cancer-related chronic pain. The company will identify the leading pain experts throughout the United States by examining the skills and experiences of physicians in multiple disciplines and specialties, including gastroenterologists, primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.
For the second research assessment, Thought Leader Select will identify and profile 100 key opinion leaders in colorectal surgery, as well as 125 KOLs in gastroenterology. The cumulative group of 225 physician thought leaders will share vast experience in research and treatment of fecal incontinence.
Thought Leader Select will use its validated, objective deep profiling methodology to assess the skills and experience of the thought leaders chronic pain, colorectal surgery, and gastroenterology in multiple research categories, including their areas of expertise, medical/scientific journal publishing history, and participation in basic and clinical research. The company’s research group is comprised of subject-matter experts in medicine, with decades of experience working in ... read more »
TAGS: basic and clinical research chronic pain clinical research colorectal surgery deep-profiling drug development pipeline gastroenterology key opinion leaders KOL late-stage clinical trials medical experts medical research medicine nurse practitioners patient treatment Paul Meade pharmaceuticals physician assistants physicians primary care physicians publishing scientific advisory boards scientific journals therapeutic area Thought Leader Select thought leaders
November 4, 2010 ·
Leave a comment
Neil Mellor, business development consultant at Thought Leader Select, and Paul Meade, the company’s president and founder, attended SMi’s KOL: Knowledge Leader Partnerships conference on September 29 and 30 in London. Neil sat down with the Thought Leader Select Blog to discuss his takeaways from the conference.
TLS Blog: Neil, how was the conference in London?
Neil Mellor: I found it quite interesting, and so did Paul—since we’ve grown the company over the last five years to include multiple European and global thought leader assessments, we thought it made sense to get a real sense of the industry’s thinking about what we do on the European continent.
TLS Blog: What were some of the main points of discussion?
Neil Mellor: Right now, there’s a pretty hot debate going on about the roles that health care professionals play in the development and launch of new medicines. This conference even included a robust discussion on what to call them—it seems the European marketplace is evolving away from the term “key opinion leader,” with companies choosing instead to rely on what they call “external experts,” “opinion leaders,” or “thought leaders.” It made us feel even better about the name of our company, that’s for sure!
TLS Blog: Would you say that there’s a migration going on in the perception of the HCPs ... read more »
TAGS: allied health professionals biopharmaceutical biotech British Medical Journal clinical practice Dr. Fiona Godlee external experts FDA HCP health care professionals key opinion leader Knowledge Leader Partnerships Conference London medical experts Neil Mellor new medicines nurse practitioners opinion leaders patient Paul Meade pharma pharmacists physician assistants public health publishing registered nurses research SMi Sunshine Act therapeutic area thought leader assessments Thought Leader Select thought leaders
July 8, 2010 ·
Leave a comment
In a recent study commissioned by a global pharmaceutical and medical device company, Thought Leader Select delivered an objective research assessment of the top 35 medical centers of excellence for the treatment of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) across the United States and Canada. For the assessment, Thought Leader Select analyzed information in several key areas, including basic and clinical research, publications, residency programs, and treatment guidelines involvement.
Within the scope of the overall assessment, the client company commissioned a more focused look at the top centers of excellence for research in the ADD/ADHD field. The top center’s profile included 11 ongoing clinical trials to evaluate the potential for new medicines to effectively treat ADD and ADHD. Previously, the center completed nine major studies evaluating the effectiveness of various treatment methods for the conditions, and the center had generated 18 clinical trial publications over a seven-year period.
In addition to the center’s array of landmark studies and clinical trial participation, the Thought Leader Select assessment also noted the center’s dominance in the area of publishing. For this category, the company used keywords relevant to the client’s focus within the therapeutic area to determine medical journal article relevancy. The center had generated a total of 94 publications in the treatment area of ADD/ADHD since 2001, with 67 of ... read more »
TAGS: ADD ADHD attention deficit disorder attention deficit hyperactivity disorder basic and clinical research biotechnology Canada centers of excellence clinical trials drug development medical centers medical devices medical journals pharmaceutical publications residency programs therapeutic area Thought Leader Select treatment guidelines United States
May 20, 2010 ·
Leave a comment
Key opinion leaders (KOLs) are health care leaders who make a high-impact footprint while advancing medical science. Thought Leader Select specializes in delivering objective, validated data on the skills and experiences of KOLs, so that pharmaceutical companies can seek their appropriate advice and guidance in the development of new medicines.
Thought Leader Select measures many areas where KOLs leave their respective marks in the medical community, including conducting clinical research studies, publishing articles in leading journals, and presenting breakthrough knowledge at scientific conferences.
In a recent assessment of over 200 specialists in epilepsy, Thought Leader Select measured the publishing frequency of these global key opinion leaders. Using keywords to link leading neurologists with new research knowledge in epilepsy, Thought Leader Select found most KOLs had published between 10 and 30 articles on epilepsy since 2004. The most prolific thought leader tallied 170 published articles in the last six years, amounting to more than 28 manuscripts a year. The top quartile published between 40 and 100 scientific articles within the last six years. The top KOL neurologists are undoubtedly very busy advancing the science of epilepsy, from understanding its etiology to treating the condition.
TAGS: clinical research clinical trials epilepsy key opinion leaders KOL engagement KOL identification KOL profiling KOL selection KOLs manuscripts medical journals medical research neurology publications publishing frequency therapeutic area
May 18, 2010 ·
Leave a comment
Clarissa Noureddine joined Thought Leader Select in 2007, after spending the previous four years as a practicing veterinarian. A graduate of the University of Florida, Clarissa earned a master’s degree in molecular biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, followed by a doctor of veterinary medicine degree from North Carolina State University. In her role as senior research manager, Clarissa provides key insider perspectives on treatment, use of pharmacological agents, and the collaboration of doctors with the pharmaceutical industry to deliver thorough, accurate, and understandable key opinion leader identification and profiling research.
The Thought Leader Select Blog recently sat down to catch up with Clarissa Noureddine and learn about her background and how she makes her professional contribution to the work of Thought Leader Select.
TLS Blog: Good afternoon, Clarissa. Tell us why you joined Thought Leader Select.
Clarissa Noureddine: In 2006, I left veterinary practice to become a stay-at-home mom, as well as to pursue a much-needed change of scenery, professionally–one that would present new challenges on an ongoing basis. I immediately started doing research for Thought Leader Select and joined full-time as a research manager in March of 2007. In a very short period of time, I really came to love what I do—delivering key research on physicians to help drive better quality medications and higher standards of ... read more »
TAGS: Arabic belly dancing Clarissa Noureddine doctor of veterinary medicine key opinion leader KOL engagement KOL identification KOL mapping KOL profiling KOL research KOL selection Lebanon Maher Noureddine medical research molecular biology North Carolina State University public health senior research manager therapeutic area thought leader Thought Leader Select University of Florida University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill veterinarian
