Unlocking the Power of Storytelling in Medical Publications

In this era of accelerating information, it is more critical than ever to be clear and engaging in medical publications – and that increasingly involves the skill of scientific storytelling, to be able to reach diverse HCP and other audiences with responsibly developed content.

In a new pharmaphorum webinar, sponsored by HCG, pharma, publisher, and agency experts convene to discuss current research and perspectives, along with practical implementation of scientific storytelling into medical publications.

Join us on September 18th at 10am ET – 3pm BST – 4pm CEST to find out why storytelling is vitally important and its definition within the scientific publications landscape.

The webinar will also provide examples of storytelling for clinical data in the traditional publications-peer review process/flow, as well as address trends and the potential opportunities for data storytelling for both HCP and more diverse audiences, including the use of plain-language content, publication extenders, and similar as a catalyst or foundation for bringing greater health equity to publications.

About the panel

Moderator: Nicole Parker, EVP, Publications Strategy & Transformation, HCG

Parker is an experienced, strategy-forward publications leader who elevates the science by telling the “data story.” She has worked for over 15 years in the medical communications space, spanning both medical publications and medical affairs/medical education, as well as commercial spaces.

With expertise in designing and leading teams for strategy and execution of programmes that address global, US/regional, and emerging growth market topics, Parker loves turning challenges into opportunities to engage various target audiences in immersive ways using diverse media.

Parker has a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Florida and a BA in Economics from McGill University.

David Ginkel, Global Head of Publications, AstraZeneca

David Ginkel is the Head of Publications for Biologics and Vaccine (PBM) at AstraZeneca, leading of team of publications professionals for 3 years. Prior to this role, Ginkel was lead for several critical launches in Severe Asthma and Lupus and has lead teams in medical and commercial at AstraZeneca for 24 years.

Prior to AstraZeneca, Ginkel served as a consultant in market research for pharmaceutical companies and worked at biotech in molecular biology. David has a Master’s from the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas and an MBA from Thunderbird International Business School (Arizona State University).

Sam Cavana, Head of Publishing Solutions, Taylor & Francis Group

Sam Cavana is the Head of Publishing Solutions at Taylor & Francis. Cavana has worked for over 15+ years in the publishing industry in a number of roles across editorial and sales.

The Publishing Solutions department uses novel content such as Plain Language Summaries of Publications (PLSP), infographics, and graphical abstracts, as well as standalone video and podcast articles as alternative ways to tell your story to time poor HCPs.

Stephen Towers, SVP, Medical Strategy & Transformation, HCG

Stephen Towers is a passionate believer in the power of storytelling to bridge the gap between groundbreaking new technologies and clinicians’ and patients’ understanding of those technologies, humanizing scientific research, enhancing health literacy, centring patients in clinical development, ensuring diverse voices are heard, and combatting misinformation and disinformation.
He is excited by the immense potential for improvements in storytelling across the pharmaceutical and healthcare communications industries. At HCG, he designs and leads narrative skills training sessions for clients and internal agency teams and explores how novel technologies and channels might facilitate storytelling.

Towers has broad medical communications expertise, but his current focus is in Medical Affairs. He obtained his PhD in neuroscience and spent several years in postdoctoral research at Stanford University.