Why Today’s Thought Leaders are Going Digital and What that Means for Medical Affairs

Key Takeaways

• Scientific discourse is increasingly happening on public digital platforms, not only at conferences or in peer-reviewed journals.
• A digital opinion leader shapes clinical perspective primarily through channels like social media, newsletters, or blogs, rather than through conference or publication activity alone.
• Medical Affairs teams that track only conference attendee lists or published authors risk missing where scientific conversation is actually forming.
• Compliant social listening means monitoring platforms and conversation patterns, not just individual named accounts.
• Addressing misinformation online requires a credible, non-promotional Medical Affairs presence, not only reactive correction after the fact.

Scientific discussion has moved beyond conference halls and peer-reviewed journals onto public platforms, and the shift spans every therapeutic area. Medical Affairs teams that only track traditional KOL lists are missing where clinical conversation is actually happening now.

In this webinar, produced with BioPharma Dive, Acceleration Point CEO Scott Thompson is joined by Viet Trung Le, MPAS, PA-C (Associate Professor of Research and Preventive Cardiology PA, Intermountain Heart Institute) and Charlie Lees, MD, PhD (Professor of Gastroenterology, University of Edinburgh) to examine how digital opinion leaders, clinicians and scientists who shape clinical perspective primarily through public digital channels rather than conference or publication activity alone, are reshaping scientific exchange in cardiology and gastroenterology. Building on Acceleration Point's related look at digital opinion leaders at medical conferences, the panel covers how Medical Affairs teams can identify these voices, monitor the platforms where they're active, and build a compliant social listening approach around what they find. If your team's KOL strategy hasn't caught up to where scientific conversation happens today, this is the session to watch.

What You'll Learn

• Scientific discussion has shifted from conference halls and journals onto public digital channels, and Medical Affairs teams need to expand who counts as an influential voice beyond a static KOL list.
• Crowdsourcing and social platforms are changing how scientific data gets visibility and interpretation, which matters for teams responsible for accurate scientific exchange.
• Medical Affairs teams can build a practical social media strategy to monitor conversations, identify emerging digital opinion leaders, and support compliant engagement.
• Addressing misinformation online requires specific approaches to establishing credibility in digital channels without crossing into promotional territory.

About Our Speakers

Scott Thompson is CEO at Acceleration Point. He has spent over 15 years helping Medical Affairs organizations build more effective engagement and insights programs, and in this session he brings frameworks from Acceleration Point's field medical work to the conversation on digital opinion leaders and social listening.

Connect with Scott on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/medical-excellence/

Viet Trung Le, MPAS, PA-C is Associate Professor of Research and Preventive Cardiology PA at Intermountain Heart Institute. He is a clinician-researcher with over 220 peer-reviewed publications and expertise in preventive cardiology, lipidology, and cardiac imaging, and he brings a data-driven clinical perspective to how thought leaders engage and influence scientific discourse in digital channels.

Connect with Viet on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vietheartpa/

Charlie Lees, MD, PhD is Professor of Gastroenterology at the University of Edinburgh and Consultant Gastroenterologist at the Edinburgh IBD Unit. A UKRI Future Leaders Fellow focused on improving outcomes for people living with IBD, he is a recognized global digital opinion leader who runs the Atomic IBD newsletter and publishes widely across precision medicine, digital health, and genomics.

Connect with Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-lees-ab400335/

FAQ

What is a digital opinion leader in Medical Affairs?
A digital opinion leader is a clinician or scientist who shapes clinical perspective primarily through public digital platforms, such as social media, newsletters, or blogs, rather than through conference presentations or publications alone.

How can Medical Affairs teams identify digital opinion leaders?
Medical Affairs teams identify digital opinion leaders by monitoring the platforms where scientific conversation is happening, not only tracking a static list of conference speakers or published authors.

Why does social listening matter for Medical Affairs teams?
Social listening lets Medical Affairs teams surface emerging scientific conversation and identify credible digital voices as they emerge, rather than reacting only after a topic has already gained traction.

How should Medical Affairs teams respond to misinformation on social platforms?
Medical Affairs teams should build a credible, non-promotional presence in digital channels that supports accurate scientific exchange, rather than relying only on reactive correction after misinformation spreads.

Curious how this applies to your organization? Let's talk.

About Acceleration Point Webinars

Acceleration Point webinars bring Medical Affairs and Field Medical leaders together to share practical insights, emerging strategies, and real-world perspectives on the challenges shaping the industry. Each session is designed to support the professionals driving scientific exchange, field medical excellence, and Medical Affairs transformation.

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