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

Scientific discourse has moved beyond conference halls and peer-reviewed journals. Today's thought leaders are building audiences, shaping clinical opinion, and driving scientific conversation on social media -- and Medical Affairs teams that aren't paying attention are missing critical signals. In this webinar produced with BioPharma Dive, Acceleration Point CEO Scott Thompson explores what the digital shift means for how Medical Affairs identifies and engages thought leaders, monitors scientific conversations, and responds to misinformation in public channels.

What You'll Learn

• How and why scientific discussion has shifted to digital channels. Understand the forces driving thought leaders online -- and what that means for how Medical Affairs teams should be thinking about reach, influence, and engagement beyond traditional KOL lists.
• How crowdsourcing and social platforms are reshaping scientific data. Learn how digital communities are influencing the visibility and interpretation of scientific evidence -- and why that matters for Medical Affairs teams responsible for accurate scientific exchange.
• How to build a practical social media strategy for Medical Affairs. Move beyond awareness into action with specific approaches for leveraging social media to monitor scientific conversations, identify emerging digital opinion leaders, and support compliant engagement.
• How to address misinformation and establish credibility online. Explore strategies for combating misinformation and building a credible Medical Affairs presence in digital channels -- without crossing the line into promotional territory.

Speakers

Scott Thompson CEO, Acceleration Point Scott has spent over 15 years helping Medical Affairs organizations build more effective engagement and insights programs. In this session, he brings data and frameworks from Acceleration Point's work with field medical teams to the growing conversation around digital opinion leaders and social listening.

Viet Trung Le, MPAS, PA-C Associate Professor of Research and Preventive Cardiology PA, Intermountain Heart Institute Viet Trung Le is a clinician-researcher with over 220 peer-reviewed publications and deep expertise in preventive cardiology, lipidology, and cardiac imaging. Based at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City, he brings a data-driven clinical perspective to the conversation on how thought leaders are engaging and influencing scientific discourse in digital channels.

Charlie Lees, MD, PhD Professor of Gastroenterology, University of Edinburgh; Consultant Gastroenterologist, Edinburgh IBD Unit Charlie Lees is a Professor of Gastroenterology at the University of Edinburgh and a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, with a core focus on improving outcomes for people living with IBD. He is a recognized global digital opinion leader, running the Atomic IBD newsletter and publishing widely across precision medicine, digital health, and genomics -- making him a particularly credible voice on how today's thought leaders are using digital platforms to shape clinical science.

[00:00] Introduction and Overview
[01:09] Meet the Speakers
[03:36] The Digital Shift in Scientific Discussion
[27:59] Revitalizing Scientific Data Through Crowdsourcing
[31:01] Leveraging Social Media for Medical Affairs
[39:45] Combating Misinformation and Building Online Presence