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Journal of the MSL Society

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Key Opinion Leaders Reveal the Value of Medical Science Liaisons

October 21, 2021
Author(s): Dr. Samuel Dyer

The primary purpose of the Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs) role is to provide value to Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), in part, through the exchange of scientific information. In fact, the success of every MSL is based on their ability to add value to the KOLs they support! However, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on the activities of Medical Science Liaisons. As … [Read more...]

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Mentors and Mentees Reveal The Value of The MSL Mentor Program

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Dr. Samuel Dyer

Mentors have always played an important part in breaking into the MSL role as well as helping MSLs to advance their careers further. We interviewed 8 mentors and 7 mentees about their experience with the MSL Society Mentor Program 2021 to showcase the value that a mentor program could bring to your career. 1. Why did you want to be a mentor?  Cherie Hyder: I enjoy learning … [Read more...]

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Letter From Editor

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Cherie Hyder, PharmD, MSL-BC

Hello, my fellow Medical Affairs Colleagues! Welcome to another edition of The MSL Journal!  This one is jam-packed with valuable information and I am so glad that you’re back to read on as our community continues to contribute such worthy topics!   In particular, this edition is focused on how MSLs and managers can up their game, demonstrating immense value and strategic … [Read more...]

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​​Switching between competing companies: an MSL survival guide

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Tim Nielsen, PhD

Employee mobility is high in the pharmaceutical industry, and Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs) frequently move between companies to advance their career prospects. The core competencies of the MSL role (namely, to be a therapeutic area (TA) expert and to develop peer-to-peer relationships with the Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) in that TA) are highly specialized, so attractive … [Read more...]

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Embracing the Molt – Nurturing Professional and Personal Resiliency in Medical Affairs During Times of Uncertainty

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Bryan A. Wilson, PhD., MBA

I’m always amazed at how well nature mimics our everyday lives. We live in a world where everything is so automated that we forget we’re innately organic. Our very being is rooted in our ability to influence the environment and create a positive impact. Showing up authentically as trusted medical affairs professionals and scientific partners is critical. The way we show up … [Read more...]

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Understanding the new European clinical trials portal (CTIS)

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Lidya Dominguez, BS

CTIS go-live is just around the corner. The new portal brings a new approach to clinical trials in the European Union: digitalization, improved efficiency, increased transparency, enhanced patient safety… and a huge adaptation process for sponsors and researchers. A lot of work is to be done right away! The European clinical trial scenario is about to undertake a major … [Read more...]

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Understanding Real-World Evidence And Its Importance

October 19, 2021
Author(s): JOSÉ SENDIM MIRANDA, PharmD, MSc

EMA and FDA define Real-World Evidence (RWE) as the information derived from the analysis of Real-World Data (RWD) about a medicinal product. RWD includes the data relating to a patient’s health status or the delivery of health care collected from various sources. These sources exclude traditional clinical trials, although FDA considers that hybrid or pragmatic trial designs … [Read more...]

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Leveraging Medical Affairs Analytics to Enhance Engagement and Demonstrate Value

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Joseph B. Laudano, BS Pharm, PharmD and Gail Dutton, BS

In the Pharma Industry, one of the critical functions Medical Liaisons are responsible for is distilling and interpreting scientific data and communicating it to a broad audience of healthcare practitioners. Whether key opinion leaders (KOLs), payers, or policymakers, the ultimate goal is to communicate effectively to ultimately improve patient care; no one does that better! … [Read more...]

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The Social Media Role in a New Generation Medical Affairs: Activities and Patient Benefits

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Omid Salemi, PhD

For decades, pharmaceutical firms have tried using different types of promotions to affect physicians prescribing behavior. This led to misconceptions related to pharmaceutical marketing practices and induced the need to unveil the true meaning of pharmaceutical marketing. Pharmaceutical marketing, as a sub-branch of marketing, evolved over the years from a more … [Read more...]

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From Clinical Practice to Medical Science Liaison: One Pharmacist’s Journey

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Courtney Wood, PharmD, BCNSP, CNSC

My journey as a Medical Science Liaison began a little over a year ago. Yes, you read that correctly. I completely changed my career during a pandemic. I was leaving the comfort of a position where I was an expert who directly managed home parenteral nutrition patients for a new career within the pharmaceutical industry. To say this was daunting, and frankly, a little scary is … [Read more...]

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Harnessing the power of social media listening for Medical Affairs

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Laura Restrepo, PhD, Pim Kooreman, MSc and Mark Tolboom

The way we communicate with others has evolved tremendously in the last few years, with digital channels, and in particular social media, becoming more and more prominent in our daily lives. Many industries, such as retail, are already harvesting the power of digitalization to gather insights from customers and share content. We see a similar trend in the healthcare sector, … [Read more...]

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Working smarter to elevate MSL value

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Jeff Vaughan, PharmD

An MSL can have a significant impact on a brand’s ultimate adoption, yet this value can often be overlooked or misunderstood. Such lack of recognition often results in creating an MSL without sufficient motivation to continue the job – a clear waste of what should be a valuable resource to the organization. To elevate their perceived value, many MSL teams resort to working … [Read more...]

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Clinician preferences for future advisory board participation; a summary of findings from 62 Industry-classified Key Opinion Leaders

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Steve Royle, BHSc

Advisory boards have long been recognized as a crucial component of the life sciences landscape and have been delivered almost exclusively in a traditional format, involving the face-to-face participation of the medical industry’s most sought-after opinion leaders. The travel and social distancing restrictions imposed as a consequence of COVID19 forced the Industry to pivot … [Read more...]

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From MSL to Medical Lead: A Journey Through Medical Affairs

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Darina Frieder

Ever wonder where an MSL career may lead? Read on for my interview with Dr. Ann McPherson, PhD, Country Medical Lead for Rare Diseases at Takeda Canada. Many years ago, before I became an MSL, I had a moment of hesitation as I noticed that the higher-level positions in medical affairs were held by people with MDs, not PhDs like myself. I was worried that my options would be … [Read more...]

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A Guide to Global KOL Network Mapping – Data Driven, Objective, Compliant

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Marcus Bergler, MSc

Field Medical/MSL Management, particularly in Europe, more often abandon the concept of “KOL Influence Networks”. The negative connotation of the term “Influence” and the practical challenges in determining “Influence” ( e.g. asking MSLs to fill CRM data fields with information on who is influencing whom, etc.) have always been pain points in the global “KOL Influence Network” … [Read more...]

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An X-Ray Of The Role Of The MSL

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Beky Ortiz Sedano, MD, MSc, MBA

The radiography of the role of a Scientific Liaison Physician was based in times ago on the one-to-one interactions that this professional had with the stakeholders, sharing relevant scientific information, new scientific data, updates from congresses, and academic activities, among others. Currently, a value proposition of the Scientific Liaison Physicians is aimed at … [Read more...]

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Putting Social Data to Work in Medical Affairs

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Alec McCarthy, Timothy Bielecki, PhD and Nicholas Wojtynek, PhD

Introduction The emerging role of big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries is indisputable.[1,2] While many larger pharmaceutical companies have teams in pharmacovigilance or marketing that monitor, collect, and draw meaningful conclusions from big data (extremely large datasets), medical affairs and field … [Read more...]

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The MSL Role in The Post-Pandemic Scenario: Lessons Learned and Future Prospects

October 19, 2021
Author(s): Antonio Martínez-García PhD, Francisco Díaz-Sáez PhD, Víctor Sastre, MS, MSL-BC, Beatriz Cuéllar, MSc, Martina Riosalido, MS, Cristina García, MSc and Javier Mateo

The COVID19 pandemic has impacted the MSL role and how they interact with KOLs. However, even in this dire situation, 53% of KOLs still consider face-to-face engagement with MSLs very important. Therefore, it is vital to effectively promote this engagement in an adapted way. The MSLs and the KOLs have to adapt to this novel situation, where face-to-face meetings are not always … [Read more...]

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