As the year winds down, we decided to check in with Baird’s CMC associates abut some of the highlights of the year. Here we chat with Ken Rabin, our associate in the U.S.
Baird’s CMC: What was the professional highlight of the year for you, and why?
Ken Rabin: My professional highlight was coordinating global media outreach for an important liver cancer study called ENRY, which was published in Hepatology last July and provided the first pan-European data (eight centers in Spain, Italy and Germany) on the efficacy and safety of treating primary liver tumors with Y-90 resin microspheres (SIR-Spheres produced by Sirtex Medical). The release was made in eight languages, all carefully translated to capture local nuance and supporrted by extensive direct media contact.
We had over 500 media placements, including leading professional dailies like Corriere Medico and Quotidien du Medecin, a remarkable result for news about a retrospective study. The project itself was particularly important because it validated the effectiveness of the GHPR partnership that I also represent, and because my wife and I are the country managers for Sirtex in Poland.
Baird’s CMC: According to you, what was the one game-changing development/trend in 2011, and why? How will this affect the future?
Ken Rabin: In my mind, there were two equally significant game changers for healthcare PR this year. One was the rapid ascendancy of social media, which represents a powerful (but complex to control) tool to accelerate the dispersal of health information. The other was the global economic crisis, which has led to increased rationing of care in virtually all markets and to increased pressure on all of us to justify the value of what we do.
Baird’s CMC: Professionally, what are you excited about for 2012?
Ken Rabin: 2012? Well, I want to see President Obama get re-elected, not just because I think he has done an acceptable job in hard times, but also because those who oppose him represent such a negative world view.