5 women at forefront of oncology digital space
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Today marks International Women’s Day.
The theme for this year’s United Nations observance is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.”
One intention is to “[recognize and celebrate] the women and girls who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education.”
In line with this goal, CREATION.co celebrates five female digital opinion leaders in oncology, all of whom use digital means to educate their medical peers, and achieve social change or optimal medical practice.
CREATION.co is the leading provider of digital opinion leader (DOL) identification, profiling and activation.
Having coined the term in 2012, we help the industry to identify which clinicians truly are leading the conversation online.
Often different from the traditional key opinion leaders in a particular therapy area, DOL status is based on influence within the huge and fast-moving online health care provider conversation and reflects who the real online influencers are.
Top 5 DOLs in oncology
Within the global online oncology conversation (English language), we identified the women who are the leading DOLs.
These women include established opinion leaders and women with emerging influence.
They hold a range of professional roles, ranging from directors of eminent institutions to younger oncologists.
We use a number of metrics to evaluate DOL status, including volume of activity, reach of and engagement with content, the strength of their health care provider peer network, and the level of trust and two-way collaboration with peers online.
Measured by those criteria, the top five DOLs in oncology are:
• Maryam Lustberg, MD, MPH, associate professor of internal medicine (medical oncology) and director of the Center for Breast Cancer at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center, as well as chief of breast medical oncology at Yale Cancer Center.
Lustberg — recognized by Forbes as one of the top breast medical oncologists in the United States — is president of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer.
In a blog post, she explained how as a mother and prominent oncologist, there are occasions when she has to compromise her ideal work-life balance, experiencing “mom guilt” when she must leave her son for work responsibilities.
Online — as well as celebrating the latest research in breast cancer and engaging at medical meetings — she calls for a closed gap in health inequalities and championing fellow women in medicine.
CREATION.co classifies Lustberg as an online expert. She translates her offline expertise to the online space.
CREATION.co finds that approximately 20% of DOLs are also traditional key opinion leaders. Lustberg is one of these.
• Nicole M. Kuderer, MD, translational medical oncologist in the division of hematology at University of Washington Medical Center.
Online, she shares outcomes of her research collaborations, updates the oncology network about current news through @OncoAlert and creates educational Twitter threads to inform her followers about issues such as gender bias.
CREATION.co classifies Kuderer as a peer educator, reflecting the high level of engagement and trust she receives from health care providers as measured by their retweets and mentions.
• Stephanie L. Graff, MD, director of the breast oncology program at Lifespan Cancer Institute and co-leader of the breast cancer translational research disease group at Brown University.
She is a prominent social media voice across multiple platforms, including Med-Mastodon — a server on Mastodon created especially for medical professionals — where she shares the top trials and advances in breast cancer treatment.
She has built a strong narrative of empowering women in medicine. In a campaign with ASCO (#LiveToConquerCancer), she stated that her “role as an oncologist is to listen to her patients and set goals with them that reflect their values.”
CREATION.co classifies Graff as a social savvy, reflecting her degree of expertise in using social media to achieve maximum impact.
• Erika P. Hamilton, MD, medical oncologist and director of the breast cancer and gynecologic cancer research program at Sarah Cannon Research Institute.
Alongside her reputation in the medical field, she has chosen to describe herself as a wife and mom to two girls.
When discussing her personal journey to oncology, Hamilton shared that her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when Hamilton was in middle school “and luckily is a survivor.” Hamilton describes herself as being “passionate about personalized treatment, empowering … patients, and treating each person individually based on their goals and preferences.”
CREATION.co classifies Hamilton as a congress chatter, meaning that her voice is most prominent in the context of relevant congresses.
• Ana I. Velázquez Mañana, MD, MSc, assistant professor of medicine in the UCSF division of hematology/oncology at Zuckerberg San Francisco General and thoracic oncologist at UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
She speaks proudly of her Latina culture and is passionate about diversity and inclusion in medicine. Online, she uses her platform to increase the narrative around inequities, sharing her experiences as a Latina woman in medicine.
CREATION.co classifies her as a diversity champion. She also is a peer educator.
For more information:
Creation Healthcare is a specialist digital insights consultancy providing research and analysis to inform health strategy, communications and policymaking among some of the world’s largest health care companies, government organizations and non-government organizations. For more information, click here.