Sector Subgroup: Health Communicators’ Forum

A group of marketing & communications professionals that targets content specifically related to healthcare and biomedical science fields at the University of Michigan. General interest topics include: discussing how to pitch science and health stories to various media outlets, patient-related social media efforts, and better telling research stories in regards to a variety of health topics. The group shares best practices, places high value on networking, and learns how to better promote their work.

Register for the Health sub-group

Steering Committee:
  • Nardy Bickel, Michigan News
  • Michael Brinich, School of Nursing
  • Ian Demsky, Life Sciences Institute
  • Nicole Fawcett, Rogel Cancer Center
  • Kara Gavin, Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation (IHPI)
  • Heather Guenther, Chemical Engineering
  • Jillian Hayes, College of Pharmacy
  • Martina Jerant, Center for RNA Biomedicine
  • Andrea LaFerle, School of Public Health
  • Mary Beth Lewis, Center for Interprofessional Education
  • Mary Masson, Michigan Medicine
  • Melissa Preddy, Taubman Research Institute
Past Presentations
  • May 2018 — “Spring Clean Your Communication Toolbox”
  • February 2017 — “How not to hype” panelists Brian Zikmund-Fisher, Laurel Thomas Gnagey, Kara Gavin
  • June 2016 – “The Complete Package: Tips & Tricks to Improve Writing, Design and Video,” panelists Ian Demsky, Lauren Stuart, Mary Masson, Joe Hallisy
  • Oct 2015 — “When Viral is a Good Thing: Harnessing Social Media for Health
    & Bioscience Messages” by Rhonda DeLong, Kara Gavin, Rich Retyi, Nikki
    Sunstrum, and Eric Zanotti (panel – no presentation available)