Alicia Staley Wins Prestigious Patient Advocate Award

Medidata (a Dassault Systèmes company) is happy to announce that Senior Director of Patient Engagement Alicia Staley won the 2019 eyeforpharma Patient Advocate of the Year Award! This prestigious honor recognizes a person or group who has given other patients a stronger voice, through advocacy work, that has created new communities, raised awareness or empowered a new movement. She was chosen among several other worthy individuals and organizations by a panel of esteemed judges throughout the pharmaceutical industry. She celebrated with her fellow nominees and colleagues at the exclusive eyeforpharma Awards held Dec. 11 in Philadelphia.

Alicia, a three-time cancer survivor, is well-known and well-loved around Medidata for her tireless work on behalf of those with breast cancer. In 2011, she and fellow survivor Jody Schoger organized the first ever Twitter chat for breast cancer survivors using the hashtag #BCSM, which stands for Breast Cancer Social Media. Now a weekly chat, #BCSM is 20,000-members strong with followers mentoring one another, making new friends and gaining evidence-based education on treatments from experts.

#BCSM is seen as the gold standard for disease-specific social networks and has spawned dozens of other cancer support communities. Staley’s peer-review published research has demonstrated that #BCSM chats have real benefits for participants. Research showed that the chats significantly reduced anxiety for 65% of #BCSM members and improved patient care and patient-perceived outcomes.