The Power of Global Collaboration on Clinical Cases: Podcast today February 9, 2012
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Interview, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Web 2.0.add a comment
For the invitation of Eric Glazer, I’ll tell my stories about global collaboration on clinical cases through social media today in a podcast. Please see the times below. I hope you register and will listen to our discussion.
| Date and time: | Thursday, February 9, 2012 4:30 pm Europe Time (Berlin, GMT+01:00) Change time zone |
| Thursday, February 9, 2012 4:30 pm Europe Time (Madrid, GMT+01:00) |
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| Thursday, February 9, 2012 7:30 am Pacific Standard Time (San Francisco, GMT-08:00) |
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| Duration: | 1 hour |
The MDigital Life Interview January 28, 2012
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Medicine, Web 2.0, Medicine 2.0, Interview.4 comments
Greg Matthews who is a Group Director in WCG’s interactive and social media team asked me to give him an interview about how I use social media in medicine and it is published now on WCG CommonSense. An excerpt:
When I started using twitter in 2008, I was amazed at how easy it was to connect with other folks who were beginning to think about the intersection of healthcare and social media. I’m happy to say that I am still in touch with many of those folks – Mark Hawker, John Moore, Bob Coffield, Marty Trussell, Holly Potter and Dana Lewis, to name a few. One of those twitter pioneers – and one of my first online friends – is a doctor who has inspired thousands with his groundbreaking work – Dr. Bertalan Mesko (more commonly known on the social web as “Berci”). Every doctor in this program has the opportunity to choose the medium for their interview – and Berci chose a Q&A format. So without further ado, meet one of the world’s leading thinkers on digital medicine.
The Case for Personalized Medicine: Interview with Edward Abrahams of PMC November 25, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Genome, Interview, Personalized medicine.1 comment so far
The third edition of The Case for Personalized Medicine (PDF) was released a week ago and I had a chance to do an interview with Edward Abrahams, Ph.D. of the Personalized Medicine Coalition. The new edition is a primer that highlights the progress in the field of personalized medicine for policymakers, researchers, and business leaders.
- How many prominent examples of personalized medicine might we have next year?
It’s impossible for us to know how many prominent examples of personalized medicine products will be available a year from now, but we project that the rapid acceleration in the number of new products coming onto the market will continue. When we published the first edition of The Case for Personalized Medicine in 2006 – there were only 13 available products; when we published the second edition in 2009, there were 37 products available, and now, in 2011, there are 72.
- Sometimes lecturers use two numbers: 7 billion and 3 billion referring to the mass sequencing of everyone’s DNA in the world. When could it happen, what is your estimation?
We understand there to be 3 billion SNPs.
- It seems now from gene expression profiling we are moving towards RNA sequencing and next generation sequencing. What do you think is the next trend in research?
Both research and clinical care will benefit as the cost of whole genome sequencing declines at a rate dramatically more quickly than Moore’s Law would predict inching towards the $1,000 mark. The $1,000 price point is critical because it will make whole genome sequencing comparable in cost to existing medical tests thereby opening up new opportunities for researchers to understand the genetic underpinnings of wellness and disease and providing clinicians with a valuable tool for assessing patient health.
- It is often written by economists that while personalized medicine costs more, it is more cost-efficient. How can we find the balance between having a well designed personalized medicine concept in healthcare and checking everyone’s samples for random biomarkers?
This is a good question. Evidence is needed to show the clinical and economic utility of anything that becomes part of the standard of care. But personalized medicine will be most successful where it makes health care more efficient by enabling the matching of treatment to patient to maximize therapeutic benefits and reduce adverse events, not where it imposes a new one-size-fits-all guideline on physicians to test the entire population for a random biomarker.
- What are the goals and planned activities of the Personalized Medicine Coalition for the next few years?
The Personalized Medicine Coalition is an education and advocacy organization comprising more than 200 member institutions. In keeping with our educational mission, we will plan conferences and develop new documents along the lines of The Case for Personalized Medicine to educate policymakers, business leaders, and others needing to understand personalized medicine and the opportunities it offers to improve patient care while making the health care system more efficient. We will also work with our members to understand and remove barriers to personalized medicine by advocating for changes to health care policy in the United States and around the world.
My Open Access Success Story November 7, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in About me, Interview, Open Access, science, Web 2.0.1 comment so far
An interview with me focusing on how open access changed the way I conduct my research in genomics was published on Open Access Success Stories. An excerpt:
So what happened when he published his first paper? Naturally, Dr Mesko chose to publish it in an open access journal and to use his expertise with social media to share it as widely as possible.
“As I’ve been a medical blogger for years, it was clear to me I would like to get as much feedback as possible for my work so we decided to publish the paper in an open access journal. I wanted to get suggestions, I wanted to hear the opinion of respected scientists, some of whom were also bloggers,” explains Dr Mesko.
What is the future of Health 2.0 in Europe? September 12, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health 2.0, Interview, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Web 2.0.4 comments
Pascal Lardier, International Director of Health 2.0 asked me for an interview about the future of health 2.0. Here is the interview and an excerpt:
Basically, the medical acts remain the same: doctors will continue to receive their patients. But both stakeholders need to adapt and be able to deal with the rapidly growing amount of information available online. As the patient’s motivation is clearly more important (their health is at stake), they are more open to these innovations/developments while medical professionals use the internet and social media for other purposes: education, collaboration, diagnostic technologies, etc… Patients and doctors basically use the same type of technologies for different purposes. I’m sure social media, used with strategy and caution, will help fill the gap between patients and their physicians.
Webicina and Streaming Well Become Partners September 1, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health 2.0, Interview, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Video, Web 2.0, Webicina.add a comment
It’s a great pleasure to announce the new partnership between Webicina.com and Streaming Well, the leading European health video production and distribution channel. Webicina, a free service curating medical resources in social media will feature videos created by professionals on Streaming Well. Here is one example for allergy. I did an interview with Francis Namouk, head of Streaming Well about this collaboration:
How was Streaming Well launched and what is the rationale behind that?
As our chief medical adviser, Paul Stillman puts it “There is a real mismatch between the ability for people to search for information and the quality of information they find”. Based on this, my business partner and I identified a need for creating an engaging health information channel with professional produced content that patients (and their loved ones) can use to better manage their health. A channel where HCPs can learn about the patient experience and help get the best out of their consultation. We believe that video is the most engaging medium, and identified an opportunity to launch the first “Branded” health video channel across Europe.
How do you supervise the content of the videos? Are medical professionals involved?
Streaming Well prioritises collaboration with both commercial and advocacy groups to deliver professional and trustworthy information to patients, carers, and healthcare professionals. Our medical writers and panel of experts participate in creating video content that effectively communicates educational messages. All content is reviewed by our Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Paul Stillman.
What do you expect from this collaboration with Webicina.com?
We simply look to align our goals in providing quality health information to patients and HCPs. Webicina is a leading and trusted ressource for crowd sourced health information, and we are a leading European health video production and distribution channel.
We are happy to keep providing you with our video content, and hope to be included as a video partner for upcoming projects that might require our services.
Organizing virtual medical events: Interview July 15, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Interview, Medical education, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Second Life, Virtuality, Web 2.0.add a comment
I did an interview with a medical professional (virtual name is Vera Zhaoying) who has been organizing medical events for years in Second Life.
- When and why did you start organizing medical events in Second Life?
That is I think 4,5 years ago that I spoke for AMMC (the Ann Myers Medical Center), I was still a student and in real life I was not happy to talk in public. During that time Ann (founder of the AMMC) still taught in AMMC. When I proposed a subject, Ann said OK and you go do it yourself. Looked it up on the website. That was the 10th of September, 2007 and the topic was spinal cord injuries. I think during 2008 I began to organize meetings on a regular bases and created the AMMC intern group. By that time Dr Ann began to have more serious health problems and had asked me to do this, and i did 
- What do you do in real life and do your colleagues know about your online activities?
What I do in real life, actually I think it is better to say what my roles are. First I am me and that can be tricky enough (joking) and have been an MD sinch March 2010 MD (proud proud proud). Now I’m a resident of Internal medicine and due to a trial already also in Oncology.
My online activities, some do know it and are interested and see the potentials, some think it is just a game and I should not waste my time on it. Surprisingly enough the more enthousiast collegues are those a bit older/old. I had not expected that, the younger ones are way more familiar with new technology and applications and mostly they don’t see it as a possible addition.
- What about the Ann Myers Medical Center? Are there any live events these days?
Sadly currently not, AMMC does not have land and believe me I did try to find it, so I hope I win state lottery soon and simply buy a SIM
What is now under development is a mobile solution, I asked a builder to create a truck and trailer. The trailer is the key part, it has a double that swings open in an angle of 90 degrees showing the interior. The first trailer will be about breast awareness. I wait with other plans till this one is completed.
I'm attending a simulation at the Ann Myers Medical Center
- What are your plans for the near future?
Well actually I miss a house in Second Life to call home and have a small office in it. So I probably go rent one. Other plans are 3 extra trailers for several topics: Diabetes is one and for the more near future a ship. That might sound funny but I don’t see AMMC getting land anytime soon, in order not to lose the momentum, I thought of the ship, it must have a place for meetings but also instead of trailers have containers with the option I just described, the containers can be used in for instance mobile hospital. Bit like medicine sans frontiere, I have to plan that in more details.
Many thanks for the answers and I wish you luck with your virtual medical education projects!
What impact will e-patients have on how healthcare is delivered: My interview on Pharmaphorum July 11, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health 2.0, Interview, Medicine, Medicine 2.0.3 comments
Rebecca Aris just interviewed me on Pharmaphorum about my views on health 2.0, the impact of social media on medicine and the pharma world. An excerpt:
Unlocking the true potential of social media within healthcare is a daunting task where obstacles and regulatory barriers are all too evident. Wouldn’t it be simple if all patients and healthcare professionals could easily identify and access accurate digital information and follow up with an informed online conversation about how best to proceed with treatment. As desirable as this scenario is, few of us dedicate ourselves to turning it into a reality.
We spoke with Bertalan Mesko who is committed to helping patients and medical professionals enter the web 2.0 world. Aside from being a medical doctor, Bertalan is also the administrator of the Wikipedia:WikiProject Medicine. In addition to his online resources, Scienceroll and Webicina, he has launched a unique course focused on social media and medicine demonstrating his unquestionable dedication to improving the landscape of health online.
Interview about Crowdsourcing in Medicine on Al Jazeera English April 27, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Interview, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, twitter, Video, Web 2.0.3 comments
I’ve recently had a live interview on Al Jazeera English about crowdsourcing a diagnosis on Twitter. I really enjoyed the discussion and I hope you will enjoy it too. Here is the article about it and you can watch the interview on my Facebook profile.
Debrecen-based Bertalan Meskó, a medical doctor who tweets under the name @Berci and has more than 6,000 followers, reported on his blog [en] that he was listed among the Top 10 Medical Tweeters on Project IVLine. He wrote this about his Twitter experience: “Whenever I have a question about my profession, PhD, or social media, generally I receive a valid and relevant answer in minutes.
Being Interviewed on Al Jazeera English Today! April 21, 2011
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Interview.1 comment so far
I was asked to give an interview today at 19:30 GMT on Al Jazeera English about crowdsourcing in medicine. I plan to tell some stories about how I have been using social media to build valid medical communities where I get answers for my specific medical/clinical questions. I’ve recently covered this important issue on my blog: Crowdsourcing in medicine via Twitter
Al Jazeera’s new, interactive TV program called The Stream is a social media community with its own daily television program and will tap into the extraordinary potential of this exciting new medium to disseminate news. The Stream will be an aggregator of online sources and discussion, seeking out unheard voices, new perspectives from people on the ground and untold angles related to the most compelling stories of the day.
The show will be available in more than 200 million households in over 89 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.
