Robert Bazell, Chief Medical and Science Correspondent, NBC News, to Discuss Strategies for Enhancing Pharma's Image and Public Perception

Business Wire, March 10, 2005

NEW YORK -- With the increased scrutiny on pharmaceutical companies due to drug recalls and safety alerts, the public image of the pharmaceutical industry has been tarnished. Robert Bazell, Chief Medical and Science Correspondent, NBC News, will discuss strategies for enhancing the industry's image and public perception through effective media relations strategies at the Medical Education Congress 2005, which will be held in Philadelphia on May 9-11, presented by the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education (ACME) and the Institute for International Research (IIR).

In his keynote session, Mr. Bazell will provide the media perspective on the image of the pharmaceutical industry, and will discuss how the public perceives the actions and activities of pharmaceutical companies. Mr. Bazell will also identify key tips on how to work more effectively with the media to present factual, un-biased information to the public, and will relate successful strategies for companies to communicate with the media.

"The public's perception of a company or industry is quite often shaped by the media's coverage, whether positive or negative in nature," stated Keith Kirkpatrick, Medical Education Congress' Event Director. "As a respected member of the media, Mr. Bazell will provide an insider's view on how the media evaluates and covers the pharmaceutical industry, and he will provide actionable strategies and tactics which can be used to foster an improved public perception."

Medical Education Congress 2005 also will bring together hundreds of medical education professionals to share best practices and case information on how they're restructuring their organizations to maintain regulatory compliance and enhance the value and effectiveness of CME programs. The conference will offer more than 30 case study examples of internal structural changes occurring within the industry, and will feature more than 50 sessions with more than 75 speakers. Some of the featured presenters include:

--Robert D. Fox, Ed. D., Professor, Research Center for Continuing Professional and Higher Education, University of Oklahoma, will deliver a keynote address on generating effective strategies and tools for application in Continuing Medical Education.

--Geoffrey Levitt, Vice President at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, will speak about strategies for navigating a CME environment of uncertainty for accreditors, providers, hospitals, and academic institutions.

--Joe Green, Ph.D., Associate Consulting Professor at Duke University School of Medicine, and President, Professional Resource Network, will discuss ways to effectively work with CME accreditation partners.

--Bruce Bellande, Executive Director, Alliance for Continuing Medical Education, will provide an overview of the CME landscape to plan effective communication strategies.

Med Ed Congress 2005 will offer a unique learning opportunity to understand and evaluate the current environment for CME, and will present real-world strategies for implementing medical education support and delivery programs.

About Robert Bazell

Robert Bazell is NBC's Chief Health and Science Correspondent. His reports appear on NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC. Bazell has won numerous awards for his reports, which number more than 2,000 to date. During his career with NBC News, Bazell has reported on a wide range of subjects in the areas of science, technology, and medicine, from throughout the United States and around the world.

Bazell was awarded the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for distinguished achievement and meritorious service in broadcasting in 1994, reporting on the growing AIDS epidemic. Bazell also earned the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award and the Maggie Award from the Planned Parenthood Foundation. He won another Emmy for a three-part series on the brain which appeared on NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.

Bazell is a 1967 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. degree in biochemistry. He did graduate work in biology at the University of Sussex, England, in 1969, and was awarded a doctoral candidate degree in immunology at Berkeley.

Bazell began his journalism career in 1971 as a writer for the News and Comment section of Science magazine. A year later, he moved to The New York Post as a reporter. In 1976, before he joined NBC News, he was briefly a reporter with WNBC-TV, the local NBC television station in New York.