Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Print and Digital Publishing
External Audience
Silver
Penn Medicine magazine shines a light on some of the most extraordinary advances in medical science, transformations of health care, and the people behind them. Throughout our storytelling, we emphasize a few specific, powerful narrative themes that brought our institutional strategic priorities to life, while implementing a “right-size” strategy to tailor our storytelling for print and online readers.
What was the most impactful part of your entry?
We were particularly proud to capture the impact of decades of research focused on preventing breast cancer recurrence. This work exemplifies the best of translational research, with clinical insights and basic science discoveries working together to move as swiftly as possible toward better treatments. We connected with a patient who had taken part in a series of clinical trials that found dormant cancer cells lurking in her bone marrow after she completed breast cancer treatment, and then subsequently used generic drugs to eradicate all signs of those cells. While she, like many breast cancer survivors, lived in constant fear of the cancer coming back, she was proud to help other survivors, perhaps, be able to live free of that fear in the future. The story itself was impactful, and when the trial results were published a few months later, the story supported the national and international media that covered the work.
What is one thing you learned from your entry/experience?
We’ve learned how to turn the prism to take a very large, complex story, and tell it in a few component parts. For example, an in-depth feature cover package about initiatives for health justice and community health through greening initiatives ran for 14 pages in print. We scoped the story to highlight different aspects of these initiatives in different parts: A feature overview, a story about community engagement initiatives, a story about research that is driving the approach forward, and a two-page sidebar highlighting the program staff who are giving back to the communities where they grew up. This is important to capture readers’ varied interest and shorter attention spans, especially online. This multi-part packaging of complex stories helps us meet different readers’ needs and helps us partner more effectively with our Marketing colleagues to find common ground with stories that meet the interests of their consumer marketing and branding needs.
Contact: Julie Wood
julie.wood@pennmedicine.upenn.edu