An interactive panel discussion on leveraging social media in rare disease patient communities will be moderated by Siren Interactive Founder and President Wendy White at the 7th Annual Rare Disease and Orphan Drug Leadership Congress. Panelists will include Kristina Broadbelt, global director of PR and advocacy at Viropharma Incorporated, and CheckOrphan President Robert Derham. In addition, the discussion will include the rare disease patient perspective from Katherine Leon. Using social media and a proactive approach, Leon required only one week to assemble fellow rare disease patients for a Mayo Clinic research study.

The panel discussion will begin at 2:00 pm EDT on Thursday, July 19, in Philadelphia. To help identify the specific social media industry topics that are most pressing, the panel is soliciting questions from rare disease patients, caregivers, healthcare providers and pharmaceutical marketers. Questions can be emailed in advance of the event to contactsiren@sireninteractive.com. Responses to the questions will be addressed during the panel discussion, and answers will be distributed through a live Twitter feed at #RareDiseaseCongress.

White noted that “the expertise of our panelists shared through an interactive format that leverages social media is a powerful approach for effectively addressing this topic and walking the talk.”

About Siren Interactive

Siren Interactive is a digital relationship marketing agency focused on understanding the behaviors of patients and physicians dealing with chronic rare diseases. Because of this expertise, the agency can drive new patient starts and lifelong adherence to therapies for its clients. A recipient of the 2011 Manny Heart Award, Siren Interactive is the nation’s first and only marketing agency with dual regulatory compliance certification for Patient Relationship Marketing and Internet Promotion/Social Media. The agency was founded in 1999 as a woman-owned business and has been on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the US for the past two years. For more information, visit http://www.sireninteractive.com.