About Richard Tsai

Richard is a marketing strategist and digital technologist with specialization in the life sciences, biotech/ biopharmaceutical, and healthcare industries. He has over 10 years of experience in marketing strategy, analysis, product development and management. As the Senior Vice President of Marketing, Richard is responsible for developing the brand and accelerating the growth for Inspire as the leading social network for health. Prior to Inspire, Richard held various commercial roles in the life sciences, and most recently was the Area Director of Marketing at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where he focused on the development and execution of their marketing and digital strategy.
Senior Vice President of Marketing, Inspire

Over Two-Thirds of Inspire’s Membership Want Clinical Trial Information

Over Two-Thirds of Inspire’s Membership Want Clinical Trial Information By Richard Tsai Recently a member of a rare disease community on Inspire asked fellow members, “What should I know about clinical trials? Are they worth it? Any information would be helpful. Thank you.” Among the replies they received: “Unfortunately, we’ve not had many opportunities to participate in [rare disease] clinical trials. In my opinion, if a pharmaceutical company, medical device developer, etc. has gone through the required steps to get to human trials for [rare disease]--I’d absolutely want to help them by participating!” In another rare [...]

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Sep 2018By |0 Comments

Can the Life Science Industry Be Part of Shared Medical Decision-Making?

Can the Life Science Industry Be Part of Shared Medical Decision-Making? By Richard Tsai In the past, if there was something wrong, most patients went to the doctor and did what their doctors told them to do. Now, the plethora of available online health information has transformed the dynamic between patients and their doctors.  According to Pew Research Center’s 2013 data, 59% of Americans search for health information online. In 2015 Google found that one in twenty online searches were health-related.1 Armed with information about diagnoses and treatments, patients can change the medical decision-making process. Inspire’s 3rd [...]

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Jun 2018By |0 Comments

Federal Agency Perspectives on Clinical Trial Eligibility: Spring 2018

Federal Agency Perspectives on Clinical Trial Eligibility: Spring 2018 “Most current [breast cancer] clinical trials only enroll what I call the metastatic cancer ‘Olympians:’ the healthiest of the dying, those who are on their first or second line of therapy, who have limited metastases, who don't have brain mets, who don't have other diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure,” Dr. Kelly Shanahan, an obstetrician-gynecologist, activist, consumer reviewer for the Department of Defense Cancer Research Program and patient with stage 4 breast cancer said in an interview via email.1 Dr. Shanahan’s description matches many of the concerns [...]

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May 2018By |0 Comments

Launching communities with Inspire: The Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor (PNET) Support Community

Launching communities with Inspire: The Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor (PNET) Support Community For patients and caregivers facing rare cancers, finding others going through the same experience is challenging.  Yet, communicating with others who have “been there” is essential support. This can be especially true when statistics and online information about rare disease -  out of context -can be frightening. In 2011 Inspire’s moderation team found over 2900 mentions of carcinoid and over 200 mentions of neuroendocrine tumor in posts across all the cancer communities of Inspire.  Patients, caregivers, and others affected by pancreatic [...]

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Apr 2018By |0 Comments

From Research To Action for Patients

From Research To Action for Patients It is exciting to see the results of research providing strong, positive benefits to patients. That was the take-away from a joint presentation made by Inspire and Strongbridge BioPharma at the Pharmaceutical Market Research Conference (PMRC) this month. Last fall, Strongbridge BioPharma engaged Inspire to find the “rarest of the rare”- people who have the exceptionally rare condition, primary periodic paralysis or PPP. There are between 4,000 and 5,000 diagnosed individuals in the US. Finding the Rarest of the Rare for Market Research: Patient Journey Mapping Through In-depth Interviews describes how [...]

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Feb 2018By |0 Comments

What We Can Learn From Patients’ Stories

What We Can Learn From Patients' Stories What is disease?  As bioethicist, Jackie Leach Scully wrote, “Most of us feel we have an intuitive grasp of the idea, reaching mentally to images or memories of colds, cancer or tuberculosis. But a look through any medical dictionary soon shows that articulating a satisfactory definition of disease is surprisingly difficult.” 1 Every day, people come to Inspire’s social communities with the goal of sharing their experience with disease. We believe that those living with disease define it in their stories. Communities of patients with cancers, autoimmune, chronic and rare [...]

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Feb 2018By |0 Comments

Virtual Patient Engagement: Inspire and the NIH Clinical Center

Virtual Patient Engagement:  Inspire and the NIH Clinical Center Engagement with patients and caregivers is at the heart of Inspire’s community of cancer, chronic, and rare disease support groups.  While there are many ways Inspire can help the industry engage with a targeted patient population, virtual patient engagement  and authoritative expert content are central to that engagement.  For example, we recently conducted five webinars and started a new discussion post series called “Ask the Expert.” During these webinars and through the question-answer format of the “Ask the Expert” series, Inspire educates and engages members, [...]

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Jan 2018By |0 Comments

Patient Engagement Leadership Series Part 2: Designing from the Patient Perspective

Patient Engagement Leadership Series Part 2: Designing from the Patient Perspective The patient perspective is based in the lived experience of illness.  Entering into patient-centered or patient informed medication development means understanding that this worldview cannot be provided independently by researchers or clinicians.1 At Sanofi, patient perspectives have been integrated into clinical trials for over seven years and for more than five years in research, according to Victoria DiBiaso, ‎Global Head Clinical Operations Strategy & Collaboration and her colleagues (Amy Ba, Patricia Roselle and Anthony Yanni).  “It’s been a truly transformative approach and has helped us make [...]

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Nov 2017By |0 Comments

Patient Engagement Leadership Series Part 1: Clinical Trial Participants Are Medical Heroes

Patient Engagement Leadership Series Part 1:  Clinical Trial Participants Are Medical Heroes “I think a hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people.”  ~ Maya Angelou In Embracing the Patient Centric Culture, I discussed the paradigm shift facing healthcare. “Instead of doing things for or to the patient, now the goal must be empowering and working in partnership with the patient...to elevate the perspectives of patients and caregivers, incorporating their needs and priorities…. Building active listening to, or obtaining a continuous stream of insights from patients and caregivers into [...]

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Nov 2017By |0 Comments