Gail R Safian

SECRETARY

She has managed:

·         Creation of National Breast Cancer Awareness Week (later Breast Cancer Awareness Month) on behalf of AstraZeneca, in 1985. It became the model for many other consumer disease awareness programs. Susan Ford, daughter of former First Lady Betty Ford, who had recently gone public about her mastectomy, was the spokesperson, embodying the message “Early Detection is Your Best Protection.” As a result of this program, and the  many other breast cancer awareness initiatives it spurred, the percentage of women over 50 who get annual mammograms rose to 70% in 2000 from 15% in 1985, and remains at that level today.

·         Global issues for Novartis involving patent litigation and pricing issues in developing countries, including Brazil, Russia, Romania, Slovenia, South Korea, India and Thailand; she worked closely with country communicators in emerging markets to create communications materials and ensure consistent global messaging.

·         Annual media briefings in Europe for a continent-wide program run by the European Leukemia Network and Novartis, designed to improve the level of care of leukemia patients. Ms. Safian worked with communicators in Eastern, Central and Western European countries, providing them with the rationale to invite journalists to these events. This year’s briefing drew 36 journalists from 22 European countries and resulted in widespread media coverage.

·         Numerous pharmaceutical product issues for Roche, including Accutane, a widely used treatment for severe acne that was blamed for some high-profile suicides; and misuse of Rohypnol, an insomnia medication erroneously dubbed “The Date Rape Drug.” These programs involved coalition building, management of hostile media, legislative response, data analysis, media training, and development of materials for physicians, consumers and patients.

o        The Accutane issue also entailed preparation for three US FDA advisory board meetings, development of strategic messaging, coaching of presenters and management of on-site news media, and close involvement with the corporate legal department in preparing for and managing media inquiries associated with product liability lawsuits.

·         A multi-year annual national organ donation awareness campaign called Linkages to Life, directed at the African-American community in conjunction with The Links, the country’s largest African-American women’s social service organization. The program involved presentations at black churches across the country made by transplant surgeons, accompanied by transplant recipients or relatives of donors who were members of the church. By the second year, 18 of the 20 African-American transplant surgeons in the United States participated in the program.

Ms. Safian formed Safian Communications Inc., a consulting firm, in 1994, and has worked exclusively in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. She has spoken before professional, consumer and student groups, including the Drug Information Association, Women in Communications, Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, and Public Relations Society of America. Three programs she directed won public relations industry awards for creativity. In addition, Ms. Safian has won awards for her writing from the American Hospital Association and Women in Communications. She started her career as a newspaper reporter, and worked for Ruder Finn, Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe before opening her own consultancy.

Ms. Safian served as a long-term member of CancerCare’s Communications Committee. She is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in Public Relations, and has served on the boards of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association and the New York University Business Forum. She has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Durand-Hedden House and Garden, an historic house museum in Maplewood, for the past 10 years, and has served as an advisor to members of the Maplewood Township Committee and the Maplewood Historic Preservation Commission.

She holds an MBA from New York University Stern School of Business and a BA from the University at Albany, State University of New York.