Siren Interactive Shares Social Media Expertise Online and Offline

OAK PARK, IL (June 26, 2012) – 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.”