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Clio Health Champions: Melanie Shapiro, SVP, Community Engagement Director - 21GRAMS
For over 7 years, Melanie has spent her days committed to advocating and supporting the needs of patient and caregiver ambassadors and communities. In her time with 21GRAMS, she has launched and activated ambassador programs with full and diverse lived experiences. She leads the community engagement team in expanding and exploring new opportunities to highlight compelling real stories. Melanie’s experience in pharma began with supporting regulatory compliance teams at a pharmaceutical company. She applies this knowledge when training patient speakers and enjoys fielding the tough questions.
How do you bring creativity and innovation to your work?
I listen and I advocate. I spend time with families. Anyone can organize logistics or set up a call but our community engagement team extends themselves as friends and advocates. We show up for our families and our communities. I learn their needs and ensure that every experience is positive and meaningful. And, as a part of a creative agency, I share the deep knowledge of what I learn to help drive ideas that resonate deeply with the communities we support, co-creating with those communities along the way.
Tell us about a recent project you’re proud of.
My work on “Friedrich’s Back” for Biogen is incredibly meaningful for me. The community was with us every step of the way and it allowed us to effectively deliver on something the FA community needed: to laugh. Another is HEMLIBRA, “The Orbit.” I hear regularly how perfect this story captures a mother’s experience caring for a child with Hemophilia A, and that is because it is derived from community insights.
What are you most excited about right now in the health space?
Breaking away from what is considered the “typical” advertising style and showing authenticity in how we communicate with patient and caregiver communities. People want to feel heard and understood. And whether it’s highlighting the good days or the tough experiences of living with a disease, we push the envelope with candor and a rawness. After all, healthcare should be more inspiring than sneakers.
What does it mean to you to be selected as a Clio Health Champion?
This is tremendously humbling. Working with real families and communities, this is more than a job, it is my passion. Not every day is easy, but it is always meaningful. Seeing authenticity and lived experiences in healthcare advertising recognized in this way reminds me of the importance of what we do.
