A medical science liaison (MSL) is a healthcare consulting professional who is employed by pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and managed care companies. Other job titles for medical science liaisons may include medical liaisons, clinical science liaisons, medical science managers, regional medical scientists, and regional medical directors.
The term "MSL" was originally trademarked by Upjohn as "Education services – namely, initiation of drug studies in laboratory and clinical settings and development of workshops, symposia, and seminars for physicians, medical societies, specialty organizations, academicians, in concert, concerned with drug related medical topics" in 1967 and with first use in commerce in 1967. [1]
As the number of MSL programs in healthcare increased, subsequent peer-reviewed journal publications and books became available to examine the emerging role of medical affairs [2] [3] and the use of MSLs in an increasingly vertically integrated biotechnology industry. [4]
MSLs build relationships with key opinion leaders or thought leaders and health care providers, providing critical windows of insight into the market and competition. Through such monitoring, MSLs can gain access to key influencers by interacting with national and regional societies and organizations. Moreover, as MSLs specialize in a particular therapeutic area and have scientific knowledge related to it. The educational background of MSLs consists primarily of MDs, DMSc, PharmD, and PhD professionals. Other professions who work as MSLs include Physician Assistants and Nurses. According to the program's advocates, the Board Certified Medical Affairs Specialist (BCMAS) program is the recognized MSL board certification for MSL professionals. [5] They are now highly involved in activities related to clinical trials.[ citation needed ]
The medical science liaison role is varied and day-to-day activities include (but are not limited to); [6]
Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes. BME is also traditionally logical sciences to advance health care treatment, including diagnosis, monitoring, and therapy. Also included under the scope of a biomedical engineer is the management of current medical equipment in hospitals while adhering to relevant industry standards. This involves procurement, routine testing, preventive maintenance, and making equipment recommendations, a role also known as a Biomedical Equipment Technician (BMET) or as clinical engineering.
Pharmacology is a science of medical drug and medication, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function. If substances have medicinal properties, they are considered pharmaceuticals.
A pharmacist is a healthcare professional who specializes in the preparation, dispensing, and management of medications and who provides pharmaceutical advice and guidance. Pharmacists often serve as primary care providers in the community, and may offer other services such as health screenings and immunizations.
Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links health sciences with pharmaceutical sciences and natural sciences. The professional practice is becoming more clinically oriented as most of the drugs are now manufactured by pharmaceutical industries. Based on the setting, pharmacy practice is either classified as community or institutional pharmacy. Providing direct patient care in the community of institutional pharmacies is considered clinical pharmacy.
The healthcare industry is an aggregation and integration of sectors within the economic system that provides goods and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative, and palliative care. It encompasses the creation and commercialization of products and services conducive to the preservation and restoration of well-being. The contemporary healthcare sector comprises three fundamental facets, namely services, products, and finance. It can be further subdivided into numerous sectors and categories and relies on interdisciplinary teams of highly skilled professionals and paraprofessionals to address the healthcare requirements of both individuals and communities.
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that was established in 1876. It represents medical schools, teaching hospitals, and academic and scientific societies, while providing services to its member institutions that include data from medical, education, and health studies, as well as consulting. The AAMC administers the Medical College Admission Test and operates the American Medical College Application Service and the Electronic Residency Application Service. Along with the American Medical Association (AMA), the AAMC co-sponsors the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the accrediting body for all U.S. MD-granting medical education programs.
Pharmaceutical marketing is a branch of marketing science and practice focused on the communication, differential positioning and commercialization of pharmaceutical products, like specialist drugs, biotech drugs and over-the-counter drugs. By extension, this definition is sometimes also used for marketing practices applied to nutraceuticals and medical devices.
The regulation of therapeutic goods, defined as drugs and therapeutic devices, varies by jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the United States, they are regulated at the national level by a single agency. In other jurisdictions they are regulated at the state level, or at both state and national levels by various bodies, as in Australia.
Pharmacovigilance, also known as drug safety, is the pharmaceutical science relating to the "collection, detection, assessment, monitoring, and prevention" of adverse effects with pharmaceutical products. The etymological roots for the word "pharmacovigilance" are: pharmakon and vigilare. As such, pharmacovigilance heavily focuses on adverse drug reactions (ADR), which are defined as any response to a drug which is noxious and unintended, including lack of efficacy. Medication errors such as overdose, and misuse and abuse of a drug as well as drug exposure during pregnancy and breastfeeding, are also of interest, even without an adverse event, because they may result in an adverse drug reaction.
Continuing medical education (CME) is continuing education (CE) that helps those in the medical field maintain competence and learn about new and developing areas of their field. These activities may take place as live events, written publications, online programs, audio, video, or other electronic media. Content for these programs is developed, reviewed, and delivered by faculty who are experts in their individual clinical areas. Similar to the process used in academic journals, any potentially conflicting financial relationships for faculty members must be both disclosed and resolved in a meaningful way. However, critics complain that drug and device manufacturers often use their financial sponsorship to bias CMEs towards marketing their own products.
An electronic data capture (EDC) system is a computerized system designed for the collection of clinical data in electronic format for use mainly in human clinical trials. EDC replaces the traditional paper-based data collection methodology to streamline data collection and expedite the time to market for drugs and medical devices. EDC solutions are widely adopted by pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations (CRO).
Pharmacotherapy, also known as pharmacological therapy or drug therapy, is defined as medical treatment that utilizes one or more pharmaceutical drugs to improve on-going symptoms, treat the underlying condition, or act as a prevention for other diseases (prophylaxis).
A Patient Safety Organization (PSO) is a group, institution, or association that improves medical care by reducing medical errors. Common functions of patient safety organizations are data collection, analysis, reporting, education, funding, and advocacy. A PSO differs from a Federally designed Patient Safety Organization (PSO), which provides health care providers in the U.S. privilege and confidentiality protections for efforts to improve patient safety and the quality of patient care delivery
Pharmaceutical publication planning is the activity of planning the dissemination of scientific and clinical data on a drug to healthcare professionals at scientific congresses and medical society meetings and in peer reviewed medical journals.
Clinical pharmacy is the branch of pharmacy in which clinical pharmacists provide direct patient care that optimizes the use of medication and promotes health, wellness, and disease prevention. Clinical pharmacists care for patients in all health care settings but the clinical pharmacy movement initially began inside hospitals and clinics. Clinical pharmacists often work in collaboration with physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and other healthcare professionals. Clinical pharmacists can enter into a formal collaborative practice agreement with another healthcare provider, generally one or more physicians, that allows pharmacists to prescribe medications and order laboratory tests.
A Pharmaceutical Physician is a healthcare professional, usually a medical physician, who performs actions related to pharmacology. They work in biotechnology companies, Clinical Research Organisations (CROs), Regulatory Authorities, and pharmaceutical companies.
Conflict of interest in the health care industry occurs when the primary goal of protecting and increasing the health of patients comes into conflict with any other secondary goal, especially personal gain to healthcare professionals, and increasing revenue to a healthcare organization from selling health care products and services. The public and private sectors of the medical-industrial complex have various conflicts of interest which are specific to these entities.
EMDEX is the most commonly used reference source of drug and therapeutic information by healthcare professionals in Nigeria. It was first published in 1991 as Nigeria's Essential Drugs (NED) Guide.
EMDEX drug information contents, arrangements, and therapeutic recommendations are supported by several references and clinical guidelines notably WHO Model Formulary, WHO ATC Classification System, Nigeria's Essential Medicines List, and Standard Treatment Guidelines, etc. The information is regularly reviewed and updated by a select team of healthcare practitioners and academics.
The central objective of EMDEX has been to promote the rational use of medicines through the provision of independent drug information, and the use of clinical guidelines and essential medicines list. It is the largest and most up-to-date source of information on drug products approved for use in Nigeria by NAFDAC .
The use of EMDEX as a reference drug manual is endorsed by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, the Nursing & Midwifery Council of Nigeria, and major health institutions. It is used both within and outside Nigeria by physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, and auxiliary health workers at all levels of healthcare delivery. These healthcare providers rely on EMDEX for accuracy and completeness of drug information namely indications, contra-indications, precautions or warnings, adverse effects, dosages, and drug use in special populations like children, elderly, pregnancy & lactation.
EMDEX publications are also in the syllabus of various colleges & schools of medicine, pharmacy & nursing.
A clinical pharmaceutical scientist is a licensed, practicing pharmacist who also functions as an independent researcher in the pharmaceutical sciences. Clinical pharmaceutical scientists are a type of clinician scientist, analogous to physician-scientists.
Richard B. Gaynor is an American physician specializing in hematology-oncology, educator, drug developer, and business executive. He served as an Associate Professor of Medicine at UCLA School of Medicine for nearly a decade, and subsequently as an endowed Professor of Medicine and Microbiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry in 2002. His research on NF-κB, IκB kinase, and other mechanisms regulating viral and cellular gene expression has been covered in leading subject reviews. He has been a top executive at several pharmaceutical companies, with respect to the development and clinical testing of novel anticancer drugs and cell therapies. For over a decade and a half, he worked at Eli Lilly and Company, where he became the Senior Vice President of Oncology Clinical Development and Medical Affairs in 2013. Gaynor was President of R&D at Neon Therapeutics from 2016 to 2020, when he became the President of BioNTech US, both pharmaceutical companies headquartered in Cambridge, MA. His honors include being elected a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians.