This document provides advice on building a personal brand as an early-career healthcare researcher. It discusses presenting yourself consistently online through updated profiles, monitoring how others find your work, and strategically engaging on social media and other platforms. By sharing research, acknowledging others' work, and contributing timely discussions, researchers can raise the visibility of their expertise, connect with colleagues, and amplify their career impact over time. Resources are provided to help navigate communicating science responsibly and effectively to different audiences.

1. Creating
your personal
“brand”
Kara Gavin, M.S.
Lead Public Relations Representative,
Michigan Medicine Dept. of Communication
Policy & Research Media Relations, U-M IHPI
Communicating your work
as an early-career
healthcare researcher

2. Who am I?
• Michigan Medicine Department of
Communication & IHPI Communication team
• Trained in biology, science writing & journalism
• 20+ years’ experience communicating about
research at U-M & Brookhaven
National Lab

3. • Find & tell stories
• Handle news media inquiries
• Push stories & info out any way I can
(including IHPI & MichMed social channels)
• Help researchers understand/use
communication channels
What do I do?

4. Why does U-M* have staff like me?
• our institution’s work should reach people who care
• U-M expertise can have impact
• taxpayers & policymakers who fund research
need to know what they’re paying for
• most Americans need science/medicine translated
• it’s easier than ever
*and lots of other places too
Because…

5. IHPI has invested in even MORE!
• Staff: Communication manager, Government/external Policy Relations (2), Media
Relations, Writer, Designer, Event/membership manager, Communication specialist
• Channels: Website, member profiles, news & feature articles, issue briefs, Twitter,
LinkedIn, internal & external newsletters, videos, infographics, digital signs
• Training: Twitter, LinkedIn, Government Relations, opinion/commentary

6. What do you mean, “brand”?

7. Your personal brand…
• NOT a logo
• Must be built, over time
• Comes from the ways you present yourself to
the world…and what people can find about you
• Affects how people will interact with
you & your work

8. For 200 years…
• Information flowed to the public
from officials via gatekeepers:
• News media
• Entertainment & publishing industry
• Educators & librarians
• Journalists as the ‘fourth estate’ of society
• Academic research & PR since WWII

9. Now, everyone can be a publisher.

10. U-M (and other institutions) use these
tools to draw attention to our experts
• “Brand journalism” – build & reinforce trust through
original stories, videos & more
• Built for search engine visibility & shareability
• Social media to disseminate and engage
• Fast response to questions & controversy

11. www.michiganhealthlab.org
Facebook - Twitter - Email
Sister site for health stories:
www.michiganhealthblog.org

12. Michigan Health Lab:
• Sharing cutting-edge research news
& clinical stories
• Aimed at professionals & public
• Jump on timely news topics quickly
• Shared on web, social media, email
• Optimized for search engine
visibility
• 2020: 3.5M pageviews

13. Engage directly:
Social media for academics
Facebook, Reddit, Wikipedia, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok…

14. Why do it?
• Connect with others in your field & beyond
• Raise the visibility of your work
• Share new findings, publications, news, observations, timely links
• Engage with individuals & institutions around the world & next door
• Get the most out of conferences & events
• Raise awareness of YOU for career purposes

15. Why else? Altmetrics!
• Aggregating activity around journal articles:
• media coverage
• blog posts
• social media activity
• policy documents
• Traces links to papers & DOI mentions
• Assigns a score & percentile
• Not perfect! But getting better

17. Your essentials
• A robust, updated professional
web profile
• An up-to-date LinkedIn profile
• Google yourself & set up alert for
your name
• Know the PR person
for your area

18. “Laying low”
• Start by “lurking” – follow individuals,
institutions, organizations, news media
• Use conference hashtags to see
what others are saying
• Subscribe to lists of Twitter users compiled by
others in your field (including IHPI) and check
activity by the accounts on the list regularly
• Join LinkedIn groups for professional societies

19. Take it to the next level
• Claim Twitter handle, add a robust bio &
link to your web profile or LinkedIn page
• Share links & posts about your work,
talks, professional activities, etc.
• Tell your PR person about upcoming
papers & timely expertise
• Write “plain English” blurbs
on your research to share

20. Engage more fully
• Share links to interesting articles,
and salute the work/achievements of others
• Use LinkedIn’s “Write an Article” feature
• Post slide sets on your site or SlideShare
• Take part in tweet chats, Reddit AMAs,
online campaigns, virtual journal clubs, etc.
• On your personal social media,
educate friends by sharing news/observations

21. Join
• Platform to reach the public on timely topics
• Articles created by academics, aided by professional editors
• Open copyright for republishing
• Routinely republished by major media outlets, from the
Washington Post to IFL Science
• Easily shared via social media and the web
• Authors can see data on views & republishing

22. What could happen?
• Connect with others
• Spread knowledge
• Amplify your impact
• Keep up with new ideas &
opportunities
• Lend your voice
• Get more from
your work

23. Be careful of…
• Connecting with patients on social platforms
• Being too political/personal –
but DO cite published research
• Engaging in debates/advocacy without
understanding the platform you’re on

24. I challenge you…
• Venture onto social platforms
& web publishing
• Learn from others
• See it as part of your career
• Build your brand so
it doesn’t get built for you!

25. IHPI Communications Toolkit
https://ihpi.umich.edu/comm-guide
Social Media Integrity site - best practices
https://socialintegrity.umich.edu/
Navigating Social Media as a Scholar
http://michmed.org/Q2V81
U-M resources

26. More Resources
My handouts on social media, news media, etc.
https://www.slideshare.net/KaraGavin
Joyce Lee, M.D.’s Slideshares on social media:
http://www.slideshare.net/joyclee/presentations
Andrew Ibrahim, M.D.’s Visual Abstract Primer
https://www.surgeryredesign.com/resources
A list of IHPI members who tweet – follow them & learn!
http://michmed.org/e0Zgg

27. Still More Resources!
NIH Checklist for Communicating Science
and Health Research to the Public:
http://michmed.org/EzD1O
AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science:
http://www.aaas.org/pes
Health News Review:
Toolkit for communicating about health research:
http://www.healthnewsreview.org/toolkit/

28. Send questions & ideas!
kegavin@umich.edu
@karag