In a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, communicators must be agile, science-driven and focused on impact, said Sherry Goldberg, President, North America for GCI Health, during an interview at Biotech Week.
“The only constant right now is change,” Goldberg said. “We need to be nimble and guide our stakeholders through uncertainty with clarity and purpose.”
Goldberg outlined a three-tiered approach to effective health communication: grounding messages in science, remaining agile in response to shifting conditions, and ensuring every effort drives measurable impact. She emphasized that communication strategies must be rooted in business strategy and tailored to the needs of diverse stakeholders—from investors to patients.
Goldberg noted that the rise of health misinformation and disinformation remains a major challenge. “We’re facing a public health crisis when it comes to health-specific misinformation,” she said. GCI Health, part of the Burson Group, is leveraging AI tools to combat disinformation and improve message targeting.
Goldberg also called for a shift in how communication success is measured. “We’ve started a movement to ban impressions as a vanity metric,” she said. “Impact—not just visibility—should be the core measurement.”
She encouraged executives to evaluate communications based on behavior change and real-world outcomes, not just reach. “A narrative is only as good as the action it inspires,” Goldberg said.
Looking ahead, Goldberg urged pharma and biotech leaders to embrace the evolving role of health communicators. “We’ve gone from being a catch-all function to a strategic driver,” she said.
“Science, agility and impact—those are the pillars that will move us forward.”
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