T2B Monthly | June 2025

The ripple effect, peer coaching is back(!), new T2B info session, and more!

It was at JPM this year when I saw it.

That experience — what was our biggest event to date at the time — followed by a week of energizing conversations in January, crystallized T2B’s potential.

We’ve been building momentum toward sustainability ever since, bringing us to our inaugural Biopharma Comms Forum a couple weeks ago.

As I shared in my remarks in Boston, I launched T2B because I needed it. Thank you for joining Michelle and me in continuing to create community.

Today's email is 1,884 words, a 9.5-minute read.

🗓️ T2B programming snapshot

» T2B Info Session | Monday, July 15th @ 1-1:30 p.m. ET
​New to T2B? Thinking about going Pro? This 30-minute info session will walk through who we are, what we offer, and how to get the most out of your membership. Register here.​

» Peer-Learning Practicum Enrollment Closes | Friday, July 18th
​Participation in our flagship peer-coaching program is free for all Pro members. Look for details tomorrow (July 1st) when enrollment officially opens again!

» July Comm Convo – Coming Soon
​Demonstrating value as biopharma communicators determines our seat at the table and our function's future. This Comm Convo opens a candid discussion about how we define, measure, and communicate success in ways that build lasting organizational trust. Date TBA soon!

» Q3 Fullintel Partnered Seminar – Thursday, August 14th @ 1-1:30 p.m. ET
​Our next seminar in partnership with Fullintel is on the way this quarter. Watch this space.

» Q3 T2Bmeets – Coming to Boston, NJ, San Diego, and SF!
​We’re locking in dates and venues now – if you're local to any of these areas, mark your calendar and get ready to connect.

🎤 That's a wrap on the inaugural Biopharma Comms Forum!

More than 200 of you showed up for the forum and T2Bmeet @ BIO / Boston, and we’re still working our way through all our notes!

Attendees scored the overall quality of the sessions at 4.4/5, and we hit an excellent Net Promoter Score of 66 (Michelle had to explain to me how NPS actually works and that that's a really good score! 😆). But just as – if not more – important, the energy was electric.

The forum solidified a few fun observations I posted to LinkedIn.

If you couldn't attend the forum, don’t worry – we’re rolling out recaps in the weeks ahead. ICYMI, we started with our takeaways from “Expanding Communicator Influence Across Biopharma Decision-Making Functions,” a session with Mimi Lee (ARPA-H), Julie Masow (BioNTech), Sandy Pound (Thermo Fisher), and Katie Joyce (Alkermes).

👉 What this panel taught us about building trust and speaking up when it counts​

Special thanks to our partners who made the inaugural Biopharma Comms Forum possible: Takeda (host), Waterhouse (marquee sponsor), Fullintel, and Jygantic.

〰️ The ripple effect

June's forum was about defining the modern biopharma communicator. September's virtual Biopharma Comms Forum is about the impact we create from that position.

As we've been discussing, the rules of the game have changed. Budget cuts, agency consolidation, political turbulence, widespread misinformation, and rapid AI adoption have changed how we work across functions and with external partners. The operating environment is more complex, and the expectations higher.

This new virtual forum examines how communicators influence what happens next. We'll explore approaches to cross-functional partnership, boundary management, and sustaining credibility when the pressure is on. The work we do - aligning leadership, navigating stakeholder dynamics, and maintaining organizational clarity - creates impact that extends well beyond communications.

That influence helps shape how companies operate, how teams function, and ultimately how transformative therapies reach patients. This forum is about understanding and expanding that ripple effect.

More details coming soon, but in the meantime, save the date: Thursday, September 18th!

🍕 Q2 T2Bmeets from coast to coast

Following our T2Bmeets in San Diego and San Francisco earlier this quarter, we wrapped up Q2 with meetups at ASCO (Chicago) and NY, as well as Boston of course.

Chicago

Our first-ever Chicago meetup (hosted by AbbVie with support from Weber Shandwick) brought together local T2Bers, ASCO visitors, and deep dish pizza... because those three things obviously go together. Join the #regional-chicago channel on T2B Slack to keep the conversation going.

​Read more​

NYC

Hosted by Mission North, this meetup featured our usual networking mixer and an experimental new program format, which included a wide-ranging panel discussion on comms during this era of uncertainty. Our Q3 meetup will be in NJ, and then we'll be back in NYC for Q4.

​See the highlights​

Huge thanks to our hosts and sponsors across the Q2 T2Bmeet series!

🗓️ Our Q3 T2Bmeet @ Boston will for sure be on Tuesday, September 16th. Look out for details on this and our other Q3 meetups; most others will probably also be in September.

📣 The Peer-Learning Practicum is back! Enrollment opens tomorrow

The first 2025 cycle of our popular Peer-Learning Practicum, or PLP, wrapped up this month, and we're about to open enrollment for the program again tomorrow!

If you're new to T2B or haven't joined the PLP before, here's what to know:

• Now in its third cycle, the PLP earns high praise for fostering deep, meaningful dialogue beyond traditional networking.
• This peer-coaching program helps T2Bers build connections that often last well beyond the six-month cycle.
• Open exclusively to T2B Pro members, the PLP runs twice a year, with registration in January and July for five months of monthly cohort meetings.
• Each session centers on a shared theme aligned with broader community programming, such as Comm Convos and Weekly Community Discussion Topics.

​Check out what one of our most recent PLP participants had to say.

This upcoming PLP cycle’s Cohort Leads once again comprise handpicked veteran biopharma communicators:

• Terri Clevenger (Waterhouse Brands)
• Geoff Curtis (Marshall Curtis Communications)
• Melinda Hutcheon (Sangamo Therapeutics)
• Susan Kinkead (Kinkead Communications)
• Agatha Newman (Astellas Pharma)
• Sheryl Seapy (Real Chemistry)
• Marisa Sharkey (Harmony Biosciences)
• Sarah Spencer (SJS Communications)

Even if you participated in the first cycle of the PLP this year, you're welcome to re-enroll to be placed in a new cohort for the second half of the year.

Details landing in your inbox tomorrow, July 1st!

👋 Get to know T2B – info session on Tuesday, July 15th @ 1 p.m. ET

We heard your questions and excitement about T2B, so we’re hosting a 30-minute info session to bring it all together. Whether you’re curious about going Pro or looking to get the most out of your existing membership, join us to hear the story of how T2B came to be, what sets us apart, and everything we offer our community.

We’ll walk through our three core pillars – strategic learning, building connections, and knowledge sharing – and give a clear picture of all that’s included with Pro and Student memberships (spoiler: it’s probably more than you realized). We’ll also cover how to fully leverage the platform to strengthen your impact and expand your network.

​Register for the (free) info session.​

Why attend

✅ Understand who we are and why we exist: how T2B grew from an idea into a thriving community of biopharma communicators.
✅ Get clarity on our three strategic pillars and how they guide everything we do.
✅ See what’s included in Pro and Student memberships – and why they’re designed to give you real value.
✅ Discover offerings you might not know about yet, from live events to member-only resources.
✅ Learn how to make the most of your membership and get connected with peers who share your challenges and ambitions.

🌟 Patient Advocacy & Engagement Roundtable inaugural members announced

T2B's member-led roundtables have become essential to fostering the critical conversations we communicators need to be having across our industry.

We're privileged that this group of exceptional life sci comms pros has volunteered to join our newest roundtable, focused on patient advocacy & engagement:

• Erica Bersin (ERO Health Communications)
• Alejandra Cerros (Dennig Marketing Group)
• Jeff Sears (Astellas Pharma)
• Julissa Viana (Verastem Oncology)
• Lauren Walrath (Versadin Communications)

Led by Mike Walsh (Patient Advocacy Strategies), with the support of Heather Goldman (Neumora), this roundtable will support communicators to build authentic connections with patient communities and advocacy organizations, highlighting how meaningful engagement is not only the “right thing to do,” but also a critical driver of business success.

Like all of our roundtables (Media Minds, Culture Connect, IR, Students & Recent Grads), this group has a remit to develop regular topic-specific programming and resources for our broader community. Stay on the lookout for their forthcoming insights!

📰 Biopharma Beats Bulletin | Maia Anderson (Healthcare Brew)

Speaking of T2B roundtables... Brought to us by the talented Media Minds Roundtable, this month’s reporter profile is on Maia Anderson, who's both a senior reporter and a founding reporter at Healthcare Brew.

With a beat that spans the business of pharma, digital health, women’s health, and the growing role of venture capital in healthcare, Maia brings a sharp, financially driven lens to every story she writes. She’s one of just three reporters covering healthcare for the Morning Brew’s ~125,000 subscribers, focused exclusively on the business side of healthcare.

Maia says, “All of our stories have a financial or business angle to it, rather than just covering clinical developments.”

T2B Pro members: Log into your account to read this month's bulletin here.​

🌎 Communicating across borders in our June Comm Convo

Our monthly expert panels zero in on a specific theme, and this month, we explored what it takes to work across regions, align teams, and foster clarity without becoming a bottleneck. It was a timely conversation with insights for anyone working in or with global teams.

The recording is now available for Pro and Student members:

​Watch the session.

We'll send our top 10 takeaways soon, but in the meantime, here are some of the standout quotes:

👀 Seen on social: Corporate Natalie’s winning writing tips

We know and love her for her embarrassingly accurate takes on business culture, but Corporate Natalie recently dropped some seriously sharp writing tips.

Her takeaways from a recent Stanford class she audited -- or as she says, crashed -- were more relevant reminders for myself than I'd like to admit. Unnecessary adverbs and burying the main point can all get in the way of "winning writing."

​These points are pure gold for anyone who lives in email, meetings, or memos (so… all of us). I'm currently applying her tips this week, and I hope you find them just as practical.

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