AbelsonTaylor, HCB and JUICE Partner with MIT Hacking Medicine

, ,

AbelsonTaylor, HCB Health and JUICE Pharma Worldwide Partner with MIT Hacking Medicine To Host MedTech Workshop at 23rd Annual South by Southwest Interactive Festival

Three-day event in Austin, TX will bring together healthcare start-ups, entrepreneurs, experts and patients to develop creative solutions for chronic health issues

 

Austin, TX (February 25, 2016)  Three leading independent healthcare advertising agencies – AbelsonTaylor, HCB Health and JUICE Pharma Worldwide – today announced they will partner with MIT Hacking Medicine to host a three-day “HackMed Health House” workshop during the 23rd Annual SXSW Interactive Festival, which connects thousands of business leaders, artists, filmmakers and startups from around the world. The event, which also includes a hack-a-thon, will take place March 12-14, 2016 at the JW Marriott in Austin, TX.

“We are committed to making health care better,” said Dale Taylor, president and CEO of AbelsonTaylor. “Each of our agencies has clients that deal every day with managing a variety of different chronic illnesses. There are definitely similarities in the problems and concerns those chronic illness patients encounter. Why not try to find some solutions?”

The three agencies chose to partner with MIT Hacking Medicine, a nonprofit institute spun out of MIT, to examine the intersection of technology and health care and bring together stakeholders and other players in the health care system to determine how digital technology can shape people’s health, including disease and treatment trends.

“The three of our independent agencies had a notion of doing SXSW differently,” said Kerry Hilton, partner and CEO of HCB Health. “We have an opportunity to drive interest and real change at SXSW by collaborating, experimenting with new ideas, pushing boundaries and attracting thought leaders who want to change the status quo in health care.”

The three-day event will provide participants an opportunity to identify and address patient ‘pain points’ and produce constructive solutions to improve chronic health conditions that make everyday life easier. Attendees will learn firsthand how to identify a patient need in health care, design a prototype solution and turn it into a startup. The event will conclude with a “Barracuda Bowl,” where important decision-makers from pharma and venture capital will evaluate participants’ thinking and potentially award the winner with a business engagement.

“SXSW is the place where ideas turn into solutions,” said Robert Palmer, EVP and managing director at JUICE Pharma Worldwide. “We are excited to engage with healthcare start-ups, entrepreneurs, health care professionals, patients and caregivers to ‘hack’ problems associated with chronic illness and see what sticks.”

To learn more about HackMed Health House, please visit http://sxsw.mithackmed.com/. Members of the media interested in speaking with a representative from MIT Hacking Medicine, AbelsonTaylor, HCB Health or JUICE Pharma Worldwide can contact Emily Eldridge at [email protected] or 248-396-6240.

###

About MIT Hacking Medicine

The mission of MIT Hacking Medicine (MIT HackMed) is to energize the health ecosystem to solve some of health care’s biggest challenges by connecting the best and most diverse minds. Since holding the first ever health hack-a-thon in 2010, the MIT student group has organized 37 health hack-a-thons with more than 30 national and international organizations. More than 10 healthcare start-ups have emerged from MIT HackMed’s health hack-a-thons. For more information, visithackingmedicine.mit.edu.

About SXSW

The 23rd annual SXSW® Interactive Festival returns to Austin from Friday, March 11 through Tuesday, March 15. An incubator of cutting-edge technologies and digital creativity, the 2016 event features five days of compelling presentations and panels from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable lineup of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer. From hands-on training to big-picture analysis of the future, SXSW Interactive has become the place to discover the technology of tomorrow today.

About AbelsonTaylor

AbelsonTaylor is the largest independent healthcare advertising agency in the world, serving pharmaceutical, biotech and health-and-wellness companies globally. Since its beginning in 1981, AbelsonTaylor has remained singularly focused on brands that help people live healthier lives. The agency is 100 percent focused on and 100 percent passionate about health and wellness. AbelsonTaylor has built a reputation as the most creative agency that creates brand experiences in broadcast, print and digital. To learn more visit abelsontaylor.com.

About HCB Health

Founded in Austin, Texas in 2001, HCB Health is an independent full-service healthcare communications agency with one of the world’s leading practices in medical marketing. Among the first agencies to integrate digital technology into its offerings, HCB serves the entire healthcare sector including companies in the medical device, pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Early last year, HCB acquired Chicago-based Topin & Associates expanding and diversifying the agency’s client offerings while establishing a strong presence in the Midwest. To learn more about HCB, visit hcbhealth.com.

About JUICE Pharma Worldwide

JUICE Pharma Worldwide is a full-service healthcare communications company headquartered in New York City, specializing in professional, patient and consumer promotion and advertising. In addition to providing Centers of Excellence in Rare Disorders/Specialty Pharma, as well as Emerging Technology and Media, JUICE offers global network capabilities, an important consideration for companies seeking to consolidate their healthcare agencies. The JUICE Global Network reaches across the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions, enabling clients to synergize brand and franchise communications in every major market throughout the world. For more information, visit juicepharma.com.

Press Contact:

Emily Eldridge

Crosswind Media & PR

e: [email protected]

c: 248-396-6240