By Allison Kapson, AVP, Research Communications, Marketing & Public Relations, MedStar Health Research Institute

There are more than 1,000 clinical trials happening at MedStar Health Research Institute (MHRI) at any one time. Our clinician researchers advance scientific understanding every day, helping people in D.C., Baltimore, and throughout the U.S. live healthier lives. 

But let’s be realistic: Understanding complex scientific research is challenging, even for highly educated lay people.  

Reading peer-reviewed journals and complex abstracts isn’t for everyone—let alone fully absorbing what the findings mean. In an age where fragmented media can create echo chambers of misinformation, it’s more important than ever that people have access to trusted, evidence-backed health information. 

That’s where my team comes in. I lead the Research Communications team at MHRI. Our goal is to recognize and respond to the information needs of our audience and help them understand how MedStar Health research can impact their lives.  

Fact-based science communication helps the public better understand the value of our work, have more informed conversations with their doctors, and counter disinformation. To do this, we use a variety of tools, from long-form blog content we create in partnership with Stamats to social media and traditional media relations. 

To translate our research for public impact, we begin by understanding our audience, picking the right stories to tell, and leaning into our credibility. Plus, we stay nimble and ready to adapt to inevitable change.  

1. Identify and Understand the Audience 

MHRI’s main audience is educated laypeople. They have a basic understanding of MedStar Health and their own health journey, whether they’re newly diagnosed, living with a chronic condition, or caring for a loved one. They have some broad education and a basic understanding of medicine and science, but they are not clinicians or researchers.  

To effectively communicate complex research stories, we must understand: 

• Questions these people might have 
• Their mindset 
• Where they get their health information now, and from whom 
• Where to reach them most effectively  

This sketch of our audience persona helps us tailor our messaging and where we share our stories. Plus, the important work of telling relatable stories about impactful research helps reach another important audience: philanthropic donors.  

Messaging

For example, MHRI concluded a large study on a years-long project to improve maternal and infant health and reduce disparities in labor and delivery. But if we explain the D.C. Safe Babies Safe Moms Program to our audience that way, we’ll be missing an opportunity. Instead, a social media post might mention how we’re “working to make giving birth safer for you and your baby by supporting you in all areas of your life.” 

This is an important distinction, and it’s more critical than ever to be clear in how we communicate the impact of important scientific progress.

Where We Share Our Stories

We have one guiding principle: Meet the audience where they are. Today, that means owned media channels such as our blog and email, as well as social media. These platforms’ algorithms can help us reach our audience, so it’s a matter of creating content they’ll want to consume. 

We work with Stamats to create long-form blog content. After an in-depth interview with our researchers, Stamats crafts SEO-rich articles that delve into the how and why of our researchers’ work, using easy-to-understand language and providing links to other parts of our website for readers to learn more. 

These articles can then be repurposed into social media posts and emails that drive traffic to our site. They also increase our findability in Google and AI search results when people are looking for credible health information. All this content works with traditional approaches like press releases to generate media attention, especially for breakthrough studies. 

Related: Read “The Joe Rogan Effect: Why Niche Content is Key to SEO Success” 

2. Choose Stories with Broad Appeal

With so much happening at MHRI, we have a lot of stories to tell. I’m often approached by excited researchers eager to get the word out about their latest discovery or publication. 

To decide whether a study can have public impact and help us achieve our mission, I ask myself a few important questions: 

• Who is the audience? How large is it, and how interested will they be? For example, MHRI is a leader in heart imaging research. While these studies are incredibly important, they are very technical and unlikely to have the broad impact of a story about, say, weight loss or mental health.
• How new is this information? Research is a long game, and much of our scientists’ work is additive. While stories of incremental progress resonate from an industry perspective, they’re less appealing to laypeople. Instead, we feature research about new breakthroughs that can impact clinical care for patients soon. 
• What conversations are happening now? How does this research relate to current media and culture? Our research is an important part of understanding health, so we want to be in the conversation. For example, GLP-1 RA medications (think Ozempic) are a hot topic right now. Scientists, doctors, and consumers are talking about them, so there’s likely to be audience appetite for research-focused stories. 

When a study topic appeals to a broad audience with new information on a topic that’s part of our cultural conversation, we know we have an opportunity. Next, we decide which tools to use to help tell the story. 

Related: Read “Science Storytelling with Indiana University’s Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center” 

3. Stick to the Facts

Wherever people are turning for health information, we want to be there with fact-based, accessible content. MHRI researchers are internationally recognized for their work in reducing healthcare disparities—why some groups have better healthcare outcomes than others—and how to help everyone achieve better health. 

But this field of research has become politicized, and some of the words used in this field can have unintended consequences, such as lost funding and unwarranted public scrutiny. We take great care with how we talk about this work to educate the community while minimizing public relations risks. 

Another challenge is disinformation and its negative impact on health literacy. The media is so full of noise that it can be hard to tell fact from fiction. Well-intended trends toward lifestyle wellness are sometimes based on evidence, and other times not. 

With a 24-hour news cycle and so much happening in the world, it can be tough for good information to break through. This information ecosystem has seriously impacted how a large portion of the public views well-accepted medical interventions like vaccines and nutrition. 

We overcome these challenges by leaning on the credibility of hundreds of experts within our health system. We deal in facts, stick to evidence-backed information, and translate those facts so they’re easy for anyone to understand. 

4. Lean into Change

When I started helping skittish brands dip their toe in the social media waters, things were a lot different. Twitter was the place where scientists, journalists, and educated adults turned for news. Instagram was a place to post pictures of your dinner. 

My, how things have changed. Twitter has become X, and Bluesky is on the rise. Today Instagram is where many organizations share high-impact information, especially in healthcare. Increased skepticism toward science, research, and medical expertise brings new challenges for academic and healthcare marketing—and we’re meeting the moment with flexibility and determination. 

MHRI sits at the crossroads of academics and real-world healthcare. We create new knowledge and provide the latest advances for our patients at nearly 300 sites of care throughout the Washington, D.C. region. Our researchers work across six comprehensive networks to improve the health of our patients, today and tomorrow. 

It’s tough to know how things will change, but one thing is certain: change will come. Organizations that remain committed to understanding their audiences and meeting them where they are will continue to succeed in sharing messages that can have a real, positive impact on the health of their community.