What community data shows about where and when patients choose to listen

How to engage real rare disease patients in the era of AI

Virtual Event

  • November 17, 2026
  • 2:00 PM ET
  • Webinar

You'll benefit most if you are:

A pharma brand director or executive striving to build trust and increase patient engagement for rare disease therapies; an agency strategist or media planner evaluating where to allocate budget beyond traditional paid search and AI-targeted ads; or a healthcare communicator seeking data-backed insights on when and how highly informed rare disease audiences choose to engage.

Event Summary

Rare disease patients are among the most informed and deliberate audiences in healthcare. Many spend years searching before a diagnosis and find each other in tight-knit communities, where they decide for themselves which brands earn a place in the conversation.

As AI and agentic tools transform the way we work and communicate, pharma and agency teams face a practical question. What actually puts a brand in front of these patients when they are looking, inside spaces they already trust?

Presented in partnership with Butler/Till, this panel answers that question with data. Lauren Hannon, SVP of Audience Development at Bionews, and Nicole Hamlin, VP of Integrated Planning & Partnerships at Butler/Till, share engagement findings from Bionews patient communities: when patients engage, which formats hold their attention, and how patient-led content performs against brand-led content. Patient community voice Brad Dell then brings the patient lens, reflecting on what those findings look like from inside the community.

Attendees leave knowing where and when to show up for rare disease patients, and what kind of content earns their attention once a brand is there.

Presented in partnership with  

Panelists

Lauren Hannon
Lauren Hannon
SVP of Strategy and Audience Growth
Nicole Hamlin
Nicole Hamlin
VP of Integrated Planning & Partnerships
Brad Dell
Brad Dell
Patient Voice & Head of Patient Advisory Board
Moderator
Ethan Ash
Ethan Ash
Chief Commercial Officer

Ideal For:

  • Pharma Brand & Commercial Leaders
  • Agency Media Planners and Strategists
  • Media Buyers and Channel Specialists

Why Attend

  • Learn From Real Audience Data See concrete findings on patient engagement patterns, active times, and content preferences drawn directly from thriving Bionews communities.
  • Rethink AI and Community Models See how AI across the patient journey compares with trusted community networks, including where each excels and where each falls short.
  • Understand Content Formats See which specific messages and formats capture patient attention, and how they truly perform compared with standard brand-led content.
  • Explore What's Working Now Preview trends reshaping patient engagement, from emerging strategies to approaches already delivering results in rare disease communities.