As independent consultants working with a range of clients to support patient engagement and advocacy within the therapeutics industry, conversations between Janelle and Cathy identified a need for greater sharing of great practices, ideas, hows, across the industry. As such, the idea for intimate networking events facilitating conversations about a particular challenge, need or initiative, was born.
In seeking a name, Professionals Uplifting Patient Partnership (PUPP) stood out, for communicating the idea of positively raising everyone up and building capacity, which is sorely needed in this space, and the values necessary for patient partnership.
Pups are known for their affection, intelligence, loyalty, energy, companionship, friendliness and sense of fun and mischief. They can guide, read emotions, known when people aren't being authentic, and they care for and protect 'their' people.
These are the values and attributes we believe are important to professionals who engage meaningfully and authentically with patients, carers and their representatives.
Patient engagement work can be emotionally taxing, under-valued and under-resourced.
PUPP will enable us to find our tribe, share experiences, professionally network, fill our buckets, to learn and do good while having some fun along the way. It will help provide the energy, motivation and inspiration to continue in this work, creating the change needed to uplift patient partnership in the therapeutics industry and improve patient outcomes.
PUPP is co-founded by Janelle Bowden, AccessCR and Cathy Sertori, Creative Advocacy Solutions. Both are founders of their respective brands and available to work as consultatants independently or together to support patient engagement and advocacy in the therapeutics industry. Learn more about Cathy and Janelle below.
Cathy Sertori
Cathy is a Patient Advocacy expert and External Affairs professional with over 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry, across multiple therapeutic areas. She is passionate about patient advocacy and the ability for patients to access the latest clinical medicines, making a difference to their lives.
The culmination of industry experience and working with patient organisations and healthcare professionals led to the creation of Creative Advocacy Solutions. Its aim is to focus on projects that support the pharmaceutical industry, patient organisations and community to affect meaningful change within the patient advocacy and healthcare industry space. The importance of engaging the patient perspective from drug development, clinical trials through to commercialisation is a critical part of understanding, building and shaping the environment and long-term policies for better patient health outcomes.
Janelle Bowden
Janelle is a PhD-trained scientist that moved into the clinical trials sector in 2000. Her experience extends across a range of clinical trial operational roles in Australia and overseas, within the pharmaceutial sector, CRO/ARO, health and consultancy settings. She is passionate about making clinical trials more efficient, sustainable, and accessible, and the importance of the patient and caregiver voice to improving the inclusiveness, relevance and value of research to the communities it serves.
AccessCR was founded in 2007 to help improve clinical trial efficiency by making clinical research easier for the public to access (hence the name). While accessibility to trials remains a core pillar of its work, AccessCR's services have evolved over the years in consultations with both clients, and the experiences it was hearing from people that were contributing in various ways to research. In 2022 AccessCR formalised as a social enterprise providing services around clinical trial operations, and patient and caregiver engagement, involvement and experience in research. Revenue from these services helps us deliver on our social purpose, to support the people seeking, taking part in and involved in research, a group we call the Community and Consumer Workforce (or CCReW).