‘Meet the Team’ – Elaine Murray

In the fifth instalment of our ‘Meet the Team’ series we interview Communications and Public Affairs Lead, Elaine Murray.

Bringing expertise in Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs from the tech industry, third sector, education, and European Union institutions, Elaine sets out and implements the Communications and Public Affairs strategies for the Ireland-UK hub. She works across Content, Digital, PR, Events and Stakeholder Relations locally, as well as collaboratively with her European counterparts from EIT Health Central Office and regional hubs. Elaine joined the team in October 2021.

We caught up with Elaine to learn what’s in store for 2023, and what advice she would give health start-ups seeking to build profile in Europe.

Tell us about your journey to date.

Since embarking on my career path, I have held a variety of roles across an even wider variety of sectors. After completing a BA in Business and Political Science at Trinity College Dublin, I lived and worked across five different countries over five years. I undertook roles in Education in Spanish and Colombian academic institutions, completed a stint in public policy research with the Delegation of the European Union to the USA in the areas of Health and Food Safety, before returning to Dublin firstly to work for a marketing agency, then moving on to work in Communications for an international development organisation.

The fifth destination was the North-East of Scotland where I joined an environmental community engagement non-profit. That was alongside studying for my MSc in Communications and Public Affairs at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.

After that whirlwind of travel, study, and immersing myself in other working cultures, I settled back in Dublin where I ran the Communications Department at a global tech scale-up for six years.

Why did you choose a career in Communications?

Communications and Marketing roles exist in organisations across most industries, meaning you aren’t confined to one sector for life. You also get to collaborate across multiple departments and regularly interact with external stakeholders.

A career in communications and public affairs affords me the opportunity to engage in varied projects and campaigns. Each week is different. One week I could be preparing for a webinar series on market access for European start-ups, the next I get to prepare copy in the form of press releases, case studies, or white papers about the latest innovations in the early detection of cancer.

I am a curious person by nature so learning and communicating what’s in the pipeline in health innovation keeps me motivated.

What drew you to EIT Health?

I respect the work of EIT Health, particularly how it fosters collaboration amongst various health innovation stakeholders and supports them to improve patient outcomes. Having worked in health public policy research during my time in Washington, and in finance and administration roles across several hospitals in Dublin during summer breaks from university, I had always planned to return to this sector in the long-term.

How can early-stage start-ups without capacity to hire their own in-house PR teams build profile?

For those start-ups or members of innovation projects that are engaging with EIT Health on an ongoing basis, don’t hesitate to reach out for advice or support. If you’ve experienced positive outcomes based on your involvement with us, we can help you share this message with the aim of building your profile in Europe.

Communications support can take many forms, for example via events, content, involvement in relevant social media campaigns, or media engagement. Here are some examples of stories we have published throughout 2022 with Akara, EpiCapture, and Ochre Bio.

Any tips for developing effective communications?

Think carefully about how you are going to communicate a message before you start, and more importantly, consider tailoring the message depending on the audience you are communicating with. What channel of communication resonates best with them? Is it a phone call?

Communicate with clear structure. Be mindful to include a start, middle, and end, in that order 😉 Including a direct call-to-action also helps.

What campaigns are you planning for 2023?

• Planning is underway for the next instalment of the ‘Transforming Healthcare’ events series. We’d love to hear readers feedback on the Events 2023 Wishlist. Cast your votes.
• The 19^th National Health Summit takes place in Dublin on 8^th February. As sponsors we’ll host an exhibitor booth. Meet us there.
• Our ‘Creating Impact’ series will continue. In each article we spotlight the four EIT Health flagship topics, those set to attract investment by EIT Health over the coming year.
• The ‘Health apps on prescription: Is Ireland ready?’ whitepaper is set to be published in January. After interviewing several local and European key opinion leaders on the topic of reimbursement for digital medical devices, we have drawn some interesting conclusions and set out recommendations for Irish policymakers going forward. This one is not to be missed!
• The wonderful Kritika Murari, our Marketing Communications Intern, launched our Instagram page this year. Are you on Instagram? Give us a follow! We will be sharing content on education opportunities over the coming months.
• And finally, we’ll be making announcements regarding new local partners joining Europe’s largest health innovation network. Stay tuned for updates via our monthly newsletter.