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A Best-Kept Secret & One-of-a-Kind Health Education Firm Helping National Companies & Organizations Reach Consumers Worldwide

ACADEMIC NETWORK, a Unique Health Education & Communications Agency Serving the Health & Nutrition Industries, Is Staffed and Managed Completely by Medical Professionals

One of the health education industry's best-kept secrets just might be located in the newly rediscovered, historic Pearl District in Portland, Oregon. Buzzing with the energy of the streets below and the creativity of its talented staff, Academic Network has gotten the attention of industry giants like Boston Scientific, Campbell Soup Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis Consumer Healthcare, McNeil Nutritionals, a Johnson & Johnson company, and Nike to name a few. They're among the major international corporations which have called on Academic Network to apply its 35 years of experience in academic medicine and research against opportunities and issues in consumer health communications.

Founded and directed entirely by doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, Academic Network speaks with authority on health and medical issues. At the helm of Academic Network, husband and wife team Kathleen McCarron and David McCarron, M.D., FACP take their medical knowledge and customer care operation experience to clients who have a health, medical or nutrition-related message. They apply their medical research experience to effectively convey the messaging for their clients.

"Now more than ever, consumer information on healthcare issues and products is vital," says the company's founder and chief executive officer, Kathleen A. McCarron, a 20-year veteran of customer care operations with a background in healthcare management and telecommunications. "Academic Network works with industry leaders helping to turn complex medical, health and nutritional issues into easy-to-understand information for consumers."

The group's health education consulting team operates a live, toll-free call center for health professional and consumer queries as well as for patient recruitment. Clients are counseled on program development and the management of governmental and health professional relations. Academic Network also develops and manages websites for those clients seeking to provide online resource centers on specific health and medical issues.

One such project is in the works for medical giant Boston Scientific, which recently called on Portland's Academic Network to get the word out about the potentially serious health problems posed by acid reflux disease. Gastro-esophageal Reflux Disease, or GERD, affects some 60 million Americans. To help reach those who suffer from this condition, Academic Network developed a non-branded website which addresses the symptoms, risks and treatments for GERD. Now, logging on to www.gotgerd.com will lead 'heartburn' sufferers through an easy-to-understand explanation of their ailment while offering information on the very latest medical procedures now available to treat GERD.

Academic Network acts as an objective partner to Boston Scientific's test marketing of endoscopic treatment options for GERD by offering not only thoughtful medical and health education counsel to the program, but by managing all of the call center inquiries at 1-866-Got-GERD, fulfilling all requests for GERD information, and managing the www.gotgerd.com website. "We are not only providing an additional balanced and objective medical perspective on GERD and its treatment options, but we were able to secure Health on the Net (HON) certification for reliability and credibility on the gotgerd.com website," says McCarron.

"We have used Academic Network for several IVR programs. Academic Network has always been very helpful, quite responsive and has often taken the initiative in making suggestions to improve program performance," said Ken Neher, Sr. Manager, E-Marketing GlaxoSmithKline.

Academic Network also developed and currently manages the nationally recognized Shaping America's Youth (SAY) public / private initiative focused on standardizing and coordinating the national effort to end childhood obesity. Academic Network developed an online survey web portal and is currently planning regional meetings for SAY in conjunction with allies such as the Office of the Surgeon General, Department of Health and Human Services; The American Academy of Pediatrics; Nike; McNeil Nutritionals, a Johnson & Johnson company; and Campbell Soup.

Academic Network's Vanguard Medical Advisory Board participated in the development of the Campbell Soup Company's Intelligent Quisine food product line. This eight-person board, comprised of scientists whose specialties included nutrition, nephrology, physiology, biostatistics and informatics, oversaw clinical trials at 10 medical centers in the United States and Canada during its five-year tenure. The observed clinical effects of the product line were published in several major medical journals.

Academic Network's co-founder, David McCarron, M.D., is a Visiting Professor with the Department of Nutrition at the University of California-Davis, and as the former Head of the Division of Nephrology at Oregon Health Sciences University he is an internationally recognized authority on diet, heart disease and the treatment of hypertension. Dr. McCarron has been featured in national media including The New York Times, CBS, PBS, CNN and NPR.

The term "one stop" clearly applies to Academic Network, a start to finish operation -- from concept development to order processing through in-house mail fulfillment (usually in 24 hours). Academic Network excels at technical writing, offering assistance in creating effective scientific materials for publication. When it comes to clinical trial recruitment and retention, Academic Network draws on the knowledge of a staff with over three decades of experience in trial design and management. Professional medical consulting, consumer education and marketing services round out the full-service groups' state-of-the-art, high tech approach to reaching consumers in a busy and often confusing marketplace.

Academic Network assembles medical advisory boards comprised of medical professionals from medical universities around the world for those companies' efforts that rely on medical or nutritional accreditation. "Academic Network's consulting services created a virtual medical affairs office that provided access to international scientific experts, the most recent scientific information, validation of health messages and the design and implementation of state of the art clinical trials," said Jerome J. Kozak, President and CEO, National Milk Producers Federation.

Whether companies need expert guidance with national health policy issues or focused public relations campaigns, Academic Network has set and met high standards in these areas. Academic Network's client list continues to grow and currently includes international businesses, academic institutions and government agencies. Clients' needs are tailored to accommodate their specific needs for direct-to-consumer campaigns, 1-800 ad response and professional education. Offering effective, cost-efficient messaging for consumers and healthcare professionals alike, Academic Network handles all phases of project management from concept through to program completion making it a unique resource for the healthcare, pharmaceutical and nutrition industries.

About Academic Network, LLC: Academic Network, LLC is a leading medical and health communications company conceived by academic professionals to serve as a singular source for communicating health-related issues to consumers and health professionals. Academic Network works with leading pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and other Fortune 500 companies, as well as healthcare organizations, in developing effective communications strategies through consulting, telecommunications internet and other public media sources. The firm offers the combined technological and medical expertise necessary to meet the demands and expectations of today's health-focused public.

Distributed by Market Wire