Building a Cancer Center Brand / CMCA, with Meredith Rae Vehar
Release Date: 01/28/2026
NACCDO-CMCA Takeaways, with Josh Dougherty
A Brave New Podcast
Josh Dougherty is a brand strategist, speaker, and the founder and CEO of A Brave New, a Seattle-based branding agency that crafts bold and memorable healthcare brands. They have specific expertise in healthcare technology, hospitals and specialty care providers, and healthcare nonprofits. Josh has 15 years experience building new brands from scratch, refreshing existing brands and building strategies to bring those brands to life in the market. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Josh’s key takeaways from the 2026 NACCDO-CMCA Annual Conference in Toronto, Canada. Why cancer centers...
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Building the Elektra Health Brand, with Jacqueline Parisi
A Brave New Podcast
Jacqueline Parisi is the Head of Marketing at Elektra Health and brings over a decade of experience in brand strategy and growth marketing. She kicked off her career as the first U.S. copywriter at HelloFresh before transitioning into the digital health space. She has consulted for Seed to Series C digital health startups like Ophelia, Tend, Local Infusion, and Proper (incubated by Redesign Health). Jacqueline is an alumna of Boston College and NYU. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How Elektra Health is redefining women’s healthcare through a...
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Keys To Building A Great Culture, with Chad Kearns
A Brave New Podcast
Chad Kearns is a Senior Vice President at Fired Up! Culture, bringing nearly 15 years of experience in building teams and leading organizations to his work in helping leaders build culture and engagement in the organizations they lead. Before joining Fired Up! Culture in 2022, Chad headed a 50+ person marketing agency, guiding the organization through multiple growth periods and acquisitions. During that time, he built seven-figure service lines from the ground up, developed leaders and executives who elevated their teams, and drove the kind of employee engagement that produces...
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How Care2U Delivers High-Acuity Care at Home, with Lon Hecht
A Brave New Podcast
Lon Hecht is a seasoned healthcare executive with over 25 years of experience leading transformative growth. He joined Care2U as Chief Growth Officer in 2023 and became CEO in 2024, reflecting his strategic vision and results-driven leadership. Previously, Lon was SVP of Growth at Optum Home and Community Care, where he helped integrate and scale innovative healthcare models, including naviHealth, Landmark, Prospero, and Optum at Home. His leadership portfolio includes roles as Chief Commercial Officer at Utilize Health, VP of Payor and Provider Markets at Teladoc, Founder and CEO of...
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PR Fundamentals for Healthcare, with Danielle Ruckert
A Brave New Podcast
Danielle Ruckert has built RH Strategic’s healthcare practice into a hub for some of the industry’s most urgent conversations. She consistently and deftly guides clients through thorny issues—from Medicaid cuts for rural providers to new technologies reshaping organ transplantation—shaping messages that resonate with policymakers, patients and investors alike. Her leadership has expanded the firm’s portfolio into women’s health, hospital systems and reputation management, adding to longstanding strengths in health IT and medical devices. She is especially passionate about bringing...
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Building a Great Healthcare Brand Via Consistent Experience, with Gail Findlay-Shirras
A Brave New Podcast
Gail is passionate about fostering awareness and helping Canadians feel educated and empowered to take control of their health. She is driven to connect more people with high-quality healthcare because she wholeheartedly believes that proactive and preventive actions lead to better health outcomes. To this end, she is always seeking new opportunities and innovative methods to share Harrison’s clinical knowledge and expertise, ensuring as many people as possible feel informed and supported. Her professional background is enriched by a variety of experiences, including roles in marketing...
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Tools To Empower Teams To Live Your Brand, with Josh Dougherty
A Brave New Podcast
Josh Dougherty is a brand strategist, speaker, and the founder and CEO of A Brave New, a Seattle-based B2B digital marketing agency specializing in tech and healthcare. Over the last decade plus, he’s worked with clients to develop unique brands and accelerate business growth using web design, inbound marketing, and account-based marketing strategies. What you’ll learn about in this episode: The importance of team-wide brand ownership, and why brand only becomes real when it’s embraced across the entire organization, not just marketing, to drive authenticity, credibility, and emotional...
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Building Member Trust and Engagement, with Annie Furlong
A Brave New Podcast
Annie Furlong is VP of Consumer and Growth (B2C) Marketing at Carrum Health. Annie brings 15+ years of experience as a B2C, B2B2C, and B2B marketer and people manager to healthtech and employer benefits markets. She has worked at and consulted for startups, associations, and large publicly traded organizations. As a strategic, creative, & energetic marketer, Annie’s professional passions include business and account strategy, process creation & improvement, shaping customer experiences, professional development and women’s leadership, driving adoption and engagement of products,...
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When To Pursue A Brand Refresh, with Adam Taylor
A Brave New Podcast
Adam Taylor is a multidisciplinary designer, illustrator, and educator with more than 15 years of professional experience in Utah, Michigan, and Seattle. Throughout his career, he has worn many hats within the ever-evolving world of design, but his strongest affinities lie in strategic brand development, UI/UX, and illustration. Adam also serves as a remote Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Michigan State University, where he teaches courses on design tools, theory, and brand identity development. Outside of work, he’s an occasional exhibiting fine artist, a novice dungeon master for...
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Branding In A Regulated Space, with Jen Bruursema
A Brave New Podcast
Jen Bruursema is Senior Director of Marketing and PR at DELFI Diagnostics, where she leads marketing strategy for FirstLook Lung, a blood-based test for early lung cancer detection. With more than 20 years in healthcare diagnostics, Jen has built her career at the intersection of complex science and human behavior. She got her start at Digene, where she commercialized the first FDA-approved HPV DNA test for cervical cancer screening, and has since held marketing leadership roles at QIAGEN, Ariosa Diagnostics (acquired by Roche), Karius, IDbyDNA (acquired by Illumina), Metabiota (acquired...
info_outlineMeredith Rae Vehar, MPA, is Director of Communications at Huntsman Cancer Institute. Since joining the cancer center more than 20 years ago, Meredith strives to be an agent of progress and enable others to recognize their potential. She leads a team of creative communication professionals who represent the cancer center through brand management, social media, web content and design, publications, multimedia, and internal communications. This meaningful work is very personal to her, and she sees camaraderie, sincerity, and laughter as key.
Meredith earned her Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Utah in 2018, along with a master’s certificate in health communication. Since 2021, she has served on the steering committee of the Cancer Marketing and Communications Association (CMCA). In 2024, she and her team were honored to host the annual conference in Salt Lake City. She currently serves as Vice Chair of CMCA and will lead the organization as Chair in Spring 2026.
Outside of work, Meredith loves running, hiking mountain trails, and traveling with her two teenagers.
What you’ll learn about in this episode:
- Branding as a “meaning-system”, not a logo: Gain insights into Meredith’s definition of brand as a promise and value system where every employee from valet to clinician embodies the mission, reinforcing consistency and trust across touchpoints.
- Why access to care is a core brand promise in modern healthcare: Understand how programs like Huntsman at Home and affiliate hospital networks expand access across rural and underserved communities, and why access is increasingly central to healthcare brand trust and loyalty.
- How Huntsman Cancer Institute positions itself as the only NCI-designated cancer center in the Mountain West region, while building a national brand through brand, innovation, and patient experience.
- How personal storytelling drives trust in cancer marketing: Learn why Huntsman prioritizes patient stories, caregiver voices, and community narratives to humanize complex science and build emotional connection, especially in high-stakes healthcare decisions.
- The strategy behind Huntsman’s “Speak Up for Cancer Research” campaign, which activates patient and influencers to advocate for cancer research funding – blending advocacy, brand, and impact.
- The role of innovation (AI, robotic surgery, proton therapy) in cancer brand strategy: Discover how Huntsman integrates AI-powered imaging, robotic surgery, and proton therapy into both clinical care and communications to reinforce credibility, innovation, and national standards of excellence.
- How Huntsman manages 320+ active clinical trials, collaborates nationally for rare diseases, and navigates the communications complexity of educating patients while maintaining credibility and clarity.
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