Bristol Myers Squibb has added a familiar face to an ongoing initiative to thank oncologists for the valuable time they return to cancer patients’ lives.
During a panel discussion about the “Time Back” campaign at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, this past weekend, Monica Shaw, M.D., BMS’ senior VP of global oncology commercialization, and oncologist Laura Vater, M.D., were joined by Ashley Park, a stage and screen actress best known for appearing on the Netflix series “Emily in Paris.”
Park was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia as a teenager and underwent treatment for about a year before achieving remission and going on to pursue her acting career. In a video she posted on Instagram on Saturday, Park encouraged her followers to join her in honoring oncologists, their work and the “emotional burdens” they carry through the “Time Back” campaign.
“As a cancer survivor, this campaign means a lot to me because I’ve really experienced firsthand how much compassion and care that oncologists bring to the hardest conversations,” she said. “When we face a cancer diagnosis, one of the first things that comes to mind is time: how much time we will lose or have lost.”
“It feels nearly impossible not to focus on the scary news, but this is about shifting momentum toward the moments patients and families get to hold on to with the possibility of time back,” she continued. “For me, that meant the first moment that I got to perform on a stage as a teenager after beating cancer and truly, honestly, every moment and dream that I’ve been afforded the opportunity to live and pursue since then.”
Park finished the video by thanking oncologists and directing viewers to the campaign’s website.
In a statement to Fierce Pharma Marketing following the panel, Shaw pointed not only to the significant “emotional weight” that comes with the estimate that oncologists may deliver difficult news to patients more than 20,000 times in their careers, but also to the moments both big and small that doctors help return to their patients.
“One of the reasons we brought the ‘Time Back’ campaign to SXSW was to help broaden the conversation around oncology care,” Shaw said. “Behind every breakthrough in cancer treatment are patients, families and physicians navigating incredibly meaningful moments together, and we wanted to create space to recognize those stories.”
She continued, “At its core, ‘Time Back’ is about recognizing the moments oncologists help make possible, like rushing to make a school pickup on time, getting back to a morning workout routine or realizing you forgot to defrost dinner again. Those ordinary moments can mean everything to patients and their families.”
The campaign began rolling out late last year, anchored by the symbol of an hourglass. Since the “Time Back” initiative’s launch, BMS has made a habit of installing a giant hourglass at various conferences and events—including at SXSW—where glowing lights representing grains of sand flow backwards toward the top of the hourglass to depict reclaimed time.