by Holly Fletcher
Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s podcast series, Vanderbilt Health DNA: Discoveries in Action, has been selected by Modern Healthcare and its judges as an award winner in the 2021 Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards. The Vanderbilt Health DNA series was named the ‘Gold Podcast Campaign of the Year’ in the provider/insurer category. 
The DNA podcast series, which launched in August 2020, set out to connect open-minded, problem-solving listeners to the big ideas and breakthroughs shaping health, medicine and society. DNA’s success stems from its embrace of the issues that society, and the people who work in health care, are talking about.
The series’ second 10-episode season closed out on Oct. 25 with the finale, “Where Do Broken Hearts Go?” an episode spotlighting how courage, medical advancements, and desperation fuel the Vanderbilt Transplant Center’s drive to transplant more hearts and save lives. Season 2 explores a host of topics, including the role of clinical trials in advancing medicine, climate change, health equity, breaking stigmas around colon cancer, tackling tough conversations in medicine and how medicine will navigate misinformation post-COVID-19, and more.
“COVID-19 remained a top target for marketers in 2021 as the delta variant drove new surges across the country, and vaccine and mask mandates divided communities. Advertising and social media campaigns crafted to inform, educate and build trust are among the winners in this year’s Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards. Others continued to honor the daily sacrifices of front-line caregivers as the pandemic marches relentlessly toward its third year,” said Aurora Aguilar, editor of Modern Healthcare. “While COVID-19 dominated headlines, other life-threatening diseases and chronic illnesses also received plenty of attention from marketers, including cancer, COPD and neurological conditions, with emphasis on advanced screenings and the latest treatments. Congratulations to all of the winners of the 2021 Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards.”
Modern Healthcare’s award program identifies and recognizes outstanding health care marketing campaigns that are impacting the industry, addressing the ever-changing challenges in health care and are reinventing the way audiences receive and retain health care information. The complete list of this year’s winners is available at ModernHealthcare.com/ImpactWinners. Modern Healthcare announced the ranking and list of winners in its publication on Nov. 1.
DNA’s debut season was awarded Podcast of the Year by Healthcare and IT Marketing Community (HITMC).
