Taking a Lively Approach to Research: The Memory Issue
THE CHALLENGE: To provide a fresh approach to featuring research and clinical care at Harvard Medical School and its affiliated institutions
THE SOLUTION: I selected memory as the focus of the magazine’s special report to enable us to present thoughtful essays on medicine while at the same time showcasing the research and clinical care of Harvard doctors. We began the section with an overview of the arc of memory throughout the human lifespan. We then offered articles on Alzheimer’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the effects of childhood sexual abuse on memory.
To complement those serious essays, we collaborated with Editorial Board members in crafting a series of more lighthearted pieces, which we packaged as a special insert, “A Useful {Yet Slightly Irreverent} Guide to Memory Preservation.”
To help engage our readers, we chose images that bore relevance to the stories and yet broke the mold of visual expectations for a medical alumni publication. One feature opened with a cheerful, sweating cartoon character out for a jog with his brain; a neurologist-devised memory quiz appeared as a breakfast splat mat, complete with a coffee stain.
THE RESPONSE: The praise of the memory issue was lavish, with several long-time readers of the magazine calling it their favorite issue. “I think the latest issue is absolutely off the charts,” one surgeon wrote. “The articles are extremely informative and brilliantly well written and edited. I have never learned as much about the subject of memory.”
We received an exceptionally high number of requests for additional copies, and our physician authors reported receiving calls and emails from many classmates and colleagues. In addition, the issue received a gold medal from the Council for Advancement and the Support of Education in the Periodical Special Issues category. The issue also earned a Clarion Award in the Best Overall External Magazine (Circulation Under 100,000) category from the Association for Women in Communications.
Feature Openers
The Memory Splat Mat appeared in the issue’s special insert, “A Useful {Yet Slightly Irreverent} Guide to Memory Preservation.” The author, neurologist Alice Flaherty, is a member of both Harvard Medical School’s Class of 1994 and the magazine’s Editorial Board.
The author—psychiatrist Elissa Ely, a member of Harvard Medical School’s Class of 1987—is also a long-time member of the magazine’s Editorial Board.
“Dream Weaver” featured the work of Robert Stickgold, now a Harvard Medical School professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Sleep and Cognition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
