I just watched an amusing short video about the history and uses of LISTERINE® Antiseptic, narrated by Neil Patrick Harris. What’s great is each time the documentary is viewed, $1.00 will be donated to National Children’s Oral Health Foundation: America’s Toothfairy® up to $15,000*. Click http://www.thisisyourmouth.com/documentary to watch the video and make your view count.

America’s Toothfairy® is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating America’s #1 chronic childhood illness: pediatric dental disease, and ensuring all children can receive the comprehensive oral healthcare they deserve. Pediatric dental disease is not only treatable and curable; it is easily preventable with proper oral health care and educational tools. By supporting a growing Affiliate network of community-based nonprofit health facilities with funding, product donations, and educational resources, America’s Toothfairy has already touched the lives of over 1 million underserved children.

Our own Margaret Gurowitz of Kilmer House fame also makes an appearance in the video to talk about the history of the iconic LISTERINE® brand.

(*Note: Viewing the documentary will not trigger a donation in the following states: Maine, Massachusetts, South Carolina and Alabama.)

OK. Perhaps it was that kind of day, but this one had me laughing out loud.

Seriously, it did!

Yesterday, for World Health Day, my colleague Rob Halper uploaded a funny, yet informative video that encouraged people to visit their doctor to the Johnson & Johnson health channel on YouTube. Called “The Appointment” (there’s also a Spanish version called ”La Cita”), it was produced by the Johnson & Johnson company, Health Media, Inc. and, according to Rob, falls somewhere between “The Twilight Zone”, “Monty Python” and “Marcus Welby, MD”. Not sure I’d agree with THAT characterization, but it DID make me laugh — all while reminding me of the importance of making sure that the next time I visit my physician, I make sure to ask the right questions, understand what is being said, take notes if need be and share any changes in my health or life with my doc. Good stuff.

It can be hard to imagine how one person can make a significant difference against something as devastating as HIV/AIDS. As part of an event to commemorate World AIDS Day at our corporate headquarters, I saw a few clips from the documentary A Ripple in the Water: Healing Through Art. I was moved by the story of Kim Berman, an artist and activist who founded the Artist Proof Studio in post-apartheid South Africa to encourage artists and printmakers to develop their artistic skills while also promoting leadership and social change. Through the Artist Proof Studio, Kim has developed programs to use art as a way to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and help alleviate poverty.

Inspired by an ancient Japanese custom of offering painted strips of paper as prayers for healing, the Artist Proof Studio runs an outreach program called the Paper Prayers campaign. The program teaches people to make pieces of art for healing and remembrance, while also raising awareness about HIV/AIDS in urban and rural areas around South Africa.

Embroidery and papermaking provide a vehicle for expression while also enabling women affected by HIV/AIDS to develop products to generate income so they can take care of themselves and their families. Since papermaking is so labor-intensive, embroidery provides an opportunity for women who are sick and weakened by the disease to continue working to support themselves. What I found the most amazing was that these women who are living in poverty reach out into their communities and donate a percentage of their profits to hospice organizations and others. They also pull together to care for those in the community who are sick, and for children orphaned by the disease.  

By empowering women through art, Kim has helped people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS come together as a community to cope with the pandemic and lift themselves, and each other, out of seemingly impossible situations.

The ripple effect has extended to the U.S. as well. One of the film’s producers, Eileen Foti, an Assistant Professor at Montclair State University, talked with us about the impact of the film in New Jersey among schoolchildren for whom the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS and poverty are very real. The film, and a corresponding Paper Prayers project, opened up a dialogue and gave the students a chance to express themselves through art.

 Learn more about the documentary here.

You may have noticed your physician using a PDA or smartphone during your last visit to the doctor’s office. According to a report by Manhattan Research, this trend is on the rise in 2009, with approximately 64 percent of U.S. physicians using a PDA or smartphone to stay connected while on-the-go.

Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc observed this increase in the number of health care professionals using mobile technologies and created the BLACKBAG™ iPhone Application, which gives physicians access to the latest medical information at their fingertips. Within the first two months of launching the app, BLACKBAG was downloaded by approximately 24,000 users.

The idea behind the BLACKBAG app was to provide physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and other health care professionals with easy access to resources and tools to help them stay informed; an electronic version of a doctor’s “black bag.” The app contains unbranded content across a number of medical areas and specialties. Health care professionals can subscribe to customized news feeds to receive breaking medical news, and access to journal summaries, conference coverage, videos and podcasts related to their areas of interest.

Here are a few screen shots from the BLACKBAG app:

BLACKBAG iPhone App

UPDATE: Since posting, there have been a few reviews of the app – here, here, here and here that are worth checking out.

2009 marks the 65th year that Johnson & Johnson has been listed as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange. To commemorate this event, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Weldon, Chief Financial Officer Dominic Caruso and a bunch of other folks involved with our investor and shareholder activity yesterday rang the closing bell at the exchange.

Twelve of my collegues squeezed on to the historic balcony overlooking the noisy floor of the 217-year-old exchange to literally bring trading to a halt as the clock struck 4. You can catch the footage here.

A lot of thoughtful planning goes into the bell-ringing ceremony, with participants encouraged to arrive as early as 3 p.m. As we were making their way to the balcony at around 3:50, something prompted one of our group to ask their NYSE host if any ceremonial bell-ringing individual or organization had ever shown up late for the job. As a matter of fact, he was told, just recently one celebrity performer was quite upset to arrive a couple minutes late and discover they hadn’t held up the exchange closing for him.

To mark this moment, Margaret (as usual!!!) pulled out some fascinating facts and information about what it was like 65 years ago when the company first made the move from being a privately-held company to being listed on the NYSE.

By Frederik Wittock, Senior Director, Global Communications, Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Services, L.L.C., Division of Janssen Pharmaceutica, N.V.

Each year, we honor the work of passionate and creative scientists who have made an impact on human health through the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research. Dr. Paul Janssen, better known as Dr. Paul, founded Janssen Pharmaceutica, N.V. in 1953 (Janssen Pharmaceutica, N.V. joined the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies in 1961). Dr. Paul was a gifted and dedicated physician and scientist who helped save millions of lives through his contribution to the discovery and development of more than 80 medicines.

This year’s award winner, Axel Ullrich, Ph.D., director of the Department of Molecular Biology at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Germany, certainly embodies the spirit of Dr. Paul. The work of Dr. Ullrich has helped to significantly improve the lives of those with chronic diseases, including diabetes and cancer. His discoveries have led to novel cancer therapies and genetically engineered human insulin, among others.

I had the opportunity to attend the award announcement in London during the 6^th annual World Conference of Science Journalists, of which Johnson & Johnson is a sponsor. This was the perfect venue to celebrate the achievements of Dr. Ullrich and the legacy of Dr. Paul. The conference brought together journalists, scientists, and communication professionals to discuss more effective ways of communicating the latest scientific advances, debates, and key issues. Dr. Ullrich was not only an award recipient but also a speaker at the conference, where he provided journalists with his perspective on how scientists and the media can better work together to improve the reporting of cancer breakthroughs.

I think Dr. Paul would be pleased to see scientists, journalists, and others in the health care industry working together to advance science with the common goal of improving the lives of patients.

Many of you know that my colleague Margaret blogs about Johnson & Johnson’s history at Kilmer House. But what you may not know is that Kilmer House was also the company’s first foray into the blogosphere in July 2006. In honor of the 3^rd anniversary, and with the same trailblazing spirit, Margaret created the first history vlog post for Kilmer House.

Margaret gives viewers a chance to see some New Brunswick, New Jersey landmarks and shows us what Johnson & Johnson looked like more than a century ago. I was surprised to learn that I am actually looking at some of these existing landmarks every day on my way into work.

My favorite part is Margaret’s tour of the Kilmer House museum that houses some of the products from the early days of the company. You’ll have to watch the video to see how a roll of adhesive tape saved a man’s life in a most unexpected way…

I wanted to share an interesting idea we’ve initiated on the Johnson & Johnson health channel. It’s a series we call “Real Moms.”

I’ve invited Mommy Vlogers to submit videos on topics relevant to them, and which might be helpful to a larger audience.

So far, I’ve received videos on safety tips for toddlers, how to make homemade baby food, and teaching your kids to be ecologically friendly. They don’t have to be perfect — most have been made on a flip cam — and I do post most of the videos sent to me, as long as they don’t reference specific products. To compensate the vlogers I pay $100 for each video used.

One of my favorites was done by Colleen Padilla (Classy Mommy) on tips about how to keep from going stir crazy with your kids when stuck inside during bad weather.

I’m always looking for more content, so if you are interested, just let me know by clicking “send message” on the Johnson & Johnson health channel.

In honor of Earth Day, a fair was held at Johnson & Johnson headquarters in New Brunswick that gave people a chance to see what the company is doing to reduce its environmental footprint as well as to learn more about what can be done at home. Rob Halper and I thought we would catch some of the action on tape, and so I once again tried my hand at being a roving reporter — and found some colleagues to interview who were responsible for the day’s festivities:

(Note — the Earth Day fair was actually held last week.)

For the third straight year, I had the pleasure on Friday of attending the New Jersey FIRST Robotics Competition at the Sovereign Bank Arena in nearby Trenton. As I’ve mentioned previously, I find FIRST fascinating, and though I wasn’t able to stay for much of the competition, I was once again struck by the enthusiasm of the students and their energy.

This year, one of the judges, Laura Corsetto, had participated in FIRST when she was in High School. Now employed by Johnson & Johnson’s Cordis Corporation, Laura helped kick-off the NJFIRST activities by explaining how FIRST helped her with her career. I managed to catch up with her later that morning — though the quality of this video isn’t all that great — her story is nonetheless compelling: