06.05.2026 | Insight
Meet Sarah Sammons, MD – One of the world’s most impactful Digital Opinion Leaders in the Breast Cancer space
By Alex Brogan 
In a recent article, we discussed how Pharmaceutical Companies can identify Digital Opinion Leaders (DOLs) in the healthcare space using CREATION.co’s platform, DOL Finder 2.0. In this article we will showcase DOL Finder 2.0 in Breast Cancer, a new and improved version of DOL Finder that provides comprehensive insight into the impact of healthcare professionals (HCPs) on social media.
In February, we showcased DOL Finder 2.0 to explore the profiles of three influential online oncologists with major influence in the breast cancer space on social media. We now revisit the breast oncology space with DOL Finder 2.0 to introduce another influential HCP in this space, Dr. Sarah Sammons.
Dr. Sammons is a Breast Medical Oncologist and Senior Physician at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. With an active social media presence and a follower base of over 5,200, DOL Finder 2.0 currently ranks her 8th among over 11,000 verified HCP profiles discussing breast cancer online, according to the CREATION Impact Factor™. This score is determined by four metrics (Breast Cancer Activity, Treatment Interest, Social Reach and Peer Trust) that measure different aspects of the HCP’s online impact.
Dr. Sammons’ Social Reach score of 84 reflects a slightly lower follower count than other DOLs, but scores of 99 highlight her excellent engagement with HCPs and new medical developments in the online breast cancer space, when compared to every other HCP in this dataset.
When it comes to identifying the right DOLs for you, DOL Finder 2.0 looks beyond simple metrics such as likes and follower count to measure their influence. When measuring social impact, our platform prioritises the HCP’s relevant posts in the medical space and engagement with other verified HCPs.
Dr. Sammons is ranked higher than many HCPs who have more followers because her posts are frequent and directly related to new developments in Breast Cancer, spurring engagement with other HCPs in the Breast Cancer space. This engagement with fellow HCPs is demonstrated through the Peer Trust metric, a unique aspect in DOL Finder 2.0’s gauge of HCP impact.
Peer Trust
DOL Finder 2.0 displays a conversation network of HCPs showing peer interaction. The Peer Trust metric measures verified HCPs in Dr. Sammon’s sphere of influence, including all reposts and @ mentions from other HCPs. DOL Finder 2.0 displays the top 10 HCPs reposting her content and the top 10 HCPs mentioning her profile.
Among the top connections are two more highly influential Boston-based HCPs Dr. Paolo Tarantino and Dr. Sara Tolaney. Tarantino is ranked as #1 on DOL Finder 2.0, while Tolaney is ranked as #7. Both of HCPs are highly engaged with breast cancer treatment guidelines and ongoing clinical trials, including the DESTINY clinical trials in breast cancer.
DOL Finder 2.0’s mapping of HCP activity shows us that her influence extends internationally. In addition to some of Dr. Sammons’ local colleagues, two HCPs who have shared her posts the most frequently are Ali Ihsan Oluk, a medical oncologist from Turkiyë and Benjamin Walbaum, a medical oncologist from Chile.
Treatment Interest
DOL Finder 2.0 enables platform members to track the themes of Dr. Sammons’ posts, providing insight into the companies, products, trials & discussion topics she mentions most frequently. The platform also logs her most commonly used hashtags.
DOL Finder 2.0 also tracks the sentiment of individual posts. Hovering over each metric reveals the sentiment Dr. Sammons expresses in certain areas, with the overall sentiment graph showing that the content of her posts overall expresses more positive sentiment.
As a clinical trial leader, Sarah shows interest in emerging developments in breast cancer treatment. She provides valuable insights into the space with frequent posts regarding clinical trials and guidelines. By reposting trial results from medical journals as well as other HCPs, she provides a platform for new breakthroughs in treating the disease.
Notable trials mentioned by Dr. Sammons include the PATINA trial investigating palbociclib in addition to standard first-line treatments (11 mentions) and the DESTINY-Breast trial series investigating trastuzumab deruxtecan (10 mentions). The enthusiasm and support she shows through her commentary on these clinical breakthroughs demonstrates the importance of social media for HCPs to adopt new and improved practices in their own places of work.
Breast Cancer Activity
Dr. Sammons’ active participation in major oncology congresses is reflected in her increased activity on social media. The highest period of activity on her social media in the last 12 months was during the ESMO Conference in October 2025, discussing many important aspects of the developing medical landscape including treatment options for subtypes of metastatic breast cancer (MBC), and relevant clinical trials.
Dr. Sammons is also highly engaged with new developments presented during the ASCO conference in May-June 2025. Beyond her own speciality in breast cancer, Dr. Sammons also highlights significant breakthroughs in other cancers, speculating how similar treatment regimens could be applied to the breast cancer space. In a post with over 1,500 views, she highlights a study by Thoracic Oncologist Yongchang Zhang into the ideal time of day to treat patients.
The development of these treatments is one matter, but Dr. Sammons highlights the importance of making these treatments affordable and accessible in order to have a significant impact. As the ASCO conference followed the passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act restricting access to health care in the United States, Dr. Sammons speaks on the importance of supporting public services to distribute these new treatments at an affordable price.
Social Reach
As social media enables HCPs to easily share ideas and developments across borders, Dr. Sammons’ impact stretches beyond the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. DOL Finder 2.0 captures this with a map of all HCP interactions associated with her account. Sammons’ network includes 40 verified HCPs from 12 different countries spanning from the Americas to Europe, Asia and Australia.
DOL Finder 2.0 shows that Dr. Sammons’ medical dissemination has global reach, engaging with a vast array of HCPs in the breast cancer space. She frequently interacts with other HCPs from around the world as shown by the blue nodes denoting her mentions of them. The numbers from purple nodes are even larger, indicating that HCPs generally mention her significantly more than she mentions other HCPs. This demonstrates that she is widely trusted and well respected in her field.
In short, Dr. Sarah Sammons is one of several critical DOLs in the Breast Cancer space whose distribution and insight into oncology research and treatment is essential in changing the medical landscape and improving the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer worldwide.
You can learn more about DOL Finder 2.0 on the DOL Finder 2.0 website for more information and the launch webinar showcasing its capabilities.
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