Special Feature

The tragic coronavirus pandemic that has engulfed the world may have made public-health authorities into household names, but Dr. Anthony Fauci was recognized as the country’s leading champion of sound public-health advice long before the current outbreak.

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New Zealand has been praised for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under Jacinda Ardern’s leadership, New Zealand has had fewer COVID-19 cases and deaths per capita than most nations, and a brief period completely virus-free. 

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Science has been a cornerstone of Dr. Deborah Birx’s life since she ran astronomy and biology experiments with her brothers in the shed behind their Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, home growing up.

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In a year that will likely be remembered for medical misinformation and the proliferation of science-deniers, Dr. Scott Gottlieb continues to stand out as one of the clearest and most direct communicators of all things health-related.

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"We’re not ready for the next pandemic.”

That was the headline of a blog post written by technology mogul and infectious disease-focused philanthropist Bill Gates, not in 2020 as the U.S. struggled to respond to COVID-19, but in March 2015, nearly five years to the day before American life shut down. 

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Ken Frazier is one of only four Black CEOs in the Fortune 500. He is also the first Black executive to run a major global pharmaceutical company.

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In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bonnie Castillo was among the first to sound an alarm about the need to be properly prepared for a surge in cases. But while Castillo has fought for nurses over her entire career — she’s a registered nurse herself — 2020 proved her greatest battle. 

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The coronavirus pandemic has brought long-standing health inequities to the fore, from access issues to racial disparities. And as frontline clinicians tend to COVID’s acute-care cases, public-health advocates such as Dr. Michelle Williams are having a moment. 

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Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ career is marked by firsts. The Ethiopian biologist and public health researcher is the first African director-general of the World Health Organization and the first director-general who is not a medical doctor. 

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Dr. Robert Redfield has steered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the most tumultuous year in its 74-year existence. It hasn’t been easy.

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COVID-19 disproportionately infects and kills Black Americans because they’re more likely to be poor, have chronic conditions, live in crowded spaces, have jobs that expose them to the virus and, especially, because of testing limitations.

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Most weeknights at around 9 p.m. ET, former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services acting administrator Dr. Andy Slavitt unleashes his daily tweetstorm. Alternately funny, thoughtful and furious, the dispatches tackle the COVID crisis from any number of angles: the leadership vacuum, the cascading economic effects on older people (whether or not they fall ill), the psychological/PTSD crisis likely to linger long after vaccines have been administered.

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As a Harvard-educated physician specializing in emergency medicine, Dr. Uché Blackstock could have punched her own ticket.

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By virtue of holding the post of Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams automatically ranks among the most dominant voices for public health in the country. However, what has distinguished Adams’ tenure in the role is the thoughtful way he has wielded this influence.

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One curious development during the coronavirus pandemic has been the reinvention of the reputation of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

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Few if anyone in the Trump administration has the spending power of Seema Verma. The administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services oversees a budget of $1 trillion, or more than one-quarter of federal government spending, for coverage programs for more than 130 million Americans. 

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Dr. David Feinberg is a health industry vet, having served as CEO of hospital network Geisinger Health before joining Google Health in 2018.

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ER physicians have emerged as the tip of the spear for many of society’s worst problems, and none wield that weapon quite like Dr. Esther Choo.

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WebMD’s Dr. John Whyte does not proclaim to be a seer. At the same time, he was one of the few experts who anticipated the “infodemic” that would coincide with the coronavirus pandemic.

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COVID-19 has taken an incredible toll on the mental health of everyone.

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When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in January that Americans didn’t need to wear masks to prevent them from the novel coronavirus that was ravaging China, Zeynep Tufekci was skeptical.

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After joining Clorox in January of 2019, Stacey Grier’s status as its first female CMO meant the ad trades wanted her take on industry-wide issues, such as Clorox’s decision to join the Facebook advertising ban. 

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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer had just been given one of the highest-profile spots in her party in February: delivering the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. 

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Doctors as social media influencers is a rapidly growing niche — and few play the game as well as Dr. Rose Marie Leslie.

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It was on the night of Wednesday, March 12, that COVID-19 got real for many Americans. And it had little to do with a presidential address from the Oval Office that, per The New York Times, contained “surprising —and significant — inaccuracies” about the burgeoning crisis.

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Think you’ve got a big job? Lidia Fonseca’s role at Pfizer tasks her with setting and overseeing digital strategy for the venerable 170-year-old drugmaker. Recent successes include the identification of digital tools to help employees work more efficiently and to encourage collaboration among the company’s thousands of scientists.

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Twitter’s outsized role during COVID-19 is simultaneously absurd and expected. Known for hot takes, insults and character limits, Twitter hardly seems suitable for comms during an international pandemic. 

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Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, commonly known as Dr. Mona, has advocacy in her blood. Born in Sheffield, England, her parents were Iraqi scientists and dissidents who fled Saddam Hussein’s regime before eventually settling in Michigan. A pediatrician, public health advocate and professor at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Hanna-Attisha caused a public outcry when she exposed the Flint, Michigan, water crisis in 2015. 

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Following a year in which W2O expanded via several high-profile acquisitions and saw revenue breach the $200 million plateau, Weiss and his team turned its attention to — what else? — COVID-19.

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As one of the most recognizable and respected faces in the medical community, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been addressing COVID-19 since the beginning.

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For the full profile on Kym White, click here.

As he alternately covered and commented upon the nation’s descent into pandemic devastation, Kaiser Family Foundation leader Drew Altman minced few words.

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While many were surprised by the state of Ohio’s fast, proactive response to the arrival of COVID-19, those who know Dr. Amy Acton certainly weren’t.

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In September, Johnson & Johnson said it was starting large-scale Phase 3 trials of its potential coronavirus vaccine.

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Biochemist Jennifer Doudna sprang to international renown in 2012 when she and French microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier proposed that CRISPR-Cas9 enzymes, a kind of bacterial immune system, were also a highly programmable tool for manipulating DNA.

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Ed Yong, a staff writer at The Atlantic, has long had a reputation for making science mesmerizing.

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Kenneth Cole has been using his platform as a fashion designer to promote social issues for more than 30 years. Not a stranger to controversy, Cole has created catchy slogans and raised millions to support AIDS research, homelessness, global warming and same-sex marriage. 

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As CCO for the world’s biggest healthcare company by revenue, UnitedHealthcare’s Kirsten Gorsuch is by default a healthcare comms influencer. 

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Moderna, one of the pharmaceutical companies working on a potential COVID-19 vaccine, hired Ray Jordan in June, but he was consulting for Moderna four months before he joined the company.

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Dr. Peter Bach, a physician and epidemiologist, directs the Drug Pricing Lab at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

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Dr. Eric Topol is best known for his research, which includes a whopping 1,200 peer-reviewed articles and more than 250,000 citations. This places him on the list of the top 10 most-cited researchers in medicine.

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Leerom Segal has steered one of the largest healthcare marketing firms for two decades.

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A cardiologist and a longtime advocate of heart health, Dr. Juan Rivera has brought his expertise to bear as a leading voice for underserved Hispanic communities. In doing so, he became one of the country’s most trusted medical professionals.

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Singer Demi Lovato and actress Chyler Leigh came together over the last year to throw their influence behind the Be Vocal initiative, which encourages individuals to share their struggles with mental health.

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Michael Dowling worked in U.K. steel mills and on the New York docks, at Blue Cross Blue Shield and as director of New York’s Health, Education and Human Services.

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Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, few faces were as familiar on cable news than Dr. Peter Hotez. In 2017, Fortune named Hotez among the 34 leaders who are changing healthcare, and he hasn’t shown any signs of slowing.

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Donald McNeil Jr. has spent decades covering plagues, among them AIDS, Ebola, malaria and SARS. Often, he has done so from the angle of the hundreds of millions of poor people most impacted.

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Jeff Olson joined Rite Aid as comms head in April, shortly after Heyward Donigan was named Rite Aid’s CEO and Jim Peters was selected as COO.

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With her strong academic pedigree and willingness to enter the fray, Devi Sridhar has become a popular gladiator in the COVID-19 info wars.

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Charli D’Amelio has been using her vast influence for good amid the pandemic.

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World champion swimmer Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time, having won 23 gold medals in a storied career, 28 in total.

He married former Miss California Nicole Johnson in 2016. The couple recently had their third son.

On the surface, he is one of the world’s greatest athletes and represents the American dream. But behind the successful façade, Phelps has long struggled with debilitating depression and anxiety.

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Noted author, surgeon and health policy thinker Dr. Atul Gawande’s writings have changed the national discourse on topics as varied as health costs and the end of life. He’s more than a good conversation starter, though.

He’s executed a number of initiatives, including founding Ariadne Labs. The organization has grown into a $20 million, 100-person research center working to improve complex problems in care globally and through its more than 100 Harvard affiliates, collaborating with the likes of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank.

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When CVS Health acquired Aetna last year for $70 billion, the newly combined healthcare and insurance company quickly named Aetna’s Kathryn Metcalfe as CCO. The Deloitte, Pfizer, Novartis and Cohn & Wolfe alumna now oversees a largely U.S.-based team of around 100 PR pros in three locations: New York, Hartford and Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

Metcalfe’s team philosophy is to prioritize strategic business thinking over short-term tactical communications activations. She then wants PR agencies with great ideas to provide smart support on a local basis.

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Andrew Dudum founded Hims with the belief that millennials’ access to health, wellness and beauty products is being stifled by cost and stigma. He launched the DTC company with $1 million in sales in its first week. Since then, he’s launched a whole new line of products for women under the Hers branding. 

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Ethan Lindenberger is now a world-renowned vaccine advocate. But it was only last November that the then-18-year-old gained attention following a Reddit discussion in which he asked about how to get vaccinated, despite the opposition of his “kind of stupid parents.” Lindenberger, who grew up without common vaccinations, finally started getting immunizations in December.

Earlier this year, he appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions to share that he decided to get vaccinated because he saw that the information in defense of vaccines he got from the CDC, the World Health Organization and scientific journals heavily outweighed the concerns.

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Rumors of the death of TV advertising have been much exaggerated, especially in the still buoyant pharmaceutical sector, where spend rose 65% in the past five years, 9% year on year in 2018, to $5.1 billion.

CBS is easily the market leader in the space, pocketing almost $1 billion from pharma ads in 2018, overseen by president and chief advertising revenue officer Jo Ann Ross.

As Ross told MM&M: “We’re the network of choice when it comes to pharma advertising. They spend the lion’s share of their upfront budgets with us and when new drugs come into the pipeline we get those as well.”

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Kahlon strives to build a courageous culture for GSK’s brands. He is behind many of the company’s most innovative and clever campaigns. For example, GSK brand Excedrin got political with the #DebateHeadache campaign surrounding presidential debates.

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Dana Maiman is the driving force behind one of the most successful North American healthcare advertising agencies: FCB Health New York, which crossed the $200 million revenue mark last year. Over the course of her decade-plus leadership tenure at the agency, she has also become an influence powerhouse.

Maiman has overseen the creation of a mini-holding company of 13 firms, some of which have grown into leading creative lights in their own right. Along the way, she has propelled the careers of numerous leaders who have come into her orbit.

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In the middle of a tumultuous summer, which saw the venerable nonprofit battling the federal government, Planned Parenthood named Alexis McGill Johnson its new acting president and CEO. Johnson, a champion of civil rights, has spent the bulk of her career attempting to effect social justice. Among others, she has worked for and with the New York Civil Liberties Union, Citizen Change, Citizen Engagement Lab and the Perception Institute. The latter is a racial bias research group she cofounded.

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In 2019, former comms pro Shannon Watts upped the ante in her campaign addressing gun violence. In May, she took her campaign to bookstores around the country, when HarperOne published her book Fight Like a Mother: How a Grassroots Movement Took on the Gun Lobby and Why Women Will Change the World.

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The numbers speak for themselves. Dr. Zubin Damania, better known by his digital handle ZDoggMD, counts around 160,000 followers on YouTube, 260,000 on Instagram, 46,000 on Twitter and 1.4 million on Facebook (with 560,000 more following his “dark side” Facebook alter ego Doc Vader).

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When you’re the CEO and cofounder of the largest healthcare marketing agency in North America, it’s safe to assume you wield some influence. But when you’re talking about Klick Health’s Leerom Segal, the question becomes: Influence in how many separate arenas?

Under the leadership of the Israeli-born Segal, Klick has seen double-digit revenue growth nearly every year, closing in on $300 million in 2018.

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Few chief communications officers have a busier year ahead than Johnson & Johnson’s Michael Sneed, what with ongoing court cases around the pharma, medical device and consumer giant’s role in the opioid crisis and continuing concerns about cancer risks over its talc-based baby powder.

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During her tenure at NBCUniversal, Linda Yaccarino has advanced several efforts to transform NBCU’s advertising function. In her current role, she oversees advertising across all NBCU platforms, including its broadcast, cable and digital properties. Over the course of her seven years with the company, Yaccarino has also implemented new digital analytics tools, streamlined the company’s broadcast and digital advertising and worked to place advertising in context with the content around it.

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When Breath of Life, an app-based anti-COPD campaign for GSK China, took home a gold and won the Pharma Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity last June, it announced — loudly — the arrival of McCann’s Shanghai creative team as a global force.

The award was all the more remarkable because it ended a two-year drought in which no Pharma Grand Prix were awarded. 

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In an interview for Deloitte Digital’s MM&M Agency Issue profile, Larry Mickelberg didn’t dispute the widely held notion that, of the A-list consultancies, Deloitte poses the largest competitive threat to traditional agencies. “There are firms we respect creatively and firms we respect technologically, but really, we’re out here doing our own thing,” he said.

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It’s been five months since he resigned, and former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb is still driving national discussions around topics such as nicotine, vaping and CBD.

Of course, prior to resigning, Gottlieb was the leading influencer in healthcare, sometimes shaping debate in ways that previous commissioners had not.

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Saskia Steinacker’s career in life sciences began on the marketing side at Bayer’s offices in Leverkusen, Germany. Now, in addition to leading a 10-strong transformation team, she heads Bayer’s digital excellence council, which includes representatives from the pharmaceutical, consumer health and crop science divisions, relevant corporate functions and country organizations. She is also an appointed member of the EU High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence.

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While her main claim to fame will always be her performance on the tennis court, Serena Williams recently stepped into the spotlight as a mother — and as an advocate for maternal healthcare. In early 2018, Williams shared her birth story with the world in an op-ed for CNN. Despite her status as a highly paid athlete who can afford the highest-quality healthcare, Williams’ birthing experience didn’t go as smoothly as expected.

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Want a reduction in prescription drug prices? Then you’ll have to go through seven-term Republican senator from Iowa, Chuck Grassley. You’ll have to do the same if you plan on expanding access to healthcare, changes to Medicare and Medicaid and reforms to other social services.

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Self-confessed “chief media nerd” Risa Wexler is on the front lines of change in the pharmaceutical industry. She uses her digital expertise to lead pharma giant Pfizer’s media practice and U.S. digital accelerator team, which has been charged with devising smarter and more engaging ways to deliver information that could benefit patients.

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If the longevity of many elected officials in Washington these days depends on passing legislation to curb drug-price hikes, then Stephen Ubl may be responsible for curtailing some political careers.

As point man for PhRMA, the industry’s largest trade organization, quelling most would-be efforts to limit drug prices has become one of Ubl’s signature agenda items. Under his watch, the group has been a model of effective lobbying.

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Jeffrey Erb isn’t a traditional media guy or health guy. He cofounded two movie production companies and is just as happy conversing about Norwegian prog-metal bands as he is about programmatic technology. But that diversity of intellectual curiosity has served him well in health media, where he has carved out a niche as one of the truly forward-minded operators in a change-averse landscape.

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Illinois senator Ladda Tammy Duckworth is the Senate’s first member born in Thailand and its first female amputee, after losing both of her legs during a combat tour in Iraq.

But in 2018, she also became the Senate’s first member to give birth while in office. That year, she penned an op-ed for CNN pushing for expanded benefits for parental leave.

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The career of Dr. Roni Zeiger has long pivoted around technology and health. He’s worked to leverage the platforms afforded by digital technology and the communities they form to improve patient health.

Earlier in his career, Zeiger worked at Google as chief health strategist, leading efforts around Google Flu Trends and Symptom Search.

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A fixture on the Health Influencer 50, Laura Schoen has been a titan in healthcare marketing for almost 20 years at one of the world’s largest PR firms, Weber Shandwick.

Weber health clients include Merck and GSK’s Excedrin brand, and the IPG firm was showered with plaudits at the PRWeek U.S. 2018 Awards for its work around Excedrin’s #DebateHeadache campaign.

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Last year, Mindy Grossman decided to change Weight Watchers’ name to WW and adopt a new tagline, “Wellness that works,” as the company responds to changing views on healthy lifestyles.

As part of a shift away from a traditional focus on slimming and toward a more rounded idea of wellness, WW has partnered with Headspace, embedding its meditation service in the WW app.

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If there’s a formula for developing the kind of corporate reputation enjoyed by Silicon Valley’s elite — those companies known for taking bold risks and transforming entire industries — it would involve having a leader like Arthur Levinson.

Levinson replaced Steve Jobs in the role of Apple chairman after Jobs’ death and served as Genentech CEO and chairman for years.

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Susan Isenberg, a 26-year veteran of Edelman, stepped into her most recent position in 2018. She works with Edelman’s network of more than 600 health specialists across 35 markets to create communications marketing programs for the firm’s health clients.

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The appearance of not one, but two former Navy SEALs on this list results from a combination of factors: America’s fascination with the elite warriors in the aftermath of the SEALs’ mission to hunt down Osama bin Laden and the popularity of extreme fitness routines favored by the SEALs. It doesn’t hurt that both veterans are also social media black belts.

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The best way to glean insights from the massive amounts of data a company such as Google has access to? “Think like a patient,” advises Cozi Namer.

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After more than a year at the helm of point-of-care company Outcome Health — and nearly two years since it allegedly misled clients about campaign performance and lied about how many physicians’ offices it was actually in — Matt McNally has won back the industry’s trust.

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In September, when Christi Shaw took over as CEO at Gilead Sciences’ oncology-focused subsidiary Kite Pharma, she became the rare pharma CEO who came up through the industry as a marketer. In the process, Shaw joined another exclusive club: She became one of the industry’s few women CEOs.

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One very solid indicator that people trust your take on healthcare issues is when they’re willing to pay for your time and advice. That seems to be the case for Jim Weiss, the founder and CEO of healthcare PR shop W2O, which regularly experiences year-over-year growth rates of around 20%.

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Long-serving senator and two-time presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is the politician who, almost single-handedly, popularized Medicare for All. As he snapped at a rival during a July Democratic presidential debate: “I wrote the damn bill!”

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Rising prices on many drugs have spawned a national push to peek behind the curtain on cost. But real transparency depends on access to the right information.

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When Jen Mormile led the rollout of Condé Nast Health in 2017, she experienced more than her share of blowback, internally as well as externally. “It was like being a startup in this big, big organization,” she told MM&M earlier this year. “There was a lot of ‘Vogue for pharma? No thank you!’”

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If there was a competition for healthcare influencers, Amanda Daley’s job would give her a distinctly unfair competitive advantage.

Daley is the VP of Canopy Medical -- and because Canopy Growth is the world’s largest cannabis firm, that gives her a rather large stage to work on.

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Northwell Health, what was once called North Shore Long Island Jewish Health, includes 23 hospitals, approximately 750 outpatient facilities and includes long-term care, rehab, home care, hospice and urgent care services and a school of medicine. With about 70,000 employees, it is New York state’s largest private employer.

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Aaron Perry started the first Men’s Health and Education Center inside JP Hair Design, which his organization’s website describes as “Madison’s largest black barbershop.”

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23andMe captured the public’s attention in 2008 during New York Fashion Week by hosting “spit parties,” where instead of donating seed funding, the rich and famous made their deposit in a test tube.

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Social media doctors are on the rise. One of the pioneers was social media physician and speaker Dr. Kevin Pho, who founded the website KevinMD in 2004. His site began as a way for him to answer and clear up common questions and misconceptions he heard from patients.

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While in the past she may have been most comfortable portraying someone else’s life on screen, these days it’s Selma Blair’s own health journey that has launched her latest role of unofficial advocate for the multiple sclerosis community.

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Anne de Schweinitz’s journey to become a respected healthcare comms pro probably started sometime in her childhood, she recalled in a blog post.

In school, de Schweinitz nurtured an interest in biology, which translated into a job at the Palo Alto, California, Veterans Administration hospital autopsy lab when she was 16.

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Ethan Brown cofounded faux-meat company Beyond Meat in 2009. Its 10th birthday year saw the company file its IPO; form partnerships with food sellers such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Carl’s Jr. and Tim Hortons; and begin testing new faux-chicken products at KFC.

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More than 3.6 million middle and high school-age kids are e-cigarette users. With the number of kids using them up 48% among middle school-age kids and 78% among high school-age kids, vaping is the “most serious adolescent public health crisis” the U.S. has faced in decades, in the words of Parents Against Vaping E-Cigarettes.

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Asked about the annual print-is-dead declarations aired in and around health media, John Kenyon has an emotional response: that they “nauseate” him. “We have to be more defensive about arming ourselves so that everybody knows the continued power of print. The industry has to rally,” he said to MM&M this year.

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Coming up on her 10-year anniversary as CEO of GCI Health, Wendy Lund has focused on worldwide expansion. In the past few years alone, GCI has established a beachhead on two new continents, via two offices in Europe and one in Asia.

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In July, Rob Dhoble helped launch the new CBD-focused comms agency Havas ECS, which sits under Havas’ network of health-related comms firms known as Havas Health & You.

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With best-selling books, frequent TV appearances, more than 300,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel and some 350,000 followers on Instagram, Kelly Starrett has elevated the notion of mobility far beyond simple stretching.

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By Dr. David Shaywitz, Senior partner, Takeda Ventures

When Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JP Morgan selected Harvard surgeon, health policy expert, and The New Yorker writer Atul Gawande to lead their nonprofit effort to reimagine care delivery for their U.S. employees, the healthcare community erupted in delight.

Gawande is a multiscale thinker focused on implementation, one who is instinctively attuned to the patient experience. Consequently, he brings an “impressive ability to see through the complexity that surrounds our healthcare system and create narratives in simple and relatable ways people can understand,” according to his Harvard colleague Dr. Ashish Jha.

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By Dr. Robert Harrington, Arthur L. Bloomfield Professor of Medicine Chair, Department of Medicine, Stanford University

Before she became a physician, Sumbul Desai worked in strategy for Disney until a family health event initiated a change in her career direction. After medical school, she trained in internal medicine and joined the Stanford Medicine faculty as a hospital medicine specialist, but she continued to apply her business acumen to solving problems in the healthcare delivery system as the Department of Medicine’s vice chair of strategy and innovation and as associate chief medical officer responsible for digital health in Stanford Health Care.

She led the creation of ClickWell, a “bricks and clicks” primary care clinic, and cofounded Stanford’s Center for Digital Health. At Apple since 2017, she and her team collaborate closely with engineering on a variety of health initiatives and features, including the Apple Heart Study.

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Scarlet Shore has the challenging role of leading Verily’s Project Baseline effort, an ambitious attempt to develop a “baseline” of good health using the data of 10,000 volunteers. Verily is an independent subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet. It was formerly a division of Google X until August 2015.

Around that time, Shore talked Verily’s current CEO Andy Conrad into giving her an internship. Project Baseline launched in 2017 and Shore has been involved from the beginning, evolving it into something that could ultimately reshape health.

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In some ways, T.J. Parker, 32, is like many of his fellow millennials. Before settling on a clear career trajectory, he flirted with working in various industries. However, unlike most of his peers, Parker has sold a company to Amazon — for a reported 10 figures. The venture that so enamored Jeff Bezos is the online pharmacy PillPack, which Parker cofounded with Elliott Cohen in 2013.

PillPack launched with an initial investment of just $120,000, but grew at an explosive clip; less than a year later, it had raised an additional $4 million. Investors couldn’t get enough of the model — the company would go on to raise $118 million in total — which delivers pre-sorted, pre-packaged, and pre-labeled doses of medication directly to individuals’ homes.

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By Kevin Hourican, EVP, pharmacy services, CVS

Norman de Greve is an ideal business partner. He has led his team in growing our retail business profitably through strategic and compelling marketing strategies that resonate with consumers.

Norm deeply understands our customers and consistently challenges our retail leadership team to evolve our service, as well as the services we offer them. He then leads his team in building meaningful campaigns that articulate these offerings and our key messages clearly to customers. 

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By Debra Bass, Global chief marketing officer and U.S. president, Nuvo Group

Marc Speichert is the archetype of a modern business leader: He has the global mindset, modern marketing skills, and inspirational leadership.

I’ll start by noting he is a truly global leader. He was born in Switzerland, grew up in France, lived in Mexico, Greece, and New York, and now resides in London. He continues to travel around the world, as he is curious and committed to expanding his business vision by reflecting local market understanding and ensuring global alignment.

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By David Hirschmann, President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Innovation Policy Center

When Ray Kerins speaks, you can feel his understanding and passion around the value of innovation. That kind of positive leadership fills the room and inspires others to follow. He listens and acts. It’s what makes him such a clear communicator and an effective leader.

As Bayer and Monsanto merged, Ray did an amazing job explaining the benefits of the merger to all the stakeholders — from farmers to policymakers. He drove a highly effective, creative, integrated communications campaign that ultimately helped pave the way for success.  

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J&J’s global marketing, communication, design, and philanthropy functions have been led by Michael Sneed since January 2012. After joining the manufacturing giant in 1983 as a marketing assistant, he has been promoted to roles with increasing responsibility including being named global president, personal products company, and group chairman.

He also sits on the management committee. “His leadership, mentorship, and influence” is “felt in much of what J&J has said and done for more than 30 years,” says J&J global chief marketing officer Alison Lewis.

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If today’s chief marketing officer hardly resembles the one of years past, then Penn Medicine’s Suzanne Sawyer best exemplifies how significantly the role has modernized. Airwaves and roadsides are rife with hospital ad campaigns, but CMOs can no longer concern themselves solely with building brand awareness. They must be successful in building revenue, too.

In the case of nonprofit Penn Med, that means sticking to its roots in translational medicine — the institution developed and helped commercialize Novartis’ new immunotherapy Kymriah — and, the health system has invested heavily to build out a marketing data mart that utilizes 30 different martech tools to capture the patient journey.

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Sean Slovenski is a healthcare and wellness industry innovator with a 24-year track record of success. He joined Wal-Mart this summer, as the company looks to put more focus on its health and wellness business. Earlier in his career, Slovenski spent three years at Humana, rising to become VP of innovation.

Humana and Wal-Mart work together on prescription drug plans for individuals in the Medicare program. But when Slovenski joined Wal-Mart, it prompted speculation the company would form a closer partnership with his former employer. However, analysts said an August announcement about closer cooperation between Wal-Mart and Anthem on providing consumers OTC medications makes other healthcare mergers less likely.

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If healthcare is the most intransigent industry today, it makes sense it’d take one of the biggest disruptors, Amazon, to change it. Despite its flashier initiatives — forming a healthcare company with Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase, as well as acquiring online pharmacy PillPack — Amazon had already been angling for a healthcare push, positioning itself as a major distributor for medical suppliers and customers.

Chris Holt, the leader of global healthcare, said he believes a customer-focused approach is the key to success. Relying on easy-to-use tools and an efficient supply chain, Holt compares Amazon Business’ healthcare unit to a “marketplace.” He wants to change the setup of hospital purchasing, which is conducted through contracts with distributors and manufacturers, per The Wall Street Journal.

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By Richard Edelman, President and CEO, Edelman

Susan has been at Edelman for almost as long as I have. A 25-year veteran of the firm, Susan has played a huge role in growing and shaping our more than 600 person health sector to be one of the largest and best in the industry.

What stands out most to me about Susan has always been her drive and tenacity. She fearlessly leads from the front in all situations. Susan is at her most motivational when she is rolling up her sleeves and working side by side with teams and clients in tackling challenges and providing counsel. 

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By Dana Maiman, President and CEO, FCB Health Network

Having Rich as a partner has been incredible for the past nine years. It has enabled the advance beyond what any of us thought possible. 

Rich lies at the intersection of creativity and innovation. It is this approach that has made him so valuable, not just to FCB Health around the world, but also as a tremendous creative resource for the non-healthcare global FCB offices as well.

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By Nancy Powell, Director, digital health, Celgene

I’ve had the opportunity to learn and partner as a client with Larry over the years while he held leadership roles, first at Digitas Health, then at Havas, and now in his most recent role at Deloitte Digital.

Larry’s curiosity, pioneering mindset, and uncanny knack for charting where trends are going has led to igniting actionable insight.

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By Dr. Daniel Kraft, Faculty chair for medicine, Singularity University, and founder and chair, Exponential Medicine

Leerom Segal is the definition of a health influencer. He listens and is collaborative and inclusive. He’s also thoughtful, energetic, and inspiring, and able to bring out the best in the diverse team around him. In the process, he expands and amplifies his positive circle of influence.

I’ve watched Leerom use his creative mind and tremendous passion for cross-disciplinary learning to brilliantly leverage the convergence of technologies. In doing so, he brings surprise and curates delight — and even humor — around life sciences comms, content, and personalities.

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By Gail Heimann, president, Weber Shandwick

When asked about her best advice, Laura said, “Choose to do something you love with purpose and strive to make a difference.” Throughout her expansive 18-year career at Weber Shandwick, Laura has done just that — made a difference in our clients’ businesses and patient lives by driving transformational healthcare work.

Laura has led the growth of Weber Shandwick’s global healthcare practice since joining the firm in 2000, providing strategic counsel and insights to some of the most visible multinational healthcare-related brands in the world.

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Jenny Streets has spent 15 years transforming healthcare. For the past year, she has been leading efforts for Facebook’s health industry vertical in the U.S. The group’s mission is to connect people to the info or services they need to improve lives and create better health outcomes. Streets leads partnerships, go-to-market strategy, planning, and comms, managing teams across New York, Washington, DC, and Menlo Park, California.

Under her leadership, Facebook and Instagram have continued to evolve into the primary way pharma marketers are reaching patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers. Streets and her team are focused on continuing to partner with top health and pharma companies to improve patient outcomes by empowering the industry to challenge the way it thinks about DTC advertising, as well as educating pharma marketers and creatives on the power of mobile to deliver impactful messages.

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By Frank Clyburn, president, global oncology business unit, Merck

Making a difference in the lives of individuals battling cancer is the mission that drives Jill DeSimone. A pharma industry veteran, Jill is an outstanding leader who walks the talk by demonstrating what it means to put the patient at the center of everything we do and inspires those around her with a prodigious work ethic and commitment to high standards.

As the leader of the fastest-growing business line at Merck, Jill manages the largest therapeutic area P&L across the enterprise. She is a deep expert in commercial immuno-oncology.

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By Bill Price, VP and chief comms officer, Zoetis

Over the course of his career, Ray has held leadership positions at Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer — companies where influencing the healthcare landscape is expected and the bar is set high. Those big stages and the public scrutiny that comes with them have never been too big for Ray, and it is why he has again attained this type of recognition.

He has handled a range of complex and intense PR issues that would cause most to wither — and has done it with skill, purpose, and sound judgment.

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By Rick Gonzalez, chairman of the board and CEO, AbbVie

Laura embodies the drive and passion that have made AbbVie one of the world’s most innovative biopharma companies.

Laura and I have worked together for many years in a variety of roles, and now she leads AbbVie’s external-facing functions of comms, government affairs, health economics and outcomes research, and legal.

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By Teresa Bitetti, SVP, worldwide oncology commercialization, Bristol-Myers Squibb

Each day, our employees around the world work together for patients. It drives everything we do — and Lynelle Hoch’s mission for transforming cancer care to improve and extend the lives of cancer patients inspires all of us at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Lynelle currently leads the marketing organization for the immuno-oncology solid tumor portfolio at BMS. In a dynamic, fiercely competitive marketplace, Lynelle leads a team that has continued to beat internal and external expectations.

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It’s been almost 12 years since Ryan Olohan signed on at Google, and during his tenure the company has been making a mark in healthcare just as it has done in so many other fields. The Google Ventures arm is working on cutting the cost of healthcare and addressing systemic problems.

Olohan spent almost eight years there, largely in CPG, before becoming healthcare industry director in 2013 and then moving to managing director of healthcare last October.

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23andMe’s groundbreaking technology lends itself to storytelling, because every person has their own story.

But as with its easy-to-use product, its stories need expertise, ingenuity, and an understanding of its machinations. To tell that story is marketing and brand lead Tracy Keim, who’s attacked the problem from every angle.

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Earlier this year, Alexandra von Plato was named Publicis Health’s first female CEO. At the Publicis Groupe division, she leads a team with expertise in advertising and branding, strategic planning, digital media and tech, science, and medicine — all focused on connecting healthcare brands with the people who need them.

As CEO, von Plato leads all of Publicis Health’s businesses worldwide. Previously, she was global group president for Publicis Health’s worldwide comms and media agencies. Von Plato’s promotion comes amid a larger transformation for Publicis Groupe, which has been breaking down its disciplines into four “solutions hubs.” Last year, the network rebranded from Publicis Healthcare Communications Group to Publicis Health.

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As president of IPG media firm Healix, Jeffrey Erb understands how the pharma advertising world is changing and what opportunities that presents.

“What I find exciting about the industry is that it’s going through a significant amount of change,” he said in August.“What we do is really push people out of their comfort zone. We’re constantly looking at things differently and figuring out ways to evolve with the way the world is evolving and that is where you find your agency’s differentiation.”

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By Kim Hunter, founder, president, and CEO, Lagrant Communications

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jim on both the agency side and being a board member of The Lagrant Foundation. Jim is truly one of the most thoughtful, considerate, dynamic, fearless, thought-provoking, strategic, creative, and innovative leaders in the industry. Jim walks the walk and talks the talk.

He and W2O have been committed to changing the landscape of diversity and inclusion at his agency and the industry as a whole. It was Jim’s vision to develop the first healthcare fellowship for undergraduate and graduate ethnic minority students who are majoring in advertising, marketing, and PR.

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By Tim Hawkey, Co-MD, Area 23

Area 23 may be known for its outstanding creative product, but this isn’t solely thanks to our creative department. My business partner Renée Mellas has set a clear expectation across the agency that no matter what your business card says, we are all here to deliver the most creative, bold, and groundbreaking marketing and advertising in the world. And she doesn’t want us all doing just the best pharma work, she wants us doing the best work.

So, I’m sorry to disappoint the conspiracy theorists who think our secret is an oversized, gelatinous crab in our studio that excretes perfectly formed, world-class creative campaigns.

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By Renee Wilson, former PR Council president, comms adviser

It is a real honor to write about Wendy Lund as she receives this recognition.  Sure, she is an excellent health industry comms practitioner who helps clients solve big challenges on a daily basis. However, when I think about Wendy, three things come to mind: incredible passion for the business; unwavering tenacity to get the right things done; and authentic, early day advocacy for women and moms in the workplace. 

 I was lucky enough to join MSL when Wendy ran the New York office years ago. She had a palpable business sensibility, but conveyed empathy and compassion as a modern-day leader should. She still does. And when it comes to advocating for her teams, you want her on your side. Talent that works for Wendy rarely strays. 

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On its 10th anniversary, SSCG Media has proven itself a survivor. At the time of its founding, many medical agencies were discontinuing their media departments. But under the leadership of CEO Debbie Renner, the media planning and buying company not only endured, it thrived.

In 2009, SSCG Media doubled its headcount. Today, SSCG Media prides itself on being one of the largest agencies of its kind that focuses exclusively on healthcare. It has a network of five separate media agencies, and it manages more than 150 pharmaceutical and medical device brands.

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By Donna Imperato, global CEO, Burson Cohn & Wolfe

Recognizing Jillian and writing about her leadership in our organization, as well as her influence among clients and the industry, feels long overdue. It is also an honor. I’ve known Jillian for 21 years, since she joined our agency as a senior account executive and quickly demonstrated her leadership skills and fierce loyalty to her colleagues, teams, and clients.

Jillian is in a league of her own. Her experience stretches across every disease category. She has launched dozens of products and managed FDA milestones as well as Rx to OTC switches. She has also worked across diagnostics, biotech, healthcare systems, and other areas critical to the business.

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By Joaquin Duato, vice chairman of the executive committee, Johnson & Johnson

The rate of recent medical breakthroughs has been breathtaking, making this an exciting and pivotal time for biopharma.

There is no person better to lead and represent the companies in this industry than Steve Ubl. I experienced Steve’s leadership up close serving as PhRMA’s chairman last year. He is adept at navigating the politics, mastering the policy, and understanding the needs of patients and stakeholders across the healthcare system. And he does all of that with a demeanor that encourages collaboration. 

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By Dr. Jake LaPorte, global head of digital development, Novartis

MM&M wanted me to inform its readers it isn’t a printing error that has led to Shwen Gwee being named to this list three years in a row. He is really that dynamic and innovative.

When I first met Shwen, two things were clear. First, his passion, creative thinking, and ability to drive change are incredible. And second, I knew I had to work with him. After months of recruiting — and potentially begging — him, I am fortunate he came to work with me at Novartis.

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Creating good from bad might be the motto for Don Nathan, who until just last month was SVP and chief comms officer at UnitedHealth Group.

In 2006, Nathan was working at strategic comms firm Robinson Lerer & Montgomery, which was representing UnitedHealth. The company was the focus of a Wall Street Journal story about then-CEO William McGuire backdating stock options. A year later, McGuire left and the company hired a new CEO, who asked Nathan to join the firm, eventually making him its first CCO.

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By Kathy Calvin, president and CEO, United Nations Foundation

I am so honored to reflect on how my friend Sally Susman embodies the highest qualities of an influencer. A visit to her office is a tour through history — the pictures tell the story of her incredible network and formative experiences.

Sally is a leader who combines political savvy, personal integrity, and a commitment to meaningful impact.

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Keri McDonough’s leadership of the Biosector 2 team behind Be Vocal: Speak Up for Mental Health, created alongside Sunovion and several advocacy groups, cemented her place as one of the industry’s influential voices.

Centered around a photography collection and Beyond Silence, a documentary, Be Vocal showcased the stories of thriving individuals with mental health conditions. Specifically, it gave them a platform to communicate the importance of speaking up — about their own conditions and within the context of their communities.

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By Marci Piasecki, group managing director, North America, Evoke

Inspired — that’s the word I associate with Reid Connolly. About 12 years ago, Reid was inspired to create a digital-first agency with the simple yet powerful idea of making health a more engaging, accessible, and integrated part of people’s lives. Reid’s inspiration was contagious because, for years, I watched as the agency grew its offering and footprint to become a leader in the industry. In fact, it was Evoke’s continued dedication to the mantra “Health More Human” that inspired me to join the agency.

When you first meet Reid, his passion for the industry is undeniable. He has an impressive, deep knowledge of both the market and our clients’ business. This knowledge, combined with his drive never to accept the status quo, inspires our pursuit of new ways to provide value for our clients.

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Scott Yacovino has been at the forefront of some of GlaxoSmithKline brand Excedrin’s brandjacking efforts. When Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton faced off in the first of three presidential debates in late September 2016, there was a lot of chatter on social about the event causing headaches.

In response, Excedrin ran a Twitter campaign called #DebateHeadache. The brand also reached out to disgruntled sports fans. After a video of Mets fan Frank Fleming complaining about missing a game due to unreliable transportation went viral, the PR team at Excedrin provided Fleming two tickets and a private car to a Mets game against the Miami Marlins. Excedrin then tried to ease the headaches of devotees of the hapless Cleveland Browns.

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Kevin Griffis stepped into a tough job — and he did so at a time when Planned Parenthood found itself under fire as it never had before.

He has led comms for the embattled women’s health provider during the Trump era, which has included more than its share of existential threats — budget bills that threatened to slash the organization’s federal funding and failed attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act top among them.

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By Brendan McAtamney, CEO, UDG Healthcare

It is a privilege to be one of the first to congratulate Doug Burcin on this tremendous achievement. Doug’s infectious energy, passion, and drive are outstanding and he has very quickly become an integral part of the leadership team at UDG Healthcare and Ashfield Healthcare Communications.

Doug’s disruptive mindset, extensive experience, and exemplary leadership is transforming our organization’s competitiveness. Since arriving earlier this year, he has already reshaped our capabilities, operating model, and talent leadership.

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By Dave Marek, VP and GM, neuroscience, Amgen

Donna Murphy represents true customer service. As companies across our industry focus on achieving customer-centricity, Donna is a shining example of what it means to live with a continual focus to serve customers. For us, Donna has been an ongoing partner to understand and anticipate our needs, dedicate the resources that produce meaningful results, and share in our sense of responsibility.

Donna represents action. In a recent breakfast meeting, we discussed three opportunities to improve the effectiveness of our partnership. Before the check arrived, Donna had already put actions in place for each one.

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A quick read of Mary Ann Belliveau’s résumé reveals a career steeped in healthcare marketing and communications.

At Twitter, Belliveau must bring her 20 years to bear for the platform, as it leans into its advertising model and battles reputational headwinds.

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By Bill Kolb, global president, diversified agencies, McCann Worldgroup

I have a simple belief: Don’t just be on a client’s business, be in its business. There is no better example of this than John Cahill.

Under John’s leadership, our business has thrived. His passion, creativity, deep knowledge of the field, and devotion to global and public health have all contributed to our team’s success. It comes as no surprise John has earned a spot on this prestigious list for the third year in a row.

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Paul Gerrard has led comms at the largest health insurer in the U.S., BlueCross BlueShield, for more than seven years. In that role, he oversees marketing, communications, and corporate social responsibility functions for 36 independent, locally operated BlueCross and BlueShield companies that operate in all 50 states.

Gerrard joined the insurer in 2011, shortly after the Affordable Care Act was implemented. Since then, he has helped craft the organization’s messaging strategy and tactics in the wake of the ACA insurance system overhaul.

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If you set out to make a mark in healthcare marketing, would you start your own comms company specializing in healthcare, or try to get a job leading the healthcare efforts of a giant ad holding company? Mike Hudnall, global head of WPP’s new healthcare offering, has done both.

In 2006, Hudnall helped found Evoke Health, which started as a digital agency but grew to offering PR and influence services, digital strategy, web development, relationship marketing, media planning and buying, and other services.

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When Bill Sibold was promoted in July 2017 to head Sanofi Genzyme, Sanofi’s specialty care business unit, he became the first individual without ties to the “old,” pre-acquisition Genzyme to assume a top-shelf leadership position at the company. He was given a broad — and ambitious — charge: Essentially, to expand the unit’s purview from its traditional strength in conditions such as multiple sclerosis to include everything from multiple myeloma and squamous cell carcinoma treatments to drugs for Parkinson’s disease and asthma.

“We’re planning for growth,” he said at the time of his promotion, noting he would continue to emphasize the “two things that are core to Genzyme’s legacy — science and patients.”

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In 2016, Vic Noble oversaw Shire’s launch of Xiidra, a drug to treat dry eye that represented the company’s first foray into the eyecare market. At the time, she was head of ophthalmology marketing. The campaign Noble and her team developed avoided typical drug marketing tactics, adopting a modern feel and conversational tone.

“We didn’t want to be part of that DTC white noise landscape,” Noble said after its launch. “There are deliberately no smiling faces, no beaches, no puppies, none of that. We wanted to do something fun and positive. Our team and our approach overall was to be a challenger to the mindset.”

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Omnicom Health Group was a bold move to streamline the holding company’s more than a dozen agencies into a single entity. Under CEO Ed Wise’s leadership, that bet has seemingly paid off.

Last year saw Omnicom Health Group snap up Snow Companies and Elsevier’s pharma communications business in Japan. Snow bolstered Omnicom’s direct-to-patient comms and marketing initiatives, while the Elsevier business, now known as EMC K.K., strengthened its medical content business in Japan.

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By Sander van‘t Noordende, group chief executive of Accenture’s products operating group

Socioeconomic trends, healthcare consumerization, and new technology and science landscapes are presenting an exciting opportunity for the life sciences industry and the more than 7 billion people in the world it touches. Anne is leading the charge to turn industry change into opportunities for life sciences companies and the patients they serve.

As she puts it, “It is my passion and belief that through commitments to collaboration and disruption along nontraditional lines, we can improve the standard of care on a global scale.”

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Anne de Schweinitz has made this list before, which is no wonder. Since 2012, she’s been in charge of FleishmanHillard’s global healthcare practice.  The job is a good fit, given her pedigree includes 15-plus years in healthcare communications.

But not all of her healthcare cred comes from her life within comms firms. She also spent time with University of California, San Francisco Medical Center.

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Sonia Choi’s five years at Gilead Sciences have been memorable ones.

During that time, the company has enjoyed an amazing run of success, courtesy of groundbreaking hepatitis C cures Sovaldi and Harvoni. During her tenure, Gilead has also launched Yescarta, its first CAR-T therapy, and grown its HIV portfolio with Biktarvy.

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