NEW YORK: Edelman has promoted Susan Isenberg, a 25-year veteran of the agency, to global health sector chair.
Isenberg is transitioning into the position through the end of May, reporting to Michael Stewart, global vice chairman. She was previously global lead for Edelman’s Johnson & Johnson account, a role taken over by EVP David Barbanell as global client relationship manager.
“Healthcare is becoming more complex; the challenges depend on where you are in the world,” Isenberg said. “One of the areas I’d like to focus on is the intersection of health and technology. We’re already doing work in that area, but it’s one of the areas I see us focusing on going forward.”
Isenberg has worked at Edelman for more than 25 years. Along with her role leading the J&J account, Isenberg has also served as global vice chair for health, where she focused on the U.S. health practice, and health chair for the Americas, where she focused on diversifying and enhancing the practice in Latin America and South America.
Isenberg has also served as MD for both the health and consumer marketing divisions in the New York office. Prior to joining Edelman in 1993, Isenberg was a VP at Burson-Marsteller for eight years.
“I’ve stayed at Edelman for as long as I have because I think we’re constantly reinventing and constantly pushing the envelope on comms and marketing,” Isenberg said.
White left Edelman to join Vertex as SVP and chief communications officer this month. Vertex focuses on cystic fibrosis, with three approved treatments, and additional treatments in the pipeline for cystic fibrosis, spinal cord injury, pain, cancer, and influenza.
Edelman posted global revenue growth of 2.2% in 2017 to $893.6 million, making it the top PR agency in the world by revenue. CEO Richard Edelman said in February that consumer drove most of the growth and the healthcare sector was off “a tiny bit” in 2017.
