Finn Partners named Dr. Richard Levin, former president and CEO of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, as chief health affairs counselor on Tuesday morning.
The 2023 MM+M Agency 100 honoree added Levin to the C-suite following more than a decade leading the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, which advocates for humanism in healthcare.
Additionally, Levin served as dean of the faculty of medicine and vice principal for health affairs at McGill University as well as director of cardiology training and vice dean for education, faculty and academic affairs at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Health.
He also served two terms as president of the New York City affiliate of the American Heart Association and cofounded Qmed, which develops a novel ambulatory device that can detect inadequacies in blood supply to the heart.
“One of America’s famous health leaders refers to the modern academic health center as ‘the most complex invention of humanity,’” Levin said in a statement. “In the era of information, genomics, artificial intelligence, and equity ‘partnerships’ in medicine, you realize how very difficult it is to succeed in this field that consumes 20% of America’s GDP. Optimal care in the US will be reached only by recognizing that science and humanism must be co-equal principles of care, and so it is a great opportunity to join FINN Partners at this moment.”
As part of this newly created advisory role, Levin will report to Gil Bashe, chair of global health and purpose at Finn.
“Dr. Richard Levin, who humbly prefers ‘Rich’ when introduced, is among the nation’s top voices for humanism in patient care – the synergistic mixture of scientific excellence, compassion, and collaboration,” Bashe said in a statement. “During his tenure at The Gold Foundation, he rallied the government, medical schools, and industry to unite around patient experience and empathy,” he added.
Founding Managing Partner Noah Finn told MM+M that hiring Levin was a priority in order to bring on additional medical knowledge to the agency.
“We want to bring in medical knowledge into the organization and make sure that as we’re representing clients – particularly when it comes to pharma and biotech – that we have that knowledge within our team and we’re not purely dependent upon them,” he said.
