DWA Healthcare Communications Group appointed Arun Divakaruni as its new CEO and announced that Deborah Wood, DWA founder and CEO, will step into the role of chairman.

Divakaruni joined DWA in 2019 as chief science officer after working in different roles at Weber Shandwick. In addition to Divakaruni, DWA also hired Dr. Kim Gandy as physician in residence, and Marc Voorhees as executive director of its analytics, strategy and insights department. Voorhees previously worked at Viatris and Pfizer.

In her new role as chairman, Wood, who founded the firm in 1994, will act as counsel for company growth and mentor employees. 

“This is an important strategic inflection point for our company and clients as we emerge from the pandemic into an evolved communication ecosystem in healthcare,” Wood said in a statement. “From its inception, our goal at DWA was to ensure patients have the best possible care because their doctors have the most current understanding of science and medicine. Arun has the leadership experience and proven track record to continue to evolve our solutions for clients as we emerge in a more digitally centric healthcare environment.”