The Weber Shandwick Collective has promoted five executives in its health communications practice, led by Laura Schoen being named chief healthcare officer. 

Schoen was previously CEO of Dxtra Health, also a part of Interpublic Group. The 24-year veteran of Weber Shandwick will remain chief healthcare officer of Dxtra and chair of Latin America. 

TWSC also promoted Pam Jenkins, who has worked at Weber for two decades, to chief public health officer. She will continue in her role as chief public affairs officer and chair of public affairs specialist shop Powell Tate. 

The agency also promoted Jamie Dowd, who was EVP and North America healthcare lead, to president of health for the Americas. 

“[Dowd] is a trusted resource and smart counselor sought after inside the practice, at the agency and broadly at the [Interpublic Group] healthcare corridor,” Schoen said via email. “Her unique understanding of clients’ needs and her ability to pull together teams that deliver results and achieve commercial metrics for our agency is second to none.”

Dowd, who has worked at Weber Shandwick for almost two decades, said via email that she would strive to “build our portfolio of life-sciences companies while also increasing our footprint in corporate health, public health and health tech as demand continues to expand in these areas.”

The agency also elevated Rachael Pay from MD of health for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and health integration to president of health for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.  

Pay, who has worked at Weber for 17 years, had led the creation of TWSC: Women’s Health, an agency offering that was launched around the world “aimed at closing the gender gap in health and making progress towards women’s health equity,” Schoen said.

“She has hired and coached healthcare leaders in EMEA and [Asia-Pacific] to ensure that health drives growth across multiple regions,” Schoen said.

The firm also appointed Mike Rosich, who had been GM of the collective’s dna Communications to president of global for dna Communications. 

Rosich, who has worked at the agency since 2000, joined dna Communications in summer 2020, in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘[He] inherited a boutique agency that had a tremendous untapped potential. In the last [three-plus] years, Mike has worked with his staff in the U.S., and in the last [six] months in Europe, to ensure that the dna has a clear identity and a strategic growth plan,” Schoen said. He will be “tackling new opportunities in the medical education arena.”

This article originally appeared on PRWeek US.