Taylor Bicchieri,
account supervisor, Area 23

Taylor Bicchieri has earned the reputation as a launch leader and portfolio expert, able to build brands from the ground up and think strategically about how every tactic fits into a bigger picture. Her work spans several therapeutic areas, including neurology, allergy, asthma, gastroenterology, and over-the-counters for both U.S. and global teams.

During her tenure on the Lilly ad platform team at Area 23, Bicchieri supported all aspects of the business across both solanezumab and Amyvid, global and U.S. She led the launch of the biomedicines business unit’s first direct marketing campaign. The latter was aimed at educating imaging physicians and dementia specialists about the IDEAS study, designed to determine the clinical usefulness and impact on patient outcomes of a PET scan to detect amyloid plaques in patients with mild cognitive impairment. The campaign was recognized by Eli Lilly senior management with an internal award for risk taking and trailblazing.

A trusted extension of the internal brand team, Bicchieri collaborated closely with multiple vendors and attended quarterly sales and key congress meetings alongside the Lilly cross-functional team, serving to continually reinforce the agency’s value through her engagement.

Bicchieri recently led two U.S. HCP indication launches of Trulance over just one year, including the first product launch for Synergy Pharmaceuticals. She is currently account supervisor on the Lilly galcanezumab global team.

Jackie Bishop, senior product manager, Allergan Marketing

Jackie Bishop, senior product manager at Allergan Marketing, has a reputation for following the data to create innovative programs that deliver results. That strategy has led her to a number of firsts for her company.

Bishop spearheaded the creation and implementation of a 90-day maintenance program based on a novel savings card program that led to a 27% increase in 90-day prescriptions and 5.5% increase in overall patient adherence. The program has since been adopted across the organization and across brands.

She is also responsible for developing a multichannel patient engagement and adherence program for a cardiovascular product via text, email, and mobile app that boosted patient adherence by 6% and first fill rate by 13%.

Currently at work on the market access, pricing, multichannel, digital marketing, and savings programs for a new launch product in the women’s health space, this pro continues to follow where the data leads.

As a marketer, Bishop’s strength is translating data into actionable strategies. “When building the 90-day supply incentive program, Jackie identified the opportunity to drive greater adherence not by drastically changing patient behavior, but by uncovering and capitalizing on behaviors that already existed, all by just following the data,” says one colleague.

Erin Fitzpatrick, senior director of marketing, Pacira Pharmaceuticals

Before Erin Fitzpatrick joined the team, Pacira Pharmaceuticals had limited reach without a digital presence. Fitzpatrick conceived and launched the first-ever branded digital strategy and footprint for the company, leading strategy and tactical execution for its flagship brand, Exparel, as well as launching an HCP and consumer website and a first of its kind Surgeon Selector connecting patients to surgeons who offer opioid-free alternatives.

The Choices Matter website, an unbranded community for patients to talk about their experiences with opioids, encouraged members to talk with their surgeon about a safe recovery plan and advocate for themselves and their friends and loved ones. Four months after launch, the community has amassed more than 1,550 members, has nearly 2.4 million impressions, and nearly 3,500 posts.

Fitzpatrick, senior director of marketing, also led the launch of Exparel to the oral surgery market, where most patients are first exposed to opioids, by forging a partnership with AAOMS (American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons) and Aetna to ensure patients within this large provider network got access to an opioid-sparing alternative. As a result, 8,000 patients have been treated with Exparel in oral surgery since launch in September 2016.

The first commercial provider partnership for Pacira, the program demonstrates that in this fee for service environment, patient care societal impact is of significant value versus acquisition cost. The program is also an exemplar of how professional societies with clinical expertise can partner with payers and providers to significantly impact patient care.

Simonne Fuge, account group supervisor, McCann Echo

The cornerstone of McCann Echo’s long-term partnership with ViiV Healthcare is account group supervisor Simonne Fuge. Fuge has fully embraced ViiV’s goal of making HIV a smaller part of life and has played a key role in the launch of Tivicay (dolutegravir), a breakthrough antiretroviral that altered the market landscape.

As the success of Tivicay grew, Fuge’s role on the team expanded. She has since led the launch of Triumeq, a three-drug combination that included the Tivicay molecule, dolutegravir, and has overseen the development and successful rollout of three different Triumeq campaigns, including two Triumeq and Tivicay co-branded campaigns. The campaigns’ success helped make Triumeq the No. 1 prescribed regimen for new patients in all of Europe and dolutegravir the No. 1 prescribed integrase inhibitor in the world.

Fuge was also integral to ViiV’s presence at major conferences. Her strategic input and knowledge have proven so valuable, her clients insist on her attendance. Fuge continues to be a major part of ViiV’s strategy as the company moves forward with several pipeline drugs nearing launch. She has already assumed the lead on a new product expected to make a seismic impact on the HIV treatment market.

Outside the office, Fuge works with New Jersey AIDS Services helping provide housing opportunities, prevention strategies, and education to people affected by HIV.

Anna Maria Garuccio, account supervisor, greyhealth group

The open playing field of the electronic health record arena attracted Anna Maria Garuccio from the start of her career. Garuccio began her career at Epic, the biggest EHR company in the U.S., and joined ghg less than a year later.

Now account supervisor, Garuccio oversees strategy and execution of innovative EHR programs for ghg’s key clients and is the EHR expert across the entire organization. Her ability to work at an impressive pace and juggle multiple accounts with ease keeps clients happy. Colleagues say she’s a pro at understanding exactly what clients need and has a reputation for training staff to deliver the high-quality service clients expect and require in this competitive market.

“No matter how challenging the situation, Mia is always eager to take it on and always has a smile on her face,” says Carolyn Oddo, EVP and managing director at ghg. This multi-talented professional is a Mensa member, a certified scuba diver, volunteers with New York Cares, and reads to ESL second graders every Tuesday before work to help them with their reading skills.

Katie Hamlet, head of R&D communication, North America, Sanofi

Katie Hamlet, head of research and development communication at Sanofi, has been an integral part of its transformation in the U.S. from a primarily small-molecule discovery to a company whose product offerings and pipeline are primarily biologics.

Since joining Sanofi’s internal communication team in 2010, she has held positions of increasing responsibility. Hamlet led the U.S. team for Praluent during the race for PCSK9 approval. As the first monoclonal antibody in cholesterol, approval of the drug was globally discussed in mainstream media, including all three morning shows and The New York Times.

Now leading the U.S. R&D communications as Sanofi begins to revitalize and prioritize internal research capabilities, Hamlet has increased R&D visibility by nearly 40% in 2017 as measured by volume of media coverage. She helped launch several campaigns to attract talented researchers to Sanofi, recognize the passion of Sanofi R&D staff, and support the broader scientific community. The stories she helped develop to lift the veil on the inner-workings of the company have appeared on many communication platforms.

Hamlet recently helped organize the U.S. portion of Sanofi’s global R&D week, connecting Sanofi R&D colleagues and partners across the world by bringing together luminaries in and out of the company to talk about exciting developments and lingering questions.

Nicole Hamlin, account supervisor, Butler/Till Health Group

Nicole Hamlin has been an integral part of building Butler/Till’s Health Group discipline. Hamlin not only contributed to organic growth within her key account, she has helped her team think more strategically about their healthcare professional and patient media campaigns.

On her key account, Hamlin expanded Butler/Till partnerships from the support of one marketing team to partnering with five marketing divisions, a win that led to her promotion to account supervisor.

Her passion and leadership is recognized at the agency, where she has gained a reputation for facing challenges and taking a deeper dive into audience research and back-end campaign performance to better understand media connections and deliver impactful brand campaigns.

A commitment to a “deep-dive” approach helped Hamlin’s team build and present a new way of targeting a key subset of patients for a pharmaceutical client — an approach that ultimately led to a strategic shift for the client and a new business win for Butler/Till Health Group. She has since been a part of many new business pitches and currently leads the onboarding of many new clients to the agency.

Hamlin doesn’t limit her deep dive approach to upfront audience research. She also applies the strategy to back-end campaign performance to push her clients toward innovative solutions. She has successfully launched social networks for her pharma clients and has led content partnerships that drive above-average healthcare professional engagement.

Keri Hettel, SVP, analytics, Razorfish Health

Keri Hettel has been integral to the transformation of Razorfish Health. Hettel has single-handedly created a world-class analytics and data science practice that helped the agency drive clients’ businesses with a lens on delivering ROI and measurable results.

Her teams’ work ensures every client has a dashboard of key performance indicators utilizing data streams from social media, HCP Rx behavior, physician-patient in-office dialogues, and qualitative HCP KOL perspectives. Their work helps ensure Razorfish Health clients understand today’s HCP better than their competitors.

In her role as SVP of analytics, Hettel has led the development of insights and strategy for all new business pitches in 2017, which converted into 20% of current agency revenue. She has led ideation, planning, and selling of an advanced marketing automation solution for one of the agency’s top five clients to harness the power of various disparate data sources into a personalization engine, enabling deeper views of physician profiles than ever previously existed with the ability to deliver personalized messaging and content across channels.

“Internally, analytics is no longer an afterthought,” says Donald Young, COO. “Data and analytics now have a prominent seat at every table, starting with new business pitches and continuing throughout every engagement with every client.”

Ericka Higgins-Tothe, senior director, omnichannel marketing, Novo Nordisk

Colleagues say Ericka Higgins-Tothe brings a formidable combination of strategic, analytical, and creative talent to her role as senior director of omnichannel marketing at Novo Nordisk.

Her contributions to Novo Nordisk’s marketing efforts provide greater relevance and value for customers, have a significant impact on her organization’s business, and elevate smarter marketing practice to the industry as a whole.

By keeping her focus rooted in brand and marketing objectives, Higgins-Tothe has established a solid track record for providing insightful recommendations to brand team members and has been instrumental in striking the balance between innovation and efficiency when it comes to results-producing annual brand tactical plans.

She is also at the center of Novo Nordisk’s efforts to develop and evolve its centralized omnichannel marketing capability — the combination of technology, data, talent, and approach — that creates a competitive advantage for her organization. Particularly adept in negotiating the tension marketing organizations face between the promise of future capabilities and the practical realities of the present, Higgins-Tothe helps teams find ways to conduct programs that create impact and scale to provide bigger and broader value. At the same time she leads the creation of plans that enable Novo Nordisk to make the most of its current capabilities in light of its business goals and marketing objectives.

Anna Klayman, group account director, digital, Pathway

With a journey driven, data informed, and platform agnostic approach to media, Anna Klayman has been instrumental in growing existing business and winning new business at Pathway. Her passion for data-driven marketing has earned her the nickname “Anna_lytics.”

Currently group account director at Pathways, Klayman has over 15 years of digital media experience and a reputation for maximizing revenue and ROI for companies ranging from startup to Fortune 500 and driving results for brands across various industries, including pharma, financial services, travel, e-commerce, consumer packaged goods, and entertainment.

Deeply rooted in the integration of media, data, and tech, Klayman’s highly strategic and data-driven approach to media activation drove significant impact on several key accounts at Pathway in 2017. Most notable was her award-winning work on Synchrony Bank and expanding digital acquisition efforts for Cigna.

She spearheaded efforts to automate reporting – data ingestion, compilation, and visualization – resulting in significant improvement in team productivity, and led the evolution of the digital team into a more complex offering that includes programmatic, mobile, social, and search. To help her team evolve with an ever-changing industry, Klayman established multiple centers of excellence, ranging from gamification to TV and video convergence to VR and AR.

Klayman is currently leading a project that will automate omnichannel data ingestion, harmonization, and visualization resulting in improved efficiency and productivity.

Allegra Mira, group director, analytics and data strategy, Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness

Leaders in the analytics space rarely have an academic background outside of STEM. Yet rather than hold her back, Allegra Mira’s unconventional skillset and background in publishing has helped her become one of the most successful people on the Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness analytics team. Colleagues say her level of emotional intelligence sets her apart from her peers, not only at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, but throughout the industry.

Throughout her tenure with the agency, Mira has successfully taken on the ambitious task of developing a world-class data strategy capability – a crucial subset of analytics – that spans not only the entire agency, but other agencies within the Publicis network.

Mira, group director of data strategy and analytics, has built and led cross-agency and cross-network teams in long-term research initiatives, including measurement planning and key business questions workshops, and has designed and implemented measurement products and research engagements. She has also spearheaded the development of Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness’ social listening practice and developed cross-network relationships with partner agencies around social listening.

Her work with analytics-only clients has consistently led to specific, organic growth for the agency both inside and outside of the analytics purview. Mira has made significant editorial contributions to Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness’ analytics blog (www.sswanalytics.com), unpacking complex topics, positioning the agency for existing and potential new clients, and establishing herself as an industry thought leader.

Laura Olenderski, global brand manager, Dentsply Sirona

Laura Olenderski’s work at Dentsply Sirona has helped the company reshape how sales teams are deployed, marketing is conceptualized, and products and innovations are brought to market.

Olenderski, global brand manager, helped spearhead one of the dental products company’s first and most successful approaches to bundling medical devices into one coherent narrative, introducing a full procedure solution for the most frequently performed dental restorative procedure. The solution included identifying a large set of clinical and financial challenges clinicians faced and surfacing market-leading brands with clinical and technique support to improve key clinician metrics, including clinical results, financial benefits, and patient satisfaction.

She helped create cross-functional teams that shaped how products were created and brought to market and how sales forces were equipped and deployed. In the first several years since roll out, the solution generated 48% incremental revenue growth across six brands. After successfully securing large budget dollars for global rollouts, she has brought the company’s four largest global markets to double-digit growth in these product categories over the past year.

The procedure-based solution was impactful for her portfolio of brands. It also shaped the company’s trajectory toward a more direct, experiential, and non-transactional relationship with clinicians and marketing. The trailblazing work generated double-digit growth, triple-digit new customer acquisition, and has had direct influence on the company’s top five priorities. It’s no surprise the company recognized her contributions with multiple marketing and business awards.

Michelle Petroff, SVP, account service and operations, Fingerpaint

Michelle Petroff’s contributions have propelled Fingerpaint to new heights and helped make the agency a force to be reckoned with.

Now SVP of account service and operations, Petroff joined Fingerpaint in 2010, when the agency had just 10 employees. She led its first AOR win and global launch and helped the agency grow to four offices in four states with nearly 200 employees. In 2014, Petroff opened the Philadelphia-area office and has since helped grow it to more than 50 employees with nine AOR assignments.

Recently, Petroff led the charge in the development of a groundbreaking disease awareness program for the agency’s largest client. The program was unique within the pharmaceutical industry when it launched and paved the way for other companies to replicate its approach. Colleagues credit Petroff’s enthusiasm and commitment for helping the program achieve award-winning success.

“Michelle is one of our most innovative thinkers and is incredibly strong in terms of providing unique solutions to clients,” notes Andy Pyfer, Fingerpaint partner and leader of the Conshohocken, Pennsylvania office. “She has spearheaded and launched numerous successful campaigns that have helped drive brand performance beyond expectations.”

A key contributor in the development of strategic approaches and processes, Petroff has helped envision the agency’s brand-building and unbranded education framework and has helped conceptualize a proprietary data-driven marketing approach.

Celby Richoux, director of social strategy and planning, Digitas Health

The ability to positively impact patient outcomes in ways previously considered too risky remains a core professional inspiration for Celby Richoux. Director of social strategy and planning at Digitas Health, Richoux has been a champion of using social and digital media to impact patient audiences, and her clients continue to see the wisdom of those tactics.

She led social strategy and co-led creative development of AbbVie’s Through Thick and Thin campaign, an industry-first Tumblr and Snapchat initiative focused on increasing adherence to pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy of teens with cystic fibrosis. Eight out of 10 teens reported the Tumblr initiative increased their ability to remember to take their enzymes.

This pro also led social strategy and co-led creative development of Gilead’s Healthysexual campaign, a sexual health awareness Tumblr and Snapchat initiative focused on increasing awareness of HIV prevention options in at-risk populations. 

Positive patient outcomes are the key reason Richoux has chosen this field. “Health has become my passion, and the patient – the reason I show up every day,” she says.

Jennifer Stephenson, senior director, strategic account manager, VMS BioMarketing

During her 10-plus year tenure at VMS, Jennifer Stephenson has managed multiple campaigns across many different clients. Her supervisors say she has a 100% batting average at ensuring campaigns are launched within scope, on time, and to the clients’ full satisfaction. “Her ability to pull in a strategic focus within each new tactic, create client advocates, and deliver a results-oriented approach is above reproach,” notes one colleague.

Stephenson, senior director of strategic account management, has created patient support and adherence campaigns that have empowered more than 100,000 patients and trained over 15,000 healthcare professionals across multiple disease states. The programs have resulted in a consistent 98% program satisfaction across attendee types.

A true patient advocate, Stephenson approaches her work to consistently challenge the best offering and solutions for the end user and creates valuable storylines that resonate with clients, patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.

Colleagues say she ensures that all aspects are evolving to meet maximize effectiveness while keeping a close eye on how team members can work smarter. Working across multiple launch brands, she always makes sure all stakeholders are appropriate engaged and creates scalable, yet customized solutions for her clients.

Luciana Torres, integrated group project supervisor, Concentric Health Experience

Successful teams include powerful leaders and at Concentric Health Experience, Luciana Torres has become a powerhouse through raw talent. In just three years in the industry, Torres has led multiple brand launches.

Among her successes are the launch of Bayer’s U.S. and global business, exceeding $3 million in revenue, and Sunovion’s Lonhala Magnair launch, totaling an additional $6 million. Both highly complex launches involved multiple stakeholders, internal and external, global and domestic. Her ability to anticipate challenges helped mitigate any potential pitfalls, and both launches exceeded expectations for quality and speed. Torres currently oversees more than $15 million in agency business.

She has taken an active role in helping develop process documents for Concentric and spearheaded the creation of process documents that have been rolled out across the agency. Her ability to provide gap analysis for process deficiencies, burn reports, and various other critical areas make her a critical asset to the organization.

Torres’ stellar project management skills have earned her the lead on one of the highest performing teams in the organization. Her reputation for leading with respect, providing honest feedback, and her “in it together” attitude is admired agency-wide. She empowers her team to accomplish greatness through encouragement, mentoring, and planning.

Mellisa Vraniskoski, marketing director, Pfizer

While Mellisa Vraniskoski’s award-winning career at Pfizer is notable, it’s her dedication to the ultimate customer — the patient — that makes her work outstanding. Her relationships with thought leaders and innovators in different therapeutic categories have enabled her to develop programs to facilitate greater access and better outcomes across various patient populations.

One of the highlights of Vraniskoski’s career was her cutting-edge innovation in implementing Viagra’s VSavings mobile program, which provided real-time pharmacy information to patients and allowed them to act on it. Using the info, patients can more easily save money when filling their Viagra prescriptions, be more informed about their prescription at the pharmacy, order refills via text, or speak with their prescribing physician when appropriate.

The program has been an efficient and effective way to provide benefits to patients, using less than 25% of the program budget while still exceeding its objectives. To date, thousands of patients have enrolled in the program each month, signaling widespread adoption within the target audience. On average, these patients refill significantly faster than those using a traditional savings card (non-SMS) and average a five-fold higher refill rate. Based on these results, Viagra has invested more behind its SMS campaign.

Monique Walker, director, digital engagement, Amag Pharmaceuticals

Monique Walker helps keep Amag Pharmaceuticals at the forefront of technological innovation. Walker, Amag’s director of digital engagement, continues to find new ways for the company to integrate new and engaging opportunities, including voice AI on smart devices and standardization of community management across active social channels and third-party partners.

She has been instrumental in creating major externally facing, company-wide initiatives, including database segmentation strategies, social engagement and rapid growth, and website responsiveness.

Walker is the agency’s go-to video producer across consumer, patient, and healthcare professional audiences. She has also hosted award-winning client events. Her impressive event oversight for the American Cancer Society was recognized with the organization’s Pacesetter Award for meeting time sensitive goals in raising funds, and the Circle of Achievement for producing the largest California event growth in income, ticket sales, and attendance.

Known for seeking out new ways to engage with Amag’s consumers, when and where they want to engage, Walker’s experimentation with new content partners in platforms where the target audience is most active resulted in an immediate jump in digital engagement and paved the way for the company culture to be more receptive to employing new unchartered territories. Email engagement increased, blog traffic skyrocketed, and social followers grew across all channels.

Jen Werther, director of digital strategy, Ogilvy CommonHealth

In less than a decade, Jen Werther has worked in media, creative, consumer, and physician marketing roles, adopting the language, models, and norms of each seamlessly.

Currently director of digital strategy at Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide, Werther created a new service offering that enhances the understanding of physician personas and behaviors by bridging together multiple data sources in an integrated data platform named “Tr:pl.” The service allows a more accurate view of physicians to help marketers answer business challenges, identify areas of opportunity, and personalize communications. Werther plays an integral role in vetting and onboarding data providers, showcasing value to clients, and understanding how Tr:pl can help answer business challenges.

Other notable career accomplishments include bringing a foot traffic attribution product to market, including developing the go-to-market strategy, client requirement gathering, contracting, and deployment for hundreds of digital campaigns and securing $3 million in revenue through identifying opportunities to upsell and cross sell solutions to new and existing clients.

Werther also contributed in the pitch for the win of a launch account that grew to $1.4 billion. Just as important, colleagues say her sense of comradery provides “a real glue around her, her teammates, and clients.” “We all appreciate the dedication she brings to ensuring alignment and support on decisions to move ahead,” says one coworker.

Lauren Wilson, senior account executive, Zeno

Since joining Zeno Group in 2016, Lauren Wilson has quickly become a trusted partner to her clients and has generated opportunities to organically grow Zeno’s business. Wilson is currently account supervisor at the agency.

Last year, Wilson identified an opportunity to expand Zeno’s role on a current client to take on more work and lead the division’s integrated direct-to-patient marketing efforts. Over six months, she proposed new creative ideas and solutions that underscored Zeno’s broad capabilities, leading to its eventually becoming the lead patient agency of record and handling all aspects of direct-to-patient strategy and content development, including PR and digital marketing for the client, a function that had previously been performed by another agency.

At SmithSolve, a boutique communications firm, Wilson worked on biotech for mid to large size pharmaceutical clients. Working primarily in the rare disease and orphan drug space, she handled projects ranging from FDA approvals, product launches, clinical trial recruitment, social media strategy, and support for rare disease patient meetups.

Her deep passion for serving underprivileged communities, specifically women and children in need, has led her to volunteer at the Support Center for Child Advocates, Saint Barnabas women’s shelter, and Family Promise of Morris County.