Meet Our Team  | Deborah Wood
Chief Executive Officer Deborah Wood is Chief Executive Officer of DWA Healthcare Communications Group. For nearly two decades, Deborah has been building and guiding marketing and communications teams. |
|  | Tammy Prouty
Chief Officer Tammy Prouty is the Chief Officer of Avant Healthcare Marketing. Tammy leads a team of medical and marketing professionals providing strategic and objective-driven solutions to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device clients. Her strategic vision is matched by a deep understanding of P2P implementation. Read more. Her leadership guides all sectors of the company’s operations, including strategic, medical, and sales initiatives. Tammy’s leadership has helped Avant increase client satisfaction, generate referrals, and diversify our client roster. Before Avant, Tammy was a marketer at a major pharmaceutical company for over nine years in the neuroscience business unit. Her core responsibilities included the development of thought leader strategies, design of customer programming, and oversight of direct-to-healthcare professional relationships and initiatives. Tammy received her Bachelor of Business Administration with highest honors from Marian University and is in the process of completing her MBA from Butler University. She is trained in the principles of the Project Management Body of Knowledge through the Project Management Institute. She is also a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. |  | Eric Prouty
Vice President As Vice President, Eric provides executive leadership, strategic vision, and expertise for evaluating and recommending overall peer-to-peer strategies and ensuring creative development and execution of those strategies for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device clients. Read more. | | Throughout his 20 years of professional leadership and healthcare marketing experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Eric has achieved success in influencing and partnering with key customers to deliver audience-engaging and customer-focused programming strategies. Eric’s extensive launch strategy experience across multiple therapeutic areas has helped propel a number of brands to market leadership positions. Eric received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Oregon and Certification in Strategic Brand Management from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. |  | Murali Gopal, MD
Chief Medical Officer As Chief Medical Officer of the Medical Science and Education Division (MSED) of DWA Healthcare Communications Group, Murali provides executive leadership, strategic vision, medical expertise, and inspirational enthusiasm to a team of scientists, medical writers, editors, researchers, and reference librarians who develop educationally sound medical and scientific content for disease state programs and other activities. Read more. | | A psychiatrist and clinical researcher, Murali has a strong background in providing medical support for business planning and the development of marketing and medical education materials, as well as other medical deliverables. His business experience has served him well in giving scientific presentations at global medical meetings, providing counsel at advisory boards, and working with thought leaders to develop programs and studies to further the field of psychiatry. Murali began his career in clinical work and practiced medicine in the field of psychiatry for six years before joining the pharmaceutical world and working for a large pharmaceutical company in the Midwest. He has conducted clinical trials, prepared FDA submission documents, and engaged in sales training. He has been intricately involved in business planning and forecasting, as well as integrating medical expertise and data with marketing goals and ensuring their alignment. His technical skills include trial protocol development, new product planning, scientific data planning and interpretation, medical writing and editing, project planning and management, and team leadership. His extensive experience in navigating the areas of regulatory, scientific, legal, and marketing will help advance the MSED team creatively through the highly charged field of medical communication. Murali served as Medical Director of several psychiatric healthcare facilities, including the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. He also served as an elected member of the American Psychiatric Association Assembly for seven years. With a medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine, he has served as a clinician, seeing patients in a multitude of psychiatric settings, including nursing homes, child and adolescent homes, mental health clinics, and private practice. He received his Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Penn State University and completed his residency training in Psychiatry at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine. |  | Bruce J. Bellande, PhD, FACME, CCMEP
Chief Education Officer/Chief Compliance Officer Bruce J. Bellande, PhD, is the Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Education Officer for DWA Healthcare Communications Group, where he leads teams of experts in the design, development, delivery, and measurement of medical education and oversees the company’s compliance program. Bruce’s career spans more than 30 years in the disciplines of lifelong learning and continuing professional development. Read more. | | Bruce earned his PhD in Healthcare Administration from the University of Mississippi. He also completed training at Harvard University's Institutes for the Management of Lifelong Learning and Leadership in Continuing Professional Education. He is a Fellow of the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education (ACME) and also the recipient of its Outstanding Leadership Award in CME.
Bruce’s previous leadership roles include President, CME Enterprise, Director of Education of the Southern Medical Association, and Executive Director of the ACME, the latter a position he held for over 10 years. He is a board or committee member of numerous organizations, including the AMA National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration. As a site surveyor for the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), he received an award for Meritorious Service for exceeding 50 accreditation surveys. He has also served as a workshop leader at ACCME conferences. Bruce is a regular contributor to numerous professional education publications and speaks frequently at industry gatherings. |  | Joe Barrett
Executive Director of Business Development Joe leads the conversation with our prospective clients. With leadership roles at Achievant and two Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies, Joe has a deep understanding of how product teams operate across industries. Read more. | | With Avant, Joe provides strategic oversight and guidance in identifying new clients and developing proposals that match their needs.
He has more than 15 years of experience working in sales and leadership, with a concentration on sales training. Joe understands the complex dynamics of field selling and knows how to communicate effectively with the field. He received his BS in Business Administration from Marian University. |  | Becky Crumley
Senior Executive Director, Account Services | | Becky embodies Avant’s commitment to precise and compliant program execution. She leads implementation teams and develops internal processes and procedures that ensure high quality and accurate implementation. Becky is also Avant’s compliance officer. Read more. She hires, recruits, and trains all new team members and consults and guides the organization in compliance with multiple regulations and guidelines. Becky has also worked in healthcare meeting logistics, and she earned a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management from Purdue University. She is a certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt and a Design for Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. |  | Kathleen Barrett, MBA
Executive Director, Strategic Brand Network Kathleen Barrett has held two previous positions with Avant, namely Strategic Brand Network (SBN) Director of Strategy and Strategic Account Director. The management and leadership skills she has shown in these positions have greatly advanced the overall accomplishments of the SBN team. She oversaw management of the peer-to-peer channel strategy and the multi-agency tactical plan for a billion dollar pharmaceutical brand. Read more. | | Kathleen’s experience in the pharma industry over the past decade provides her with a unique set of strategic and implementation skills emanating from a variety of business endeavors, including sales, marketing strategies, and implementation tactics. Kathleen is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the Bachelor of Business Administration program at the University of Kentucky. She received her MBA from UK in December 2001. |  | Mark Luckie
Executive Director, Strategic Brand Network Patients have always been at the center of Mark Luckie’s career. He’s consulted with global and US brand teams on how to leverage customer and patient insights to sharpen their marketing effectiveness. As Vice President at Snow Associates, Mark was focused on patient bureaus, and was responsible for integrating brand strategy into measurable patient-centric tactics. Read more. | | For Avant, Mark combines his patient-focused mindset with his experience as a Marketing Consultant for neuroscience marketing and global musculoskeletal marketing for a major pharmaceutical company. Even in the complex analysis of strategic planning, Mark maintains a constant view of the customer and works passionately to create and lead collaborative teams. |  | Trina Stonner, MSN
Executive Director, Strategic Brand Network Trina Stonner is a former Global Brand Director at a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company with direct responsibility for commercial and peer-to-peer strategies. She was instrumental in two new product launches—one global and one in the US. She understands complex launch environments and organizational structures, and synthesizes these all into opportunity assessment and strategic planning for Avant clients. Read more. | | Trina’s 20+ years of cardiovascular and critical care experience includes managing a clinical research team of RNs, LPNs, and research assistants. She’s consulted for various large pharma clients. In 1996, Trina joined a major pharma company and worked exclusively within the company’s critical care portfolio where she became the Director of a global brand team, leading the development of the global brand commercial strategy. She also managed development of disease state programs, commercial global programs with accountability for global advisory boards, adherence strategy and tactics, thought leader strategy and coordination, e-channel programs, and core message evolution. Her passion is to bring the clinical data and science to the healthcare professional through a robust channel mix. Trina received her BS in Nursing from the University of Missouri. She received her MS in Nursing from St. Louis University. | | | |  | Rod Julian
Executive Director, Strategic Brand Network Rod Julian combines the analytical skills of market research, the sharp decision-making of operations management, and the expansive vision of global brand development. For Avant, Rod uses his experience and insights to guide pharma and biotech clients through peer-to-peer strategic planning. Read more. | | Before becoming an SBN Director, Rod was Marketing Strategy and Operations Manager and worked in Global Market Research and Strategy for a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company. There, he led the annual brand planning process, and influenced the global marketing team on product development strategy based on US business needs. He also managed relationships with external agencies, vendors, and partners to maximize brand efficiency and effectiveness. Previously, Rod worked in Global Market Planning and Strategic Pricing for Nortel. He received his BS in Finance from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. |  | Christina Smith
Managing Director, West Coast Operations Christina Smith is the Managing Director, West Coast Operations for Avant Healthcare Marketing. Christina has held two previous positions since joining the company in February 2009, namely Strategic Brand Network (SBN) Director of Operations and Business Integration Director. In her roles, Christina has created processes, procedures, and policies to ensure efficient operations of two multibillion dollar pharmaceutical brands. Her leadership in overseeing an operations team has helped define the SBN division of Avant.Read more. | | In her current role, Christina serves as the primary point of contact for procurement, account training, and compliance team members for all Avant West Coast accounts. Additionally, she manages all West Coast contractual agreements. Christina serves on the West Coast Strategy Leadership Team to collaborate with other leadership members for purposes of hiring and securing team assignments, investments, and West Coast expansion. Christina is the primary point of contact with key client functional areas and internal department managers to create the tools and processes necessary to ensure operational efficiency for West Coast accounts. Prior to joining Avant, Christina graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Butler University. |  | Samantha Schwartz
Executive Director, Avant Media Manager Product Management As Executive Director of Avant Media Manager Product Management of DWA Healthcare Communications Group, Samantha is accountable for the development, implementation, and maintenance of the Avant Media Manager© product and supporting systems, including the development of strategic plans to grow the Avant Media Manager business, supervision of the Avant Media Manager Services team, and creation of Avant Media Manager department goals, objectives, and processes. Read more. | | She also oversees cross-functional team efforts, including oversight of all vendor/contract relationships. Avant Media Manager is a turnkey product developed in-house to address client needs for a simple, effective, versatile, yet compliant content management system for multiple-use slide presentations. It facilitates version control and regulatory compliance while allowing for individual faculty variation and frequent updating and revision. Samantha was previously Director of Business Affairs for Avant, where she drove business development and sales achievement within diversified accounts, developed market position and implementation plans, and managed internal business operations. She also served as Director of Avant Account Management, leading a team of more than 20 client services account executives. Samantha has more than 12 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including a position as a top-performing sales representative at a major pharmaceutical company. In that position, she handled a multimillion dollar account and launched four products into the marketplace. She earned her degree in Telecommunications from Indiana University, where she graduated with highest distinction and was elected into the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society upon graduation. She joined DWA in 2004. Samantha completed a 40-hour Project Management Institute training course focusing on the principles of the Project Management Body of Knowledge. She is a certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt. |
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