The Team

Having a senior leadership team with over 110 combined years of pharmaceutical experience, Avant is well-positioned to contribute to your strategic direction and make sound, effective recommendations.

Deborah Wood
President & CEO

Tammy Prouty
Executive Vice President

As Executive Vice President of Avant Healthcare Marketing, Tammy leads a team of marketing professionals providing strategic and objective-driven solutions to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device marketing clients. Her leadership guides all sectors of the company’s operations, including strategic, medical, and sales initiatives. She has extensive experience in developing strategy-driven solutions to meet business objectives of pharmaceutical customers. She provides the strategic direction for the Avant division as it relates to customer relationships, maximization of existing accounts, growth of new accounts, and flawless implementation of various medical and marketing customer activities.

With two decades of experience in healthcare marketing and education, Tammy is uniquely qualified to lead teams and deliver results. Her experience includes launching six blockbuster pharmaceutical products and developing highly recognized key opinion leader strategies. Tammy’s clarity, focus, and strategic direction have contributed to a four-fold increase in revenue and a 10-fold increase in customer diversification.

Prior to joining DWA Healthcare Communications Group, Tammy was a marketing associate at Eli Lilly and Company for over nine years in the neuroscience business unit, including five years as a brand associate responsible for the launch strategies and oversight of tactics for a multibillion dollar product. Her core responsibilities included the development of thought leader strategies, design of customer programming, and oversight of direct-to-healthcare professional relationships and initiatives. In 1997, Tammy was honored at the Eli Lilly and Company Annual Stockholder’s Meeting where she was given the Innovator of the Year Award. Tammy also received the Lilly Exception Grant in 1999 for outstanding performance, which is awarded to less than 1% of employees worldwide.

Tammy received her Bachelor of Business Administration with highest honors from Marian University and is trained in the principles of Project Management Body of Knowledge through Project Management Institute. She is also a certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt.

Eric Prouty
Executive Director, Strategic Planning and Business Development

As Executive Director of Strategic Planning and Business Development for Avant Healthcare Marketing, Eric provides executive leadership, strategic vision, and expertise for the Strategic Brand Network division. The Strategic Brand Network is responsible 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. Since joining the Avant team in 2007, Eric has provided high-quality strategic counsel to clients as well as solid management and excellent leadership skills to his Strategic Brand Network team.

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 program strategies. His pharmaceutical experience includes more than 10 years with Eli Lilly and Company, where he was responsible for ensuring that marketing campaigns and customer programs were integrated and coordinated across the neuroscience business unit. Eric’s extensive launch strategy experience across multiple therapeutic areas has helped propel a number of brands to market leadership positions. In 2005, Eric was awarded the prestigious Marketing “Manager of Choice” Excel Award.

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.

Winston Satterlee, MD
Executive Director, Medical Affairs

Winston G. Satterlee, MD, is Executive Director, Medical Affairs. Dr. Satterlee brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to Avant's core team. He directs the members of the medical affairs department to ensure the medical/scientific accuracy of all content. He and his team produce scientifically robust and engaging content for a variety of non-credited educational programs for healthcare professionals.

Dr. Satterlee's seven years of experience in medical education follows more than 21 years of experience in pharmaceutical clinical research and other positions. He was department head in an academic setting, clinical research physician in psychopharmacology and oncology for a major pharmaceutical company, and vice president of a major clinical research organization. His direct-to-patient experience includes more than 10 years as a practicing oncologist. Dr. Satterlee has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals in oncology and psychopharmacology, and he was involved in the clinical development and launch of both psychopharmacology and oncology drugs.

Samantha Schwartz
Director, Business Affairs

As Director of Business Affairs for Avant Healthcare Marketing, Samantha drives business development and sales achievement within diversified accounts, develops market position and implementation plans, and manages internal business operations. She oversees a department of Business Development Directors and is accountable to ensure assigned targets are met or exceeded within Avant.

Samantha has more than 12 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including a position as a 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 high distinction and was elected into the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society upon graduation.

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.

Becky Crumley
Senior Executive Director, Project Services

Becky Crumley is Senior Executive Director, Project Services. Ms. Crumley joined DWA Healthcare Communications Group, the parent company of Avant, in April 2000, during which time she has served as a Senior Account Manager focusing on the management of both domestic and international medical education programs for various pharmaceutical companies. She has more than 10 years of experience working in the pharmaceutical industry.

Ms. Crumley’s most recent role has been to integrate her expertise in interpersonal relationships and strategic planning into the Avant project management team. In this role, she leads the Account Services Department, which is comprised of 24 team members who are responsible for developing and implementing the tactical execution plan for all project deliverables. She effectively trains and mentors individuals on building strategic partnerships with clients, industry compliance, and internal processes and procedures to ensure high quality and accurate implementation. Ms. Crumley hires, recruits, and trains all new team members and serves as the organization’s compliance officer, providing consult and guidance relating to compliance guidelines and regulations.

Her previous experience includes working as an account manager for a logistical meeting planning firm focusing on the healthcare industry, providing direction and management for meetings ranging from 25 to 3000 people. Ms. Crumley 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.