Global health veteran Claire Gillis has been promoted to a newly created role of CEO of VMLY&R HEALTH. With this appointment, Gillis also joins the VMLY&R global leadership team.
The move comes on the back of a year of record global growth rates (17% 2021 global growth and 21% in North America) for VMLY&R HEALTH amid major expansion of its specialist health capabilities. 2021 also saw the addition of new health hubs focusing on prescription medicine, biotech, technology and AI, medical consulting, patient partnerships, consumer experience, and payer and access consulting.
Gillis’ new role will reach across all health operations throughout the global VMLY&R network, supporting the growth and development of VMLY&R HEALTH across North America, Europe, and APAC.
Gillis is a trained pharmacologist, health economist and health entrepreneur who co-founded the specialist medical access consultancy, WG Group, in 1996. In 2010, WG Group was acquired by WPP, enabling a successful breakthrough into the U.S. In 2016, Gillis was promoted to international CEO of WPP Health Practice, and in 2020, she joined VMLY&R to launch a specialist global agency focusing on prescription pharmaceutical companies developing breakthrough therapies. Gillis was awarded the Women in Marketing Leadership Award in 2019 for her contributions to health and wellness. She was also included in the 2020 HERoes list of female role models supported by Yahoo Finance. Gillis speaks regularly on topics such as health access and health equity. Her current passion, and the subject of her master’s degree dissertation at Oxford University, is the eradication of racial disparities in clinical research.
Support team
To support Gillis in her new CEO role–and service the agency’s expanding health business–the global health leadership team will be strengthened with promotions of senior talent in newly created roles to expand the exceptional strategic and creative power underpinned by science.
The additional four newly created roles will focus on developing a differentiated health offer using experience and design alongside strategy, science, creativity, and talent across VMLY&R HEALTH’s expanding global network. The leaders and their new roles are:
- Jason Gloye, co-lead North America and chief client officer, Gloye’s combination of advertising, public relations and client side marketing experience is matched by his track record in HCP marketing across all major disease categories.
- Christianna Gorin, co-lead North America and chief experience officer. In this new role Gorin will be responsible for expanding the application of CX for health. Her additional appointment to chief experience officer comes on the back of the exceptional growth rates across health. Her origins in health consultancy and strategy will underpin the execution of fully a intergraded CX protocol that transforms health business for the future.
- Walt Geer, chief experience design officer. VMLY&R HEALTH becomes the first health agency to have appointed a chief experience design officer. A veteran of the digital advertising space, Geer holds a total of six US patents for digital ad formats. In his new role, he will partner with VMLY&R HEALTH’S creative teams, led by CCO Auge Reichenberg, and strategy teams, led by CSO Nichole Davies, to use innovation and technology to develop meaningful experiences in health. Geer comes to the role after over a decade in technology and design.
- Olivia Collins, managing director of global growth. After a decade of international brand and business development experience, Collins will now specialize in business development within the health teams to drive global growth across all health businesses.
Gillis said, “Working in this industry gives you a unique opportunity to make a difference to people’s lives–and it’s a pleasure to be surrounded by people who feel the same way. This connected culture and our expanding team of talented leaders will help us to improve people’s lives and drive access to healthcare. The message is simple: whatever your specialism, whatever your goals, if you’re passionate about patients and want to make a difference, look no further–VMLY&R has got the future of healthcare covered.”
Jon Cook, global CEO, VMLY&R, stated, “While the importance of health as a core offering needs no explanation, it does need specialist and talented leaders who can bring this importance to life. Claire is one of those leaders. Claire’s impressive background has already enabled us to solidify our offering and establish health as one of the key drivers for our growth at VMLY&R. Her medical expertise is supported by a deep understanding of the geographic complexities of the health business landscape with hands-on experience in building health business across Europe, the U.S., and China. I’m thrilled for all the new roles created alongside her promotion with Jason, Christianna, Walt, and Olivia. It’s a powerful team with unbounded passion for our health business.”
