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Porter Novelli Announces New Addition to Senior Team

Posted on: Thursday, 12 March 2009, 13:25 CDT

Peter Pitts Joins Agency as Partner and Director, Global Health Care

NEW YORK, March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Public relations firm Porter Novelli has named Peter Pitts, 49, partner and director of global health care.

In addition to his role at Porter Novelli, Pitts is the co-founder and president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, a think tank for public health care policy issues. He was formerly a senior vice president, director for global health affairs, at Manning Selvage & Lee.

"Peter is a big thinker on the issues confronting our healthcare clients," said Julie Winskie, Americas president and chief client officer of Porter Novelli. "His FDA experience makes him a formidable counselor in this historically significant and evolving practice area for Porter Novelli," added Winskie.

Pitts will manage the overall Porter Novelli health care team from the New York office. He will work with executive teams globally and in each region to strategize the course of health care growth across the organization, and he will ensure delivery of Porter Novelli's value proposition to new and existing clients. Pitts will report directly to Winskie.

"I am thrilled to be joining a cutting-edge communications agency with such a strong and proud heritage," said Pitts. "I look forward to working with a first-class team to continue to grow and exceed client expectations."

From 2002 to 2004, Pitts served as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's associate commissioner for External Relations, where he acted as senior communications and policy adviser to the Commissioner. He supervised the FDA's Office of Public Affairs, Office of the Ombudsman, Office of Special Health Issues, Office of Executive Secretariat and Advisory Committee Oversight and Management. He served on the agency's obesity working group and counterfeit drug task force.

"Porter Novelli employs highly engaged senior client counselors to meet today's complex client needs," said Gary Stockman, chief executive officer of Porter Novelli. "I am pleased we are able to provide this strong proof point of our commitment to health care as an industry."

Pitts edited the recent book "Coincidence or Crisis," a discussion of global prescription medicine counterfeit. He co-wrote "Become Strategic or Die," which is widely recognized as a cutting edge study of how leadership, in order to be successful over the long term, must be combined with strategic vision and ethical practice.

A graduate of McGill University, Pitts has served as an adjunct professor at Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs and at Butler University. He and his wife have two sons.

About Porter Novelli

A global public relations leader, Porter Novelli was founded in 1972 and is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC). Selected 2009 PRWeek Agency to Watch, Porter Novelli was also recognized in ZDNet's social PR survey as a firm that "really gets it." With 100 offices in 60 countries, Porter Novelli helps clients achieve Intelligent Influence -- changing attitudes and behaviors by having the right conversations with the right people at the right time. Visit porternovelli.com.

SOURCE Porter Novelli

Source: PR Newswire

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