Leadership Team
Our fearless leaders.
The WCG Leadership Team brings a refreshing mix of personalities who lead by example and keep client needs at the forefront.
Jim Weiss
Chairman & CEO
“Make it happen”
Jim Weiss is a senior corporate communications counselor with nearly 25 years of experience in strategic media and investor relations and marketing communications focused in the healthcare, medical device, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. Jim was named to PRWeek’s Power List for 2010.
He has been involved in nearly every aspect of corporate communications, including investor relations, annual report writing and design, crisis communications, U.S. and international media relations, government affairs, product marketing communications, collateral/press material development, web site design and content development, marketing and promotion, professional relations, symposia development and coordination, hospital PR department liaison, third-party advocacy group liaison, media and presentation training, direct-to-consumer advertising, product placement, and celebrity endorsements.
Before starting his own firm, Jim was director of corporate communications and investor relations at medical device start-up, Heartport, a pioneer in minimally invasive cardiac surgery. Prior to Heartport, Jim was director of worldwide product communications at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Inc. (now Aventis) in its Paris headquarters where he led the public relations launches and programs for its leading products worldwide, including LOVENOX®, TAXOTERE®, Azmacort®, Nasacort®, Synercid®, Campto® and RILUTEK®.
Before that, he was at Genentech coordinating communications on behalf of its lead products in the early to mid-1990s: Activase® for heart attack and stroke, human growth hormone, Pulmozyme® for cystic fibrosis, and Herceptin® for breast cancer.
Prior to joining Genentech, Jim developed, supervised and implemented strategic public relations programs for such clients as Novartis, Procter & Gamble, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Pfizer, SmithKline Beecham and DuPont when he worked at some of the world's leading public relations agencies, including GTFH Public Relations, Hill & Knowlton.
Diane Weiser
President & Chief Client Officer
“Just breathe”Diane brings more than 20 years of healthcare communications experience to WeissComm. With expertise in a range of therapeutic categories including cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology, oncology, ophthalmology and urology, Diane has managed programs for leading companies including Pfizer, Genentech, Bayer Diagnostics, Allergan, Aventis, and Pharmacia.
Diane joined WCG from Ketchum where she was director of the healthcare practice and launched Genentech's, Avastin™ and ran the Lipitor® business. Throughout her career, Diane has fostered relationships with professional/patient organizations and managed product launches, awareness campaigns, corporate positioning and crisis communications. Previously, Diane was SVP and director at Makovsky & Company.
Tony Esposito
Chief Financial Officer
“Whatever it takes”Tony brings more than 20 years of financial experience to WCG where he oversees the company’s finance, office management, IT and human resources functions. In addition, Tony helps WCG expand into new geographies both in the U.S. and abroad with maximum efficiency and financial discipline.
Prior to WCG, Tony spent 10 years at Ruder Finn as EVP, CFO and was a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee. As CFO, Tony was directed all worldwide financial matters, acquisitions, strategic and long-range planning, and client compensation arrangements. Prior to Ruder Finn, Tony served 12 years at Manning, Selvage & Lee with his last six years as EVP and CFO. Prior to this position, he was at Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb, Inc. and Price Waterhouse.
As a CPA, he is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, as well as the Conference Board and Council of Public Relations Firms.
Bob Pearson
Chief Technology and Media Officer
“Practice what you preach”Bob is Chief Technology and Media Officer for WCG.
Bob has a unique combination of social media, marketing and communications skills acquired during nearly 25 years at three Fortune 500 companies and a major consultancy. He was most recently vice president of Communities and Conversations at Dell Inc, where he was responsible for developing an industry-leading approach to the use of social media, as highlighted in GroundSwell. His team built and maintained 25 blogs, forums and wikis in 7 languages worldwide with 200 million page views of annual interaction and coordinated the company’s approach in Twitter, Facebook and other key sites.
Before joining Dell, Bob worked for Novartis Pharmaceuticals as Head of Global Corporate Communications and as Head of Global Pharma Communications, where he served on the Pharma Executive Committee. Prior to Novartis, Bob was President of The Americas for GCI and was responsible for creating and building the firm’s global healthcare practice. He was previously Vice President of Global Public Affairs & Media Relations at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi Aventis) and worked at CIBA-Geigy in both communications and field sales.
Paulo Simas
Chief Creative Officer
“Find your voice”After more than 6 years as a creative director servicing clients such as the Disney Stores and The Australian Tourism Commission in Los Angeles, Paulo founded ODA in 1998 where he has developed marketing programs for luminary brands such as Hitachi, HP, Domaine Chandon and Motorola. He possesses strong expertise in developing life sciences brands, working with a broad array of medical device, diagnostics and pharmaceutical brands including Cepheid, ev3 (formerly FoxHollow), Medtronic, and Pfizer. In January 2009, ODA was acquired by WCG and Paulo now serves as the chief creative officer of WCG, managing the studio design team.
Gail Cohen
Global Managing Director
“Live with passion”Gail joins WCG from Burson-Marsteller where she was the chair of the Global Healthcare Practice and as such oversaw the strategic growth and development of the Practice across all regions. She was responsible for helping the healthcare teams drive success and strengthen new business, while addressing the complex communications needs of clients.
Bringing 20 years of experience to this position, Gail has pioneered some of the industry's most successful pharmaceutical campaigns and has led numerous award-winning programs. She is a recognized expert in pharmaceutical marketing and issues management.
Prior to joining Burson-Marsteller, Gail served on the Leadership Council for Chandler Chicco Companies (CCC). Reporting to the Principals, she was responsible for driving new business initiatives, overseeing the Agency's affiliate relationships with Asia-Pacific and the Americas, and creating unique branding platforms.
At CCC, Gail led much of the creative and strategic development for the Agency that won business with many of the top global pharmaceutical companies and spurred organic growth. She led domestic and global campaigns for clinical development, scientific studies, patient advocacy, opinion leader relationships and life cycle management. Gail counseled clients through high-profile product recalls, regulatory issues and corporate and legal challenges. Gail has experience across a broad range of disease areas including, but not limited to, cardiovascular disease, oncology, metabolic disorder, dermatology, women's health and internal medicine.
She has led successful public relations programs for Fortune 500 companies and has managed global communications campaigns for large clients such as Johnson & Johnson, Oxford Health Plans, Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer and Novartis.
Prior to joining CCC, Gail worked in boutique agencies focusing on consumer communications across a broad array of luxury goods, beauty products and celebrity clients including Donald Trump, Elizabeth Taylor and Karl Lagerfeld.
Gail holds a Bachelor of Science degree, magna cum laude, from the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University.
Angela Gillespie
Managing Director, San Francisco
“In my world, there are no cookie cutters”Angela brings more than a decade of communications experience working with industry leaders such as Guidant, Medtronic and Boston Scientific, as well as early stage start-ups including eCardio Diagnostics and Spiration, in such therapeutic areas as cardiology, oncology, pulmonology and gastroenterology. Prior to WCG, Angela founded the consultancy firm MDMC Group. Prior to that, she was VP of FischerHealth/Porter Novelli’s medical device and diagnostic practice.
Before making the transition to healthcare, she was VP of corporate communications for Equity Marketing Inc., responsible for internal and external communications for the parent company and its seven subsidiaries worldwide. Prior to that, she managed several award-winning national and local consumer education and safety programs as an account manager at Porter Novelli.
Jennifer Gottlieb
Managing Director, New York
“Work hard, live well”
Paul Laland
Managing Director, Corporate Communications
“Good judgment comes from experience”
Laurie Torres
Chief People Officer
“Integrity-the real key to success”Laurie has more than 25 years of human resources experience within the biotech, medical device and high tech industries, with a particular expertise in organizational development and performance management for high-growth companies.
Recently, Laurie served as Senior Director of Human Resources at Juniper Networks and before that led a team of 20 HR professionals in three states for PDL BioPharma. She was responsible for the design and development of systems and practices for recruiting, compensation, performance management, and employee development. She also led the successful integration of an acquired company, established strategic change management programs, and launched the first training program for the company. Her role at PDL extended to leadership of corporate services, including real estate, facilities, engineering, and administrative services departments.
Laurie has led the full complement of HR practices and functions and established recruiting practices and retention strategies in her position at Heartport. At Genentech, Laurie’s programs resulted in the hiring of 700 employees in a single year, and she also co-led a cross-functional team in the re-engineering of business processes. Laurie began her career in human resources at Hewlett-Packard, responsible for employee relations and recruiting. “
