New hires:
Spectrum Science, a 2025 MM+M Agency 100 honoree, appointed Karen Flaherty as CFO.
Faron Pharmaceuticals named Jurriaan Dekkers as CFO, effective immediately.
March Biosciences appointed Gurpreet Ratra, PhD, as chief business officer.
Christopher Martin joined HealthLink Dimensions as a senior director.
Johnson & Johnson’s U.S. orthopedic leader Leslie Storms started a new role as president of Ethos Veterinary Health.
Ovid Therapeutics hired former Vigil Neuroscience leader Petra Kaufmann, MD, as chief medical officer.
Mark Veich was named the Parker Institute of Cancer Immunotherapy’s chief organizational advancement officer.
Eon appointed Tammy Lewis as chief commercial officer.
Ronne Yeo joined Lilly Ventures as senior director, APAC.
Function Health named Ziad Sultan — Spotify’s former SVP of personalization — as chief product and technology officer.
Sarah Hall has landed at Avalere Health, a 2025 MM+M Agency 100 honoree, following her recent departure from FCB Health New York, another 2025 MM+M Agency 100 honoree.
Executive elevations:
Medicus Pharma named Carolyn Bonner as CFO in addition to her role as president.
Dr. Kirk Milhoan was elevated to chair the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
Board appointments:
Invest Ahead named four new board members.
Neurizon Therapeutics named Elanco Animal Health executive Justine Conway as a board observer.
Autolus Therapeutics added Ryan Richardson to its board of directors.
ReAlta Life Sciences appointed Howard Berman, PhD as executive chairman of its board of directors.
Departures:
Top drug regulator Richard Pazdur filed papers to retire from the Food and Drug Administration at the end of this month.
Martin Kulldorff is leaving the ACIP to take a leadership role within the Department of Health and Human Services.
Miscellaneous:
The White House released a memo from President Donald Trump’s doctor stating that the MRI he underwent in October was of his cardiovascular system and abdomen.
The Medical Advertising Hall of Fame announced the finalists for the inaugural Creative Luminary Award and Innovator Award.
A little over a year after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, actor Dave Coulier announced he is undergoing treatment for an unrelated tongue cancer.
ViVE unveiled its 2026 speaker lineup.
To read last week’s edition of The Escalator, click here.