Mary Smiddy, head of Porter Novelli's London healthcare group, will join Tonic Life Communications, which is part of Huntsworth Health, as CEO next month.
The hire follows the high-profile exits of former chief Scott Clark and fellow founders Moira Gitsham and Oliver Parsons six months ago.
Smiddy, a nurse and psychological counselor from Ireland, has held top positions at Weber Shandwick and Edelman in Middle East/Africa, Australia and Singapore.
Neal Matheson, Huntsworth Health CEO, said Smiddy's expertise in the Middle East and Singapore will bolster Tonic's expansion plans there.
Smiddy also will counsel Tonic's pan-European and US teams.
DJE Holdings, parent of Edelman and Zeno, launches RUTH as an independent shop named after Ruth Edelman, mental health advocate, wife and longtime business partner of Dan Edelman.
New York City PR firms make up the largest slice of O'Dwyer's 147 firm overall ranking with 33 of 40 in the New York/New Jersey area either calling Manhattan their home or having a presence there.
Subject Matter+Kivvit, which joined forces in May, has rebranded as Avoq, an integrated shop with more than 200 professionals in Washington, New York, Asbury Park (NJ), Miami and Chicago.
While PR pros stationed at in-house comms. teams and those working for agencies share many of the same objectives, they also have markedly different top priorities, according to a recent report.
Edelman is cutting 240 employees or about four percent of its workforce to cope with the cooling down of the PR sector, according to a memo from CEO Richard Edelman.
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