rbb Communications has appointed former Johnson & Johnson executive Srikant Ramaswami to serve as EVP of global and emerging markets in the independent agency’s healthcare practice.

Srikant Ramaswami Srikant Ramaswami

Ramaswami joins the Miami-based agency from Johnson & Johnson, where he was stationed for 12 years and most recently led global communications efforts for the American multinational’s medical devices business. Prior to that, he was a director of consumer marketing at Pfizer and a director of corporate reputation at Merck. He was previously stationed at WPP giant Burson-Marsteller, where he served as a manager.

Ramaswami is now charged with driving the expansion of rbb’s healthcare and corporate practices in the U.S. and abroad, and will be responsible for establishing the agency’s presence and new office in the New York metro-area.

rbb, which specializes in consumer, health, food/beverage, travel, entertainment and professional services PR, accounted for $9.2 million in 2016 net fees, according to O’Dwyer’s rankings of PR firms.