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| Cristal Downing |
Cristal Downing, who was VP-communications & PA at Johnson & Johson’s medical devices division, will join Merck Aug. 16 as chief communications and PA officer, a new post.
Earlier at J&J, Downing was VP-global finance communications, where she helped develop and implement PA and strategies to support the CFO and CEO.
She also co-led the “Our Race to Health Equity” platform, which is J&J’s racial & social push.
During her more than 20-year career, Downing served as corporate communications director at ITT, marketing consultant at Wells Fargo, first VP-strategic planning at JPMorgan Chase and director at American Express Technologies.
Merck CEO Rob Davis called Downing “a transformational leader with a well-established track record.”
He said in a statement that Downing’s experience, integrity and leadership capabilities “will be invaluable as we drive productive conversations and strategic impact with a broad range of stakeholders, double down on our promising pipeline and work to accelerate delivery of our vital innovations to the world.”
Lo Isidro, senior director at Real Chemistry with more than a decade of strategic communications and PA experience, has joined Narrative Strategies.
Nelson Fernandez, former North American chair of APCO Worldwide and managing director of Burson-Marsteller, has joined Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires as director of communications and PA.
Lilit Bargar, who was most recently an EVP in the healthcare practice at Weber Shandwick, comes on board at GCI Health as EVP, corporate practice lead.
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