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| David McAlpine |
David McAlpine, who was senior director & global head of external communications at embattled Illumina, has joined BCW as senior VP-earned media. He exited the San Diego-based biotech last month.
McAlpine had headed a 16-member team at Illumina, which was rocked by a proxy fight with Carl Icahn, legal/regulatory challenges to its $7B acquisition of cancer testing company GRAIL, and the resignation of CEO Francis deSouza.
He told O’Dwyer’s that he will be working with BCW clients across industries “on making the most out of storytelling opportunities through story mining and development, targeted outreach, and executive visibility.”
McAlpine also will be “media training clients and helping them think outside the box when it comes to media relations."
Prior to Illumina, McAlpine was director of broadcast media relations at General Motors, and a producer “CBS This Morning,” Fox News Channel, ABC News (WPVI-TV in Philadelphia), and Cox Media Group (KIRO-TV in Seattle).
BCW and Hill & Knowlton will merge July 1 to become Burson.
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