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| Jim Weiss |
Jim Weiss, founder & chairman of Real Chemistry, has joined the board of ICR Inc. as it steps up its healthcare capital markets offering.
ICR now has more than 80 staffers serving 150+ clients across all healthcare sub-sectors. Healthcare accounted for $30.6M of ICR’s overall $188.7M fees in O’Dwyer’s 2026 ranking of the top healthcare PR agencies.
Weiss launched what is now Real Chemistry in 2001 and scaled it into an operation with more than $600M in healthcare revenue before stepping down as CEO on Jan. 3, 2022, when he transitioned to chairman.
"Jim’s first-hand knowledge of what it takes to build, attract talent and win in a competitive market is exactly what we need as we push into our next chapter,” said ICR chairman Tom Ryan.
ICR CEO Anton Nicholas credited Weiss with building one of the industry’s defining firms. “His perspective on what it takes to scale a complex, high-performing organization will directly shape how we think about growth across the firm,” he said.
Weiss began his career at Genentech and then went on to hold key positions at Sanofi and medical device company Heartport before launching WeissComm Partners.
A board member at Walker Sands and Dstillery, Weiss serves as an executive advisor at New Mountain Capital, which took a majority stake in Real Chemistry in 2019.
Ruder Finn has hired Kelly Yoder, who spent a dozen years at Weber Shandwick rising to North America health lead, as managing director, global head of health & life sciences.
ICR has named John Capodanno head of US healthcare corporate communications and Matthew Willey managing director in its medical technology and diagnostics practice. 
April is National Minority Health Month, spotlighting the urgency to improve health outcomes in communities of color.
In a recent conversation about the evolving media landscape, Doug Simon, CEO of D S Simon Media, spoke with Campbell O’Connor, Group Director, Media & Engagement at Real Chemistry, about how AI is influencing media relations and healthcare communications.
Charlie Chapman, a policy advisor to Health & Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., has joined BGR’s health & life sciences practice.
