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Tad Heitmann
Founder and President
BioComm Network Inc.

Tad Heitmann has spent more than 20 years as a public relations and public affairs executive in the biopharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare industries. His career includes roles in corporate and marketing communications within healthcare companies as well as senior management and account positions at prominent public relations agencies. He has experience in a broad array of therapeutic areas, including oncology, cardiology, ophthalmology, dermatology, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, depression, gastroenterology, perinatology, public health, and transplant medicine, and has implemented successful campaigns to educate medical professionals, inform patients, caregivers, and entire communities, create coalitions of healthcare advocacy organizations, manage crises, and inform and motivate investors

	WHY A NETWORK?
	“Having been both a provider and consumer of agency services, I knew there had to be another way.”

Prior to establishing BioComm Network in 2001, Tad served as Vice President, Corporate Communications, for Nexell Therapeutics Inc., a pioneer in stem cell medicine, where he was responsible for investor relations, public and patient relations, community and employee relations, and major trade show appearances. He was the chief communications strategist, principle corporate spokesperson and author of all company annual reports, press releases, investment conference presentations and other collateral material. Tad oversaw a comprehensive outreach campaign to patient advocacy organizations and patients, including an award-winning patient-education website, and coordinated special programs with key professional organizations.

Tad joined Nexell from its public relations agency, Manning, Selvage & Lee, for which he had helped establish a West Coast healthcare practice that by his departure had grown to 10 professionals in two offices (Los Angeles and San Francisco). His teams provided comprehensive PR and/or IR counsel to clients including Advanced Tissue Sciences, Allergan Incorporated, ALZA Corp., Amgen, Kaiser Permanente, and WattsHealth Systems.

Prior to joining MS&L, Tad was Manager, Marketing Communications for specialty healthcare company Allergan. He was responsible for public relations, professional education, and shared value services support for all Rx and OTC eye and skin care products and ophthalmic medical devices.

Tad was recruited by Allergan from Ruder-Finn, an independent New York-based pubic relations agency, where his principle client was Glaxo (now GlaxoSmithKline). He began his career at PRISM International, a healthcare public relations division of BBDO, HMC, where his clients included Allergan Incorporated, Burroughs Wellcome, ICI Pharmaceuticals Group, and Schmid Laboratories.

Tad received a BA in English and Anthropology from the State University of New York at Albany, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and held a Herbert H. Lehman Graduate Fellowship in Anthropology at Cornell University. He later earned an MBA from Pepperdine University. Tad is past chair of the Board of Managers of the YMCA of Orange County Community Services Branch and has served for more than a decade as a marketing and public relations curriculum advisor for the University of California, Irvine, Extension Program. He is a member of the National Investor Relations Institute and the Healthcare Communication and Marketing Association.

Michele Parisi
Senior Counselor
BioComm Network Inc.

Michele Parisi has more than 15 years of experience in healthcare public relations. As a senior counselor for BioComm Network and principal of Forward Health Communications, Inc., Michele provides communications consulting services to numerous biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, health services and non-profit organizations. Prior to joining BioComm Network in mid-2005, Michele was a senior vice president and director of Manning Selvage & Lee's West Coast healthcare practice, where she was responsible for all aspects of client work, including public relations strategy and program development, opinion leader and “influentials” relationship management, budgeting and staffing.

Michele's communications and public relations experience comprises a wide range of activities designed to support organizational, educational and product communications objectives. These include brand and message development, milestone communications, media relations, executive profiling and visibility, patient and medical professional education, advocacy and activist relations, and issues management. She has led the development and execution of programs for a wide variety of healthcare institutions and organizations, including national and global organizations such as Kaiser Permanente and Philips Medical Systems as well as small, start-up and non-profit organizations preparing for their first product launch or communications opportunities.

During the course of her career, Michele has become immersed in a broad scope of scientific and medical subjects, including cardiology, endocrinology/diabetes, oncology, hematology, insomnia, pain management, vaccine development and distribution, medical imaging (particularly molecular imaging and cardiovascular imaging), diagnostic/screening technologies, implantable medical devices, autoimmune disorders, HIV/AIDS, managed care, and public health education. Michele also has experience working directly with venture capital and angel investing organizations to create initial communications plans and generate media coverage for early-stage companies looking for A- and B-round funding.

Michele received bachelor’s degrees in English and sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she was inducted into both Phi Beta Kappa and the senior service organization MortarBoard, and graduated summa cum laude. Michele holds a master's degree in journalism and public relations from the University of Southern California. She is a member of the Healthcare Businesswoman’s Association and the East Bay Triathlon Club and serves as a member of the local school district Budget Advisory Board.

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