Independent PR firm Waggener Edstrom Communications (WE) has promoted Shefali Srinivas to healthcare director for Asia Pacific. She was last the firm’s healthcare director for Singapore.
In this new role, Srinivas will be responsible for managing the agency’s healthcare client portfolio as well as expanding the practice across the APAC region. Srinivas (pictured) takes on the healthcare reigns from vice president and former practice head Cathleen Witter, who moved into the role of Shanghai general manager earlier this year and continues to support WE’s healthcare business in China.
Srinivas will partner closely with Aimee Corso, senior vice president US Healthcare and Anna Gray, vice president UK healthcare, ensuring close collaboration with colleagues across EMEA, APAC, and the US.
“Since establishing the healthcare practice in 2010, WE has developed our portfolio to include leading names in nutrition, managed care, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, consumer, and digital health,” Matthew Lackie, SVP & APAC Lead, Waggener Edstrom said.
He added that Srinivas has played a significant role in growing the agency’s healthcare business claiming that WE experienced a 350% growth in its healthcare client portfolio since 2013. Srinivas also has experience as a journalist for 10 years across leading publications in Singapore, the US, South Africa, and India.
“This is such a diverse region with deep differences across the healthcare spectrum – from policy and payers to patientand physician motivations. Information to help these discrete groups make important decisions needs to be clear and credible while also being creative and compelling,” said Srinivas.
She added that the WE “healthcare team has partnered with some great brands to strike that balance with its proprietary research, design and communication methodologies.”