Industry News

Wolters Kluwer, Health announces today the appointment of Greg Samios, President & CEO of Health Learning, Research & Practice (HLRP). The HLRP business provides health solutions that help clinical professionals learn, practice, conduct research and advance their careers using market-leading tools and evidence-based information. Samios succeeds Cathy Wolfe who will become the President & CEO of the Emerging & Developing Markets group. Samios will report to Diana Nole, CEO, Wolters Kluwer Health.

Samios is an experienced executive in the health and legal information industries with a 25-year track record of successfully leading content-based businesses in driving transformation and growth. Most recently, he led Wolters Kluwer’s Legal & Regulatory US business where he transformed the business and returned it to growth by accelerating customer-focused product development and driving operational excellence. Among his accomplishments were the launch of innovative research and workflow products for legal practitioners, law school students, and business and health compliance professionals on a global scale.

“As a seasoned leader, Greg will bring great experience to HLRP. He has a very strong background in healthcare information solutions coupled with deep insights into customer needs and industry trends. Greg will be leading our next evolution of delivering expert solutions to our customers, fully benefitting from our investment in advanced technologies,” said Diana Nole, CEO of Wolters Kluwer, Health.

Samios joined Wolters Kluwer in 2014 from Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions where he served as the President of Health Programs successfully transitioning the company from classroom models to online education, and returning the business to growth. In this role, he rapidly expanded the business’s digital product and service offerings, broadened its geographic footprint, and developed its leading digital marketing capabilities. Prior to that, he held senior executive global positions in Reed Elsevier, including President of the medical education and communications division Excerpta Medica, and Senior Vice President of Strategy and Development for Elsevier Health Sciences, where he expanded the company’s position in high-growth areas and further advanced its business leadership position.

Samios earned an MBA at Duke University and graduated from the University of Rochester with a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering. He is an advisor and mentor to several early stage health information and education businesses and has lectured on healthcare innovation at Duke University.

Cengage, an education and technology company, today announced the appointment of Rebecca McNamara as Chief Integration Officer, reporting directly to CEO Michael Hansen as part of the Executive Team.  McNamara will lead all integration initiatives for the company’s planned merger with McGraw-Hill, which is expected to close in early 2020.

“I am thrilled to have Rebecca lead our integration efforts during this pivotal moment in our company’s journey,” said Michael E. Hansen, CEO, Cengage. “Having worked with Rebecca since my first day at Cengage, I am confident that there is no one better suited to lead us through this critical stage of transition. Her deep experience will guide the alignment of operating models, people and cultures to enable our new company to deliver on strategy and, ultimately, ensure a better learning experience for our customers.”

McNamara brings valuable expertise and experience to the new position, having played a central role in the pre-merger announcement activities, including due diligence and developing baseline synergies.  As Chief Integration Officer, she will oversee strategic planning and the post-merger implementation, including leadership of the cross-functional team responsible for ensuring both cultural and organizational alignment across companies and the plan to achieve cost synergies.  The combined companies will have a clear path to an efficient, combined operating model starting on day one and be well-positioned to drive the benefits of greater scale to support student achievement.

The merger of Cengage and McGraw-Hill will provide college students with more affordable access to high-quality course materials and platforms.  Both companies have already made significant investments in new business models to lower college students’ costs, including Inclusive Access and Cengage Unlimited, the industry’s first all-access subscription for eBooks, online homework access codes and study guides.  Students using the subscription service saved more than $60 million during the 2018-19 academic year, and the new company plans to grow these types of affordability initiatives.

“I am excited to take on this role and believe my experience supporting our business transformation has equipped me to lead through our company’s next chapter,” said Rebecca McNamara.  “The deep relationships I’ve built within Cengage over the years will be invaluable as I work with the integration team to develop and implement plans for aligning the two organizations.”

Based in Cengage’s Boston office, McNamara has been with Cengage for more than 15 years. Most recently, she served as Interim Chief Financial Officer, leading Cengage through a period of significant business transformation with the successful launch of Cengage Unlimited. Prior to this role, McNamara held a number of senior finance roles within the organization, including Senior Vice President, Finance Planning & Analysis, as well as Vice President, Strategic Finance. Previously, she held positions at Thomson Reuters and TheStreet.com.

McNamara holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Lehigh University and an MBA, specializing in Finance and Economics, from Columbia Business School.

Kudos strengthens its leadership team with the appointment of Michael Tadman as Sales Director, bringing extensive experience of sales leadership and business development in the academic and educational sectors

Kudos (www.growkudos.com), the award-winning service for accelerating research impact through strategic communications management, is delighted to announce the appointment of Michael Tadman as Sales Director.

Michael has over twenty years of sales experience, with a decade in senior executive positions. His previous roles have included Sales Director at Elsevier and Vice-President Higher Education Services at Pearson. More recently, Michael has been developing international sales of exam software directly with university assessment offices and faculty. He joins Kudos as part of a £2.2m investment, led by Mobeus Equity Partners, to spearhead the launch of a cutting-edge new platform for planning, tracking and reporting on research engagement and impact activities.  

“Michael has experience that is very hard to find,” commented Melinda Kenneway, Kudos CEO. “Our market is an incredibly complex one, so understanding how publishing works – the currency of research communication to date – is really important. At the same time, universities are focusing on more strategic communications around their projects and programmes, and funders are requiring Principal Investigators to undertake more communications work with broader audiences outside of academia. Kudos’s new communications and impact management service meets these emerging needs. Michael’s blend of experience of selling publications, online databases and SaaS products gives him a very strong foundation on which to assist Kudos in developing business opportunities based on a deep understanding of how universities and research teams work.”

“I’m really excited to be joining the leadership team at Kudos,” added Michael Tadman. “Opportunities like this don’t come along that often. Kudos has already proven itself as one of the most innovative and respected companies in the research sector. I am looking forward to helping realise the potential of this fast-growing company to help researchers and publishers engage new audiences and demonstrate the critical role of effective communication in accelerating research impact.”

The Web of Science Group, part of Clarivate Analytics, has appointed Nicko Goncharoff to the newly-created role of Managing Director, Business Development for Greater China.  Reporting to CEO Annette Thomas, he will work closely with the existing team in China, led by David Liu, Executive Vice President, Managing Director for Clarivate Analytics, Asia Pacific and Linda Guo, Vice President, Head of Web of Science Group, Greater China region.

Nicko, who is fluent in Mandarin, will split his time between China and Europe. He will focus on building new opportunities and relationships in the region to accelerate the Web of Science Group growth strategy, by leveraging the power of the entire portfolio of brands, which range from the renowned Institute of Scientific Information and Web of Science to recent start-ups Publons and Kopernio.

Nicko Goncharoff, Managing Director, Business Development for Greater China said: “I am looking forward to ensuring our customers and research partners in China benefit fully from the Web of Science Group’s cutting-edge investments in research workflows, tools and data. Working closely with our excellent team in Beijing, we will incorporate China’s requirements and research practices into our global business strategy.”

Annette Thomas, CEO of the Web of Science Group said: “As the world’s second largest economy, China has seen phenomenal growth in scientific research activities in recent years. The Web of Science Group will continue to deepen our collaboration with China’s academia, research and development network and policy makers to accelerate the pace of innovation in the country.”

Previously, Nicko was Chief Business Development Officer at Digital Science, where he was one of the original team members. Nicko led strategic customer and partner relationships, managed sales teams for publisher and EMEA institutional markets and, as part of the Digital Science senior management team, informed and supported overall product, investment and business strategy.  He was also founder of two AI software startups supporting life sciences research.

In addition to his work at Digital Science, Nicko has been actively involved in several STM industry initiatives to enable sustainable article sharing between publishers, scholarly collaborative networks, institutions and other stakeholders in academic research, including Springer Nature’s SharedIt.

As a further example of Clarivate Analytics’ increasing commitment to the Greater China research community and customers, the company announced the opening of a new office in Guangzhou in South China this week. The brand-new Guangzhou office is situated at GTland Plaza in Guangzhou Tianhe Central Business District. As the largest Central Business District in South China, Guangzhou is home to business clusters of high-end financial services, science and technology, and modern commercial industries.

Elsevier, the information analytics business specializing in science and health, today announced Kumsal Bayazit has been appointed Chief Executive Officer effective February 15, 2019.

Bayazit has worked at RELX Group, Elsevier’s parent company, since 2004. She started her career at Legal and Risk & Business Analytics, where she held a number of senior strategy and operational roles. In 2012, she was appointed Chief Strategy Officer of RELX Group, as well as chair of the company’s Chief Technology Officers’ Forum, formed to foster a strategic acceleration into an increasingly data-driven business focused on analytics and decision tools. For the past three years, she has been the Regional President for Europe, Middle East and Africa at RELX Group’s exhibitions business. Prior to joining RELX Group, Bayazit worked at Bain & Company in the US, South Africa and Australia. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.

Bayazit replaces Ron Mobed who, after seven years as Elsevier’s Chief Executive Officer, has decided to retire. Mobed joined Elsevier in 2011 and became Chief Executive in 2012. He will support his successor during the transition, providing counsel and advice until June. Youngsuk (YS) Chi will remain Chairman of Elsevier.

Founder and CEO, Georgios Papadopoulos, has assumed the new role of Chairman, and Marty Picco, Atypon’s Senior Vice President of Product, has been promoted to the new role of General Manager.

This leadership transition will allow Mr. Papadopoulos to turn his attention from the company’s day-to-day operations to focus full-time on new technology initiatives and strategic ventures.

“Atypon has always been committed to applying our deep technical resources and creative minds to advance scholarly research communication,” said Mr. Papadopoulos. “I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to focus more closely on new innovations that help enable the creation and dissemination of knowledge through technology.”

As General Manager, Mr. Picco will be responsible for the company’s operations and management. He joined Atypon in 2010 and has served as Atypon’s Senior Vice President of Product for the last five years.

“It’s an honor to take the helm of a company with such talented colleagues, world class technology, and prestigious clients,” said Marty Picco, Atypon’s new General Manager, “particularly at a time of such significant industry transformation. I’m excited to focus on strengthening our organization and technology platform to help scholarly publishers not only navigate today’s business uncertainties but to succeed long-term.”

Bart Murphy, an innovative technology leader with significant application development and infrastructure management experience, has been named Chief Technology and Information Officer of OCLC.

Murphy’s technology experience spans a diverse set of organizations and industries. He most recently was the Chief Technology Officer of PriorAuthNow, a technology organization that enables streamlining of healthcare access through prior authorization automation. Before joining PriorAuthNow, he was the Chief Information and Technology Officer at York Risk Services Group.

The depth of Murphy’s technology experience in software development, infrastructure, data management, security, portfolio and agile management makes him an ideal technology leader for OCLC. That technology leadership earned Murphy a spot among IDG’s Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leaders, which recognizes exceptional technology leadership and innovative approaches to business challenges.

“Bart is a skilled technology leader with experience leading large technology teams,” said Skip Prichard, OCLC President and CEO. “His knowledge of application development, architecture and infrastructure will help us continue to deliver innovative technologies libraries need to serve their users.”

OCLC is a leading nonprofit global technology organization headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. OCLC provides shared technology services, original research and community programs to libraries worldwide. OCLC and its member libraries worldwide cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the most comprehensive global network of data about library collections and services.

“I’m thrilled to be part of the highly respected team at OCLC,” said Murphy. “It is an organization I have long admired for its reputation, talent and purpose. I look forward to continuing the great work of OCLC.”

Murphy will oversee OCLC’s global engineering centers. He will be based in the Dublin, Ohio, headquarters.

Medscape, the leading source of clinical news, health information, and point-of-care tools for healthcare professionals, today announced that Ivan Oransky, MD, a recognized leader in medical journalism, has joined the organization as Vice President, Editorial.

“Ivan is an established and experienced leader in medical journalism, and we are pleased to welcome him to Medscape,” said Jo-Ann Strangis, Senior Vice President, Editorial and Audience Engagement, Medscape. “His commitment to journalistic quality and integrity fits perfectly with Medscape’s mission to provide physicians and healthcare professionals with rigorous content that is compelling and relevant to their practice.”

Dr. Oransky recently held senior editorial positions at MedPage Today and Reuters Health. Additionally, he was in editorial roles at Scientific American, The Scientist and Praxis Post and co-founded Retraction Watch, which reports on scientific retractions, fraud and related issues. Dr. Oransky serves as President of the Association of Health Care Journalists and is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.

He earned his medical degree from New York University, completed his internship in psychiatry at Yale University, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Medscape’s world-class brand,” said Dr. Oransky. “I have devoted my career to furthering the highest standards in health and science journalism, and I look forward to working with one of the best editorial teams in medical publishing to further our shared commitment.”

WebMD Health Corp., an Internet Brands company, today announced that Steven Zatz, M.D., is joining WebMD’s Board of Directors, effective immediately. Bob Brisco, the CEO of Internet Brands, will serve as CEO of WebMD, while remaining in his current role with the parent company.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Zatz stay involved at WebMD, following his nearly two decades of building the business into the powerhouse that it has become,” said Mr. Brisco.

“Having decided to step back from day-to-day involvement, I’m delighted as a member of the WebMD Board to be able to work with Bob and the talented WebMD senior leadership team focusing on the strategic growth of the company,” said Dr. Zatz.

Dr. Zatz was appointed CEO of WebMD in September 2016, having served the company in senior positions for more than 19 years.  Under his leadership, Medscape has become the leading source of online information for physicians and other health professionals, as well as the largest online source of continuing medical education.  Similarly, under Dr. Zatz’s leadership, WebMD has continued to be the leading online consumer destination for health information while launching new platforms and services that enable consumers to take specific actions to address their health care needs.  Additionally, WebMD Health Serviceshas continued to expand and enhance its customizable health and wellness solutions for employers and health plans.

“Steve’s vision and leadership have built WebMD and Medscape into iconic healthcare brands,” said Mr. Brisco. “His depth of experience will be extremely valuable as we expand our services, platforms and digital innovations and continue to drive growth, engagement and value to our customers.”

Mr. Brisco has been CEO, President, and Director of Internet Brands since 1999. Under his leadership, Internet Brands has grown from a start-up to serve more than 100,000 clients, engage more than 250 million unique visitors per month, and employ more than 5,000 employees. Prior to Internet Brands, Mr. Brisco was president of Universal Studios Hollywood and CityWalk, one of the largest entertainment destinations in the world, hosting more than 10 million visitors per year.

Elsevier, the global information analytics business specializing in science and health, has named Christopher Larkin to the Chief Technology Officer position overseeing its Health Markets.

Larkin comes to Elsevier from GE, where he was Vice President for GE Digital’s Predix Advanced Analytics and Data Products. Prior to that, Larkin was CTO for GE Healthcare, where he led teams working on precision and regenerative medicine solutions in the healthcare and life sciences marketplace through predictive analytics, machine learning, image analytics, and big data for genetic and oncology applications.

“The acceleration of personalized medicine will depend on our ability to rapidly transform scientific content into actionable insight,” Larkin said. “The delivery of insight is how our healthcare provider community will maximize patient outcomes. I believe Elsevier is positioned for leadership in this transformation and am truly excited to join the team.”

Elsevier’s Health Markets includes Clinical Solutions and Education. The Clinical Solutions group provides reference and workflow solutions for physicians and other medical professionals, from clinical decision support and patient engagement to competency management and academic education. The Education group provides institutions, educators and students with content and innovative teaching, and learning technology that delivers data and analytics for improving student and program outcomes.

“Our solutions for clinicians and medical researchers increasingly are driven by AI technologies, and we’re bringing together a talented team to help us develop and deliver these solutions to the market,” said Dan Olley, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Elsevier, to whom Larkin will report. “Chris brings a wealth of business experience and deep technology knowledge to Health Markets. We’re pleased to welcome Chris to our growing team.”

Larkin has an MS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He will be based in Elsevier’s Philadelphia office.