Ford Hutman Media provides media relations, thought leadership and executive visibility to life science companies. Clients range from venture-backed startups to large cap public companies. The firm was founded by Rachel Ford Hutman, a media relations standout and global health industry connector. Rachel started her career as a reporter and excels at working with the media to bring health stories to life while still making them accessible to stakeholders. The firm works with a network of creative and technology partners to extend its core offering based on client needs.
Rachel has worked on some of the world's biggest therapies and medical technologies of all time, including the first RNAi therapy (Alnylam’s ONPATTRO), the first therapy for DMD (Sarepta’s EXONDYS 51), the first technology in the world to personalize insulin 24 hrs. a day (Medtronic’s MiniMed 670G), IBM's AI launch into healthcare (Watson Health) and Google's sister life science company (Verily). She has counseled some of the most well-known health/ technology organizations and developed communications strategies for the world's biggest brands (Verily, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Pfizer, IBM, Best Buy, Takeda, Sanofi, Shire, Brigham & Women’s, NHS), but she is most proud of her work telling patient stories.
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With 15-years of communications experience, she is consistently leveraging her long-standing relationships with global agenda-setting reporters across a range of outlets from CNBC, BBC, AP, Reuters, Bloomberg, The Today Show, Newsweek, Financial Times, Fast Company, TIME, Wired, Forbes, WSJ, NYTs, and key health trades like Modern Healthcare, Becker's Hospital Review, Digital Health Journal, GenomeWeb, BioWorld, Drug Discovery Today and many more. Rachel also has investor and analyst relations experience that adds to her ability to highlight market dynamics.
Named a Power Woman of San Diego 2020 and PRSA's PR Professional of the Year in 2011, Rachel has built a reputation for her positive energy, creativity and humor. She received her MA in communications and media studies at San Diego State University and her BA in English/ History from University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Provides senior level support for leading pharma/medtech/ healthcare companies at all stages of development
“ I call her ‘Sunshine’ but that doesn’t mean she’ll always just agree with you. We’ve gone toe-to-toe on PR strategy a number of times, which I appreciate. Developing the first therapy to treat a rare disease was challenging and she helped us with all phases of comms – from narrative development to media strategy for our FDA approval and R& D Day. She has a good blend of PR and investor relations experience and can bridge the two seamlessly….”
“If you have the chance to work with Rachel, I suggest you take it. Not only does she have an exceptional understanding of the healthtech industry and endless media connections, but she brings an indomitable attitude that is optimistic, fun and determined. I’ve worked with a ton of PR consultants in my career and she is a rockstar…”
“Rachel understands storytelling more than most PR pros. Since she was a reporter, she just gets it. I know when she reaches out it is because she has a good story to share. We have worked on countless stories where she shares contacts and resources outside of her client list. I always enjoy working with her and the new perspective she provides.”
“Rachel has an understanding of media relations and storytelling that is rare in health tech. She sees the macro but can pivot quickly to the micro – and her expertise in market dynamics ties it all together.”
“As soon as we spoke with Rachel we knew she was the perfect fit for our Series A funding announcement. She had a deep understanding of the biopharma industry and all the necessary media relationships. She prepared us extremely well for interviews and got us fantastic media coverage across the globe.”
“Rachel’s passion for life science communications and her ability to truly understand her client’s needs are what makes her stand out in her field. These qualities, combined with her work ethic, make her an asset to any team.”
“Genomics is complex and Rachel often thought of new storylines and brought fresh comms strategies to the table to help broaden our external visibility. Beyond that, she is just a fun person to work alongside and always has a positive attitude.”
