Rachel Ford Hutman is the Founder and CEO of Ford Hutman Media. With 15+ years of communications experience at leading global PR agencies and a senior comms role at IBM, she created the agency to provide industry-leading media relations and thought leadership to elite life science companies across the globe. Clients range from venture-backed startups to large cap public companies. Rachel started her career as a reporter and excels at working with the media to bring life science stories to life while still making them accessible to stakeholders.

During her career, Rachel has led communications for the world’s biggest therapies and medical technologies of all time, including the first RNAi therapy (Alnylam’s ONPATTRO), 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), the first therapy for DMD (Sarepta’s EXONDYS 51), 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).

Rachel is consistently leveraging her long-standing relationships with global agenda-setting reporters on behalf of clients including CNBC, FOX Business, 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, Tech Republic, FierceBiotech, Endpoints, 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. Rachel has presented on communications strategy to PR News, PR Week, The International PR Research Conference, NC State and San Diego State University.

Mike oversees FHM's financial growth and business operations. Prior to his current role, Mike worked in the insurance industry where he held leadership positions in Southern California. Known for his steady direction and easy going personality, Mike is adept at developing business strategies that lead to growth. He grew up just north of the Nation's capital in Rockville, MD and received his B.A. in Communications from Towson University. When he is not working, Mike can be found surfing, playing guitar or camping with his son. Mike was recently selected as a finalist in the San Diego Business Journal's annual CFO of The Year awards.

Julia has nearly 13 years of life science marketing and communications experience.

Julia comes to FHM from Medtronic, a leading global healthcare company, where she led internal and external communications for the Cardiovascular Diagnostics & Services Operating Unit. Previously, she also led external communications and social media for the former Aortic, Peripheral, and Venous division within the company.  

Prior to her role at Medtronic, Julia served as an Account Director with Pure Communications (a W2O Group company) in San Francisco where she managed daily client account activities and broader communications strategies for a wide variety of biotechnology, medical device and digital health companies. Her specific areas of focus included product and corporate communications, as well as media relations. Some of her clients included Verily Life Sciences, Portola Pharmaceuticals, Acutus Medical, Invitae and 10x Genomics.

Before coming to Pure, Julia’s career included roles in product marketing and communications at Alphatec Spine and Freedom Meditech. Before Freedom Meditech, she started her career as an Account Manager at Canale Communications where she focused on corporate communications, media relations and investor relations for companies such as Gen-Probe (Hologic), Janssen Healthcare Innovation (now JNJ Innovation), ResMed and Optimer Pharmaceuticals (Merck).

Julia received her Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree from the University of Southern California and her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in English from Loyola Marymount University.

Meriel is a senior leader at FHM, overseeing insightful communications from strategy to activation.

She’s spent 10+ years working with clients spanning healthcare and fintech, including Merck, Pfizer, Sobi, Viatris, Medtronic, Amgen and Stripe. She’s additionally worked with fortune 500 companies such as Chevron and Verizon.

Meriel has partnered with executives to solve some of the most pressing industry challenges of our time. Her expertise includes executive positioning, product launches, change management, crisis, digital communications integration, function enhancement, internal communications optimization, influencer identification and engagement, media outreach, messaging reach and resonance, and branding.

Meriel is a graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, where she’s still actively involved with faculty and leadership to bridge the gap between the classroom and the industry.

Katie has 20+ years of experience on both the corporate and agency sides of healthcare- and technology-focused communications. She takes pride in helping clients of all sizes creatively and consistently share their vision and value proposition to the right audiences through integrated storytelling.

Prior to consulting, Katie served in variety of leadership roles at PR agencies. There, she provided corporate communications and executive thought leadership strategy for digital health and traditional healthcare companies ranging from Aetna and McKesson to Surescripts and Cedar. As part of this work, she has secured notable relationships and client coverage in publications such as Bloomberg, Business Insider, Harvard Business Review, FastCompany and more.

Prior to agency life, Katie worked in-house with the corporate communications team at Nuance Healthcare. She lives just outside of Boston, Mass. and enjoys time with her 5-year-old, Cecilia, and black Labrador, Emmet.

Abenaa (Abby) Hayes is a seasoned healthcare communications practitioner and a DE&I/Health Equity strategist/consultant.

Prior to going out on her own, she was the founder and builder of Real Chemistry/W2O’s Inclusion and Health Equity practice, an offering that’s focused on insights-based, purpose-driven culturally relevant counsel geared towards developing programming and activations that are infused with DE&I. Key areas of focus in her leadership role included COVID-19 health inequities, racial and socioeconomic health disparities, as well as DE&I strategy and program development counsel.

Abby brings more than 20 years of experience in healthcare communications, helping US and global healthcare companies reach stakeholders, influencers and communities through transformative narratives, dynamic storytelling and meaningful engagement. Building on a personal passion for community health and health equity, Abby is also a champion of racial and social equity in the communications industry. She both founded and served as the executive sponsor of the company’s DE&I Steering Council, while also acting as a key driver of business resource group activations and the company’s DE&I thought leadership. She was also a core member of the Gender Parity Collaborative, a consortium of award-winning healthcare and life-sciences companies dedicated to accelerating gender parity and diversity.

Prior to Real Chemistry/W2O, Abby was at Edelman, where she was the senior lead and brand strategist driving digital, influencer and scientific storytelling for brands. While at Edelman, Hayes co-founded and co-chaired the agency’s Black Employee Resource Group, Edelman Griot.

Over the course of her career, Abby held leadership positions at Weber Shandwick, Ogilvy, MSL Health and Cohn & Wolfe. She graduated from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California with a Master of Arts degree in broadcast journalism and holds an honors Bachelor of Arts degree in English from McGill University in Montreal.

Kim Chen has 15+ years of experience in healthcare communications spanning multiple therapeutic areas and specialties, including oncology, diabetes, gastroenterology, chronic migraine, rare diseases, cardiovascular disease, mental health, sexual health, eye health, medical imaging and diagnostics, Rx-to-OTC switch, biopharmaceuticals and rare diseases. Kim has led both global and US programming for unbranded consumer awareness campaigns, data/regulatory milestones for best-in-class products and corporate reputation initiatives.

Kim's client work has also included DE&I initiatives, issues management, corporate communications, investor relations, employee engagement and event planning. She is well versed in the areas of FDA approvals, data milestones, medical meetings, advocacy relations and social media, among others.

Prior to joining Ford Hutman Media, Kim served as a Senior Vice President at MSL and was previously tenured at Lippe Taylor, MMC and Edelman.

An avid traveler, Kim spent two years living in Shanghai, China, where she worked in communications and business development. Kim earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Science from Columbia University and is certified to teach English as a foreign language.

Gwen Gordon provides public relations, corporate communications, reputation management and public affairs assistance to health care and biotechnology companies and organizations of all sizes. Gwen held in house communications roles with Element Biosciences, BD, Illumina, and Personalized Medicine Coalition. She has consulted with a diverse client set including ATCC, Biological Dynamics, Covis Pharmaceuticals, DERMALA, Disabled American Veterans, Emulate, Endo Pharmaceuticals, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, Novartis, Pfizer, Rebus Biosystems, Scan Heath Plan, Serimmune, Seven Bridges, Sonalasense, Truvian, Twist Biosciences, WageWorks, and XL Health.

Gwen graduated cum laude with a BA in Government from Claremont McKenna College and holds a Master of Public Policy degree with emphasis in health care from the George Washington University. She is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and San Diego Science Writers Associations and lives with her husband and son in San Diego, California.

As Account Manager at Ford Hutman Media, Alyssa assists across accounts with research and account management.  Alyssa has a passion for science and the arts.  These interests come together in perfect harmony in her work for FHM.  In her free time, she enjoys reading, traveling, teaching ballet classes to youth, and spending as much time as she can with her dog, Leo.

As an Account Associate, Lillian Wilson assists across the FHM client portfolio. Lillian graduated with a B.S. in Public Relations from the University of Oregon in 2021. Prior to graduation, she held multiple leadership positions in student organizations and was an Account Executive at Allen Hall Public Relations, UO’s student-run PR agency. She is based in Portland and enjoys reading and watching sports in her free time.

James is a writer, editor and occasional funk DJ, with experience reporting on politics, business and culture from across Europe, the Middle East and East Africa.

Formerly managing editor of The New Arab and Al Jazeera English’s online Europe editor, and working everywhere from refugee camps to aircraft carriers to the London tabloids, James has spent more than 15 years crafting thought-provoking and effective narratives with nuance, compassion and style.

He is, at heart, a raconteur and storyteller with a passion for finding the human heart at the center of new developments – particularly at the intersection of the worlds of business, health and life sciences.

Govinda Sandhu is based in the UK and a part-time Account Coordinator supporting across UK accounts. He is a third-year placement student at Aston University (UK) currently studying Psychology and Business. His hobbies include sport and music, whilst currently playing National League Hockey in England, he also has a deep passion for music composition around film and dance music. Furthermore, he achieved a black-belt in Martial Arts at the age of 14 and has been a Martial Artist instructor for over 9 years. Govinda believes that having an active lifestyle leads to a healthy mindset.

John Roderick is the president and founder of J. Roderick Public Relations, a strategic communications firm that creates campaigns to help large corporations clearly communicate nuanced, complex messages to targeted business audiences.

Specialists in translating clients’ intangible assets into tangible media influence, the firm’s greatest strength is its ability to sculpt and deliver company news and ideologies in a package that complements the media zeitgeist. This journalistic approach to branding allows clients to promote their key messages in the press while also building a platform of thought leadership on issues critical to their businesses.

Leveraging a multi-media mix of traditional and unconventional communications tools, the firm’s mission is to develop, package, and tell great stories. Whether it’s crafting a timely pitch, ghost-writing an incisive op-ed, commissioning a big data analysis, choreographing a social media campaign, or even creating owned media outlets, Roderick and his team help brands articulate their strengths while building engagement with key stakeholders.

Brian Eastwood is a Boston-based freelance writer with more than 15 years of experience covering healthcare IT and healthcare delivery. His byline has appeared in HealthTech Magazine, CIO.com, Fierce Healthcare, and SearchHealthIT.com. Brian also writes about enterprise IT, consumer technology, corporate leadership, and higher education for a range of publications and clients.

When he’s not writing, Brian is most likely running, hiking in Northern New England, or taking a break from cardio by reading a history book.

Based in Southern California, Matt Clawson brings more than 30 years of expertise in the investor relations and corporate communications fields, as well as deep experience in medical technology and diagnostics. Matt founded Life Capital Partners, a strategic IR firm that provides counsel and financial comms to both top tier and venture backed private companies in the life science industry.

Matt has served as Managing Director, IR at Pure Communications, Partner at Allen & Caron, Inc., and Senior Advisor of IR at W2O Group. Matt has his MBA from SF State University and his BA in English from UCLA. When Matt isn’t providing strategic IR counsel, you can find him on a beach in So Cal enjoying a beer.

Kristan Curren Sampson brings 15 years of public relations experience to Ford Hutman Media, with experience at global, mid-sized and boutique agencies to help companies of all sizes tell their stories to the media. She’s provided strategic communications counsel to Microsoft, AMD, Kodak Digital and Leyard/Planar as the companies brought new products to market and continued storytelling with momentum news and product updates. She’s created and led third-party reference programs to help corporations’ customers and partners tell their own stories to the media, and support clients' media storytelling. She’s also driven thought leadership campaigns to raise the profiles of executive leaders.

Kristan lives in Carlsbad, California with her husband, three children and two dogs.

Andrea Siedsma brings over 30 years of experience to Ford Hutman Media as an award-winning journalist and PR professional. The self-proclaimed science nerd has a flair for writing compelling content and creating successful media strategies. Andrea, who launched her career at NPR affiliate KPBS Radio, has penned several articles for newspapers and magazines. On the PR side, she has experience working with large global corporations, startups, universities & research institutes, and city governments. The San Diego native keeps her creative juices flowing by surfing and hiking.

Tanner is a designer with over half a decade of experience, working on a variety of projects. He’s worked with clients in fields ranging from biotech and cybersecurity to small record labels and surfboard shaping. His work spans both the digital and print and includes video production, web design, logos and brand identity. His favorite part of the work are the people he gets to do it with.
Tanner is from the Pacific Northwest. He likes traveling around in his campervan, snowboarding and working on old motorcycles.

Paul Kidwell is a Boston-based, independent public relations/patient advocacy consultant providing media relations and patient engagement support for biopharmaceutical companies, and a rare disease podcaster.

Paul has more than 20 years of corporate and agency communications experience within the life science sector. During this time Paul has provided integrated public relations support for product launches, FDA approvals, national and international media campaigns, patient advocacy programs, supported major industry conferences, medical meetings and trade shows, and developed media strategies for the placement of stories in global top tier business and trade media.

Paul’s patient advocacy experience is extensive and for over a decade he has developed and supported patient engagement programs for biotech companies that includes patient ambassador programs, patient/caregiver/oncology nurse leadership councils, as well as patient storytelling. In 2013, Paul was part of the creators of the Patient Advocacy Summit in conjunction with MassBio; which is an event that focuses on the intersection of patient advocacy and the biotech industry, and features keynote presentations, panel discussions, case studies, and live patient storytelling.

Paul holds a master’s degree in Public Relations from Boston University.