Medical Expertise

We ground everything in science.

This means scientific expertise and in-depth, in-house medical and clinical experience.

Most of our Avant Healthcare medical team hold an advanced degree—PhD, MD, PharmD, or MPH—and possess both subject matter expertise and the ability to serve as effective strategic communication partners to you. This translates into strong scientific strategies, impactful communications, and relevant education for your DOLs/KOLs, advisors, and communities.

20

1 in 5 agency employees is part of our medical/scientific staff

80

Have at least one advanced degree

22

Have two or more advanced degrees

74

Of our medical staff prefer dogs vs cats

Our Medical Leaders

Trina Stonner, RN, MSN

Chief CX Officer and President

As a former advanced practice nurse, Trina understands clinical experience needs from an insider’s perspective. Prior to joining Avant Healthcare, Trina spent 15 years in marketing and sales roles at Eli Lilly and Company. A proven expert in strategic planning and execution, she keeps her finger on the pulse of the latest HCP trends.

Philippe Vitat, MA

Vice President, Medical Services

When Philippe dives into the deep waters of science, it certainly helps that he was a competitive swimmer while growing up in the suburbs of Paris, France. An award-winning expert in scientific, multichannel content development, Philippe brings deep strategic understanding and extensive knowledge in multiple therapeutic areas to lead our medical teams in crafting compelling brand stories.

Sarah Wilson, PhD

Vice President, Medical

As a scientist and a cattle rancher, Sarah is well-versed in applying the power of analysis to multiple moving parts. At Avant Healthcare, she’s contributed to over 15 launches and indication expansions, and she leads a team of medical directors and medical writers, partnering with multiple brands across various stages of the product life cycle.

Wendy Strother, PhD

Executive Medical Director

From her first days in a renowned Alzheimer’s disease lab as an undergrad to teaching graduate and medical students at the Indiana University School of Medicine, Wendy has focused her entire career on neuroscience. Today, she leads a dynamic team of medical directors and medical writers across numerous therapeutic areas, including neurology, psychiatry, immunology, and infectious disease.

THERAPEUTIC AREA SPOTLIGHT

IMMUNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT

We have worked in the immunology space for more than nine years, supporting multiple blockbuster products across more than 10 individual disease states. During this time, we have witnessed tremendous innovation within the field, with multiple disease states moving from a single modality to more than four separate classes of treatment options. We have served as a strategic partner for more than 15 new product/indication launches to provide patients with much-needed treatment options. As we look ahead, we can’t wait to see what the next nine years will bring.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Since 2014, we’ve had a front-row seat to witness the flood of innovation that has significantly expanded this landscape. From TNF inhibitors to the most recent approvals targeting S1P, JAK, and IL-23, we’ve supported multiple products across adult and pediatric Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Plaque Psoriasis

We have supported a number of products, including blockbuster innovations, within the plaque psoriasis space. With each new development, we have helped our partners raise patient and HCP expectations on what is possible with therapy, above and beyond just PASI 75 and even PASI 90.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Through our experience across multiple classes of therapeutics, including biologics and small molecules, we’ve witnessed the move from focusing solely on tender and swollen joint counts to a treat-to-target approach. Remission is now the ultimate goal, with an increased focus on patient-centric measures, that include pain and fatigue.

Spondyloarthropathies

Since 2014, we have supported new product and indication launches, including biologics and small molecules, in psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and nonradiographic axial spondyloarthropathy.

NEUROLOGY/PSYCHIATRY SPOTLIGHT

From the start, we’ve been educating and advocating within the neurology and psychiatry spaces, and we bring unprecedented expertise, passion, and commitment to every project and challenge. For 25-plus years, we’ve supported numerous blockbuster brands in more than 13 distinct disease states, and we continue to partner with our clients at the forefront of innovation and therapeutic advances.

Migraine

We entered the migraine space in 2017, and we’ve been in the thick of the exciting advancements ever since. Our support for multiple products, including launches, encompasses therapies for acute migraine relief, as well as migraine prevention. From differing mechanisms of action to different modes of administration, we have galvanized HCP adoption and advocacy across both neurology and primary care.

Psychological disorders

Since 1994, we have supported new indications for several antipsychotic products across a range of mental health conditions and neurodegenerative disorders. The emergence of these new therapies has significantly improved the lives of millions of patients living with disorders like schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar I disorder, and—with the most recent breakthroughs—treating patients with agitation associated with dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease

For over a decade, we’ve been partners in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. Within this space, we’ve supported the launch of diagnostic agents, as well as paradigm-changing, disease-modifying therapies. From disease state education to technical specialty trainings, this therapeutic area is one of our deep passions.

Parkinson’s disease

Supporting both in-market and investigational products, we’ve provided strategic partnership in the Parkinson’s disease space for many years. We have helped our clients navigate complex challenges around delivering effective treatments for Parkinson’s disease using novel delivery devices. Given the rapid advancements in therapy and modes of administration for Parkinson's disease, we are passionate in helping our clients address the large unmet need in this space to provide more tolerable and consistent relief for patients.

ONCOLOGY SPOTLIGHT

A key focus since 2011, our work in oncology started with just a single partnership. Today, it spans more than 25 unique product/indication combinations and counting. The evolution of our experience mirrors the unparalleled innovations we have witnessed and supported in the last decade, from chemotherapy to the advent of immuno-oncology, bispecific antibodies and T-cell engagers, and antibody-drug conjugates.

We leverage our deep expertise to help our partners navigate complex challenges across their solid tumor and hematologic oncology portfolios. Fluent in the nuances around accelerated approval and orphan drug status, we have partnered in 15-plus launches to date. Understanding oncologists’ passion and what concerns them every day, we facilitate robust medical conversations that advance scientific knowledge and patient care.

Leukemia/Lymphoma

Our strategic partnership in hematologic oncology began in 2018. It has since grown to support multiple innovative therapies across a wide range of hematologic cancers, including AML, CLL, DLBCL, FL, and MCL, to name a few. We have worked hand-in-hand with our clients to fill the large unmet needs that exist within this field, supporting three accelerated approval launches within six months, with several more on the horizon as the landscape continues to evolve and more therapeutic options become available to patients in need.

Lung Cancer

Over a decade ago, we entered the lung cancer space with an indication expansion launch for a standard of care product, which we continued to support throughout its life cycle. Since then, our lung cancer portfolio has grown significantly to include a variety of products across lines of therapy and patient populations, including several new product launches and indication expansions. Whether it’s systemic chemotherapy or first-in-class precision oncology, we have become trusted strategic partners for our clients as they navigate the ever-evolving lung cancer treatment landscape.

Breast Cancer

We have been helping our clients navigate the dynamic HR+, HER2- landscape since CDK inhibitors first became standard of care in metastatic disease. We provided strategic support in bringing a major advancement in care to market in the adjuvant setting and now look forward to the next wave of innovation in oral SERDs. Whether it’s oncologists or the allied care team, overall survival, or managing side effects to preserve quality of life, we are experts in meeting your audience where they are and covering the topics that are most important to them and your brand.

Colorectal Cancer

We are experts on colorectal cancer, thanks to our many years serving clients in the gastrointestinal cancer space. Over the course of a decade, we have support ranging from mid-life cycle strategy and content development to full launch executions for a variety of products. We have seen and been a part of major innovations in this treatment landscape, including a recent tumor agnostic launch of a precision therapy, which fills an unmet need for certain patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. These breakthroughs and the positive impact they have on patients are what drive us.

Our Medical Advisory Board

Invaluable insights from industry-leading HCPs

Established in 2011, our Medical Advisory Board helps strengthen our network of academic and KOL partnerships while reinforcing our commitment to housing a medical education center of excellence. Permanent board members offer our staff the ability to consult periodically with regional specialists who provide us with invaluable clinical insights. In turn, the board helps to further solidify our position as an authoritative presence and thought leader in medical strategy and communications.

We deliver unquestionable science