Following 14 years in pharmaceutical marketing and communications, Debbie founded Advantage Healthcare Inc. in 1994 as a new products and strategic market support group. As the President of the company, Debbie has served as a strategic partner to several healthcare and consumer corporations, assisting in identifying the issues facing their products and departments, preparing alternatives for addressing those issues, and executing hundreds of projects in both the United States and globally.

Over the past 13 years, major projects developed and executed by Advantage Healthcare under Debbie's guidance have included:

• Strategic analyses, forecasting, and the preparation of prelaunch marketing plans for both international and domestic launches of major new pharmaceutical products.
• Benchmarking and competitive analyses for products 1 to 3 years prelaunch, as support for determining levels of spending and types of programs required in the prelaunch and immediate postlaunch periods.
• Commercial assessments of new compounds, dosage forms, or delivery systems in Phase II and III, including full economic analyses.
• Market development plans for first-in-class and late market entries in both US and global markets.
• Educational initiatives including strategic insight into how to best communicate with patients and professionals, managed care organizations, and other stakeholders.
• Marketing, market research, and sales training programs, including programs specifically developed for those working on new compounds.
• Full responsibilities for the launch of several new pharmaceuticals or line extensions, including qualitative and quantitative market research efforts, launch plan development, sales training materials, sales aids, public relations programs, and direct mail.
• Public relations and alliance-building programs, including establishing contacts with the media, major medical organizations, key opinion leaders, and targeted consumer organizations.

Prior to founding Advantage Healthcare, Debbie served as Senior Vice President at Saatchi & Saatchi's Healthcare Resources Group (formerly Klemtner), where she handled products in the cardiovascular, bronchodilator, hyperlipidemic, and smoking cessation categories in addition to animal health and consumer products for both domestic and international operations. Her responsibilities involved the development and implementation of a comprehensive direct-to-consumer campaign to support the launch of a nicotine transdermal system. The direct effort also involved an extensive inbound telemarketing and fulfillment program, a unique counseling service, a referral service, and management reporting. She also coordinated the transition of a client's distribution system from a traditional distributor network to a sales agent/authorized retail account system. Debbie served as a consultant on all aspects of the project as well as executing the tactical elements, including preparing the sales representatives with backgrounders and visual aids, communicating with the distributors, and preparing the client's internal systems to handle the transition to the new system.

Debbie's previous positions in the healthcare industry included Director of Marketing for Schein Pharmaceutical, Inc. and Group Product Manager at the Pfizer Laboratories Division of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals.

At Schein, Debbie spearheaded the company's entry into the hospital marketplace. She assisted in the development and training of a new field force, built strategic alliances with leading hospital pharmacists, created an ongoing advisory panel, and developed and executed a unique continuing education program to assist hospital pharmacists with their evaluations of multisource products.

At Pfizer, Debbie managed cardiovascular, antiarthritic, and anti-infective products. As Group Product Manager on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), she handled their arthritis business, which included the company's largest product at that time. During the 5 years she managed this unit, strong alliances were built with key opinion leaders, and close relationships were formed with visible third-party organizations, including the Arthritis Foundation and the American Rheumatism Association (now the American College of Rheumatology). In the NSAID marketplace, she developed unique and innovative programs for the field force, professional communications efforts, public relations programs, and a highly recognized direct-to-consumer initiative. Debbie was an integral part of the company's response to a regulatory challenge that threatened the future of the product in the United States; she oversaw public relations, educational, and field force efforts that successfully addressed that challenge.

Also at Pfizer, Debbie initiated the firm's first involvement in managed care issues, including establishment of an advisory board, a series of symposia to address and investigate emerging issues related to managed care, and development of support and selling materials for the managed care marketplace. She was responsible for the development, execution, and publication of a pharmacoeconomic study showing an economic advantage including the Pfizer product in all formularies compared with a lower-cost product. The study was widely supported by the medical community.

Debbie has closely worked with the clinical departments while at Pfizer and at client firms, particularly during the launch of new products. In one assignment, Debbie developed the claims structure for professional audiences for a new over-the-counter product, outlined a clinical program to support those claims, identified and assisted in recruiting the investigators, drafted a comprehensive document to guide clinical research associates monitoring the studies, organized and implemented a major satellite symposium at the American Academy of Pediatrics to present the data, and worked with the investigators to prepare the proceedings for submission for publication. Debbie also organized an advisory board to guide the sponsor in all communications with professionals on that product.

Debbie holds a bachelor of science degree in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Albany, an MBA concentrating in Marketing and Real Estate from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and a JD from New York Law School. She has served as an adjunct associate professor of marketing at Pace University's Lubin Graduate School of Business as well as an active member of the Columbia Business School Alumni Counseling Board. She holds memberships in the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, and the National Association of Female Executives. She currently holds a regional board position for a large women's non profit organization.