Partners
Dr. Courmanopoulos obtained his psychological training at McGill, Capella and California State Universities. His career spans more than forty years in clinical, corporate, and entrepreneurial roles at leading global organizations including the Douglas Hospital, E. Merck, Beiersdorf, and Hill-Rom. In 1994 he joined Medius International Inc. where he is presently the Senior Partner and CEO.
Steve believes that the one factor that truly differentiates companies that produce long-term shareholder value is the ability to engage their employees’ drive to the company’s Vision and Mission. This “human element” is poorly understood, despite its dramatic impact on an organization’s performance. In 1994 Steve made the critical discoveries that led to the development of Psychmentation, a powerful market intelligence tool that accesses the most disclosure resistant elements in any human relationship.
Steve describes his company’s activities as part of the growing Corporate Renewal specialty. The turbulence of recent years has resulted in an increasing demand for expertise in managing change and performance. Steve is a member of the American and Canadian Psychological Associations and the worldwide Turnaround Management Association; a small group of specialists who help companies navigate challenging times.
Mr. Arless served CryoCath Technologies Inc. as President and Chief Executive Officer from a start-up in April 1996 to July 2006. CryoCath gained worldwide recognition as the leading technology company developing therapeutic catheter ablation solutions for atrial fibrillation, a pervasive cardiac arrhythmia. Supported by aggressive financing strategies including a record IPO of $45 MM in October 2000, worldwide sales grew to over $40 MM, with over 65% coming from the USA. Recently, Medtronic Inc. of Minneapolis, Minnesota, announced the acquisition of CryoCath, listed and traded on the TSE, for $400 million.
Mr. Arless has accumulated more than 35 years of extensive Canadian and international experience in the development, marketing and sales of medical devices products, including 17 years at Smith & Nephew Inc., where he served as President for close to five years. His experience includes extensive involvement in technology transfer and strategic acquisition projects across the United States and Canada and numerous international marketing mandates in the areas of orthotics, prosthetics, orthopaedics, wound care and durable medical equipment.
Mr. Arless’s most recent award, in October, 2005, was as Ernst and Young (Canada) Entrepreneur of the Year in healthcare.
Angelo holds an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and a Diploma in Institutional (Hospital) Administration from Concordia University.
His corporate career includes Sales with BDH/E.Merck, Sales Management at Hill-Rom, and General Management with Terumo Corporation (Canada) for which he was responsible from 1994-2000.
Before working in a corporate setting, Angelo was a successful entrepreneur who established and later sold a high-tech electronics company still in operation today. He also worked in the public sector within administration at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal.
Associates and Staff
With more than 20 years of Pharma experience, Paul has been leading the digital transformation in the pharmaceutical industry. Paul has initiated and led major transformations in Health Education, Digital Marketing, and Field Sales Communications. This was achieved by forming and leading globally integrated matrix organizations and applying intricate Six Sigma processes ensuring executional excellence.
From ideation to realization, Paul has a proven track-record of breakaway strategies with scalable, sustainable results. Paul is currently also a Principal of LEGITIMED Inc., a senior consultancy in the digital pharma space, and is Guest Lecturer at the Molson School of Business, Concordia University (Montreal, Quebec) where he teaches and mentors on the topic of ‘Intra & entrepreneurial teams’.
John is a skilled strategic marketing consultant with extensive experience in international healthcare communications and has 25 years experience working in Canada, the UK, and the USA for companies including Bayer, Smith & Nephew, & ArjoHuntleigh (the Getinge Group). John is a sought-after speaker on healthcare outcomes around preventable healthcare-acquired conditions. At ArjoHuntleigh, he held director-level country and international roles where he developed the Diligent Consulting pressure-ulcer prevention program, a model for improved patient and health system outcomes.
John is a graduate of the International Interprofessional Wound Care Course. He co-founded the MEDEC Wound Care Committee. He does work for Wounds Canada editing the conference syllabus, is part of the social media team, and writes for Wound Care Canada. John is a HubSpot inbound certified expert. He was a speaker at Inbound Marketing Day in Gothenburg. John founded the Milton Transitional Housing charity. He hosts the Charity Spotlight podcast series on iTunes. John is an acclaimed journalist for the International Canoe Federation covering Olympic canoeing. He can be found on Twitter @gregiej.
Alain Gilbert holds an MBA from the University of Montreal and Bachelor’s degree from the University of Quebec. Alain has more than thirty years experience and achievements in the medtech industry occupying key positions in Sales, Marketing, and Business Development for industry leaders such as Baxter, Smith & Nephew, Convatec, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Getinge. Alain has particular expertise in navigating the complex landscape of group purchasing and creating value propositions that will align with how GPOs assess and award contracts. His focus is in helping clients build sales, share and margin growth in the acute, LTC and homecare segments in Quebec.
Julie has over 25 years of experience in top-tier Consumer Packaged Goods companies, with deep focus on the Skin Care and Cosmetics segments. She has held executive positions in the areas of Marketing, Sales and Trade Marketing, as well as General Management. Julie is results-driven and has a proven track record of success, including the launch of L’Oréal’s Vichy and the strategic re-staging of L’Oréal Cosmetics into the Canadian market. Julie is known for her professionalism and dedication. She leverages her creative business acumen to deliver client satisfaction by zeroing in on company problems and solutions to drive business growth and profitability.
After earning is BSc in Microbiology at the University of Victoria, Jeff joined Merck Frosst as a sales rep in Vancouver, and retired 30 years later as Merck Canada’s VP, Strategy. Along the way, he had a wide variety of assignments in Sales, Marketing, Business Development, and in organizational strategy development & realization. In addition to Canada, Jeff worked in the US and in Europe. Jeff is recognized for leadership attributes, as well as his expertise in organizational & brand strategy and realization. Jeff is a compelling communicator who inspires teams and individuals to deepen their market insights, to make choices, and to align with others.
Shavait Yamini holds a Ph.D. degree in Clinical Oncology and has a strong background in pharmaceutical research in the areas of Oncology and Infectious Diseases. With solid business acumen and strong networking capabilities in Scientific Communication she offers Medius’ life sciences clients value in bridging technology with patient benefits. She founded ScienTerrific Group focusing on making Science more accessible to everyone.
Shavait brings her scientific, analytical, communication, and relationship building skills to any project she undertakes.
Dr. Zwanenburg’s experience over more than 30 years spans the healthcare field in a number of roles and capacities. His career in Canada included positions at Health & Welfare Canada, several hospitals, as well as pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and NovoNordisk, where he held positions of Associate Medical Director, Team Leader/New Product Manager, and Medical Science Liaison.
Dr. Zwanenburg has also worked for a number of leading pharmaceutical companies in a consulting capacity and has also managed relationships with professional stakeholder associations, conducting market research and organizing a Guidelines Consensus Conference.
Ms. Camerino has more than 35 years experience in project management within diverse industries that include real-estate, manufacturing, and medical services. She is a graduate of Concordia University in languages and is multilingual, making her a major asset on international projects.
Orna has coordinated more than a dozen major Psychmentation projects and is also a certified Psychmentation researcher.
After completing a BA in Political Science, Nick spent a number of years in commercial real estate investment and management. He brings this entrepreneurial perspective and drive to Medius’ client services. Nick’s responsibilities have included but are not limited to product management, digital marketing, and publications.
Nick is a certified Psychmentation™ researcher and has been involved in many projects including specialties such as diabetes, infectious diseases, veterinary pharma, and hospital management. He is also an expert in the use of mind mapping for strategic planning and project management. Nick has completed major strategic planning projects in a range of industries from healthcare to hospitality.
Dr. Pilarinos holds a Ph.D. in Research Psychology from the Université de Montreal. She has taught at Concordia University, the Université de Montreal and at the YMCA in the fields of Human Resources, Psychology and Psychoeducation, in addition to working as a counselor on a one-on-one basis.
Bessy’s expertise in the design of research methods is a major asset to the ongoing development of Psychmentation, as well as new tools for understanding customer decision making”.
Strategic Alliances
energi PR was established in 1990 and is an independently owned and operated national public
relations firm with offices in Toronto and Montreal. With expertise across the spectrum of the
latest consumer health brands and high-science pharmaceutical products, the firm’s focus is
on communications that bring an “original” mix of scientific rigor and consumer packaged goods
know-how.
energi PR is almost exclusively dedicated to talking to and about health and wellness to consumers,
patients, caregivers, governments, third party payers and the media. The firm provides expertise in
developing messaging and programs in order to engage audiences and encourage action, from information
seeking to donations to product purchases to broader advocacy.
energi PR has a large, best in-class team of health and consumer marketing communications experts – it’s
all about having senior practitioners front and center. This approach offers clients stability as well
as time and cost savings by getting things done right the first time.
Carole Levine, co-founder of energi PR says, “We’re all about demystifying the jargon, making health
information understandable and celebrating innovation. We do this by using data-driven content, ingenuity
and insight to tell powerful stories that build influential relationships and brands. We are known for
our strategic smarts, boutique approach and entrepreneurial spirit’.
Getting to the stories that underlie the metrics is a key theme across all MCG services. energi PR
provides a new area of expertise to the current portfolio that is well aligned with the MCG Mission
of “Competitive advantage. Redefined”.
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