Our Team
Deeply invested in the success of your brand, our people bring impactful experience from diverse backgrounds, including consumer, biopharmaceutical, and pharmaceutical marketing. Meet some of them below.
Alisa Shakarian
Senior Art Director
Experience: + 7 years across multiple brands and therapeutic categories including branding, online marketing campaigns, print advertising, websites, community building, and booth design.
What inspires you? All art that blurs the line between art and design, traveling, and walking barefoot on grass.
Maureen Franco
Partner, Chief Strategy Officer
Experience: 20+ years in healthcare marketing, recently served as VP Global Marketing in the Genzyme rare disease division; deep leadership experience in high-level strategic planning for pre-launch, launch, and life-cycle management of first-in-class agents in multiple therapeutic categories.
What inspires you? My husband, my kids, and the opportunity to work with talented people on therapies that actually make a difference.
Ashley Commiso
Traffic Coordinator/Office Management
Experience: Experience across customer service, property leasing and retail, programming and development, all with a completely new expertise: motherhood!
What inspires you? My two little boys, and sunny days!
Ben Zipkin
Partner, Digital Services
Experience: Ben is a seasoned business strategist, information architect, researcher, digital marketer, and design specialist with over 15 years experience with digital marketing for healthcare, life sciences, consumer, and technology industries. Past clients include P&G, Gillette, Microsoft, Eastman Kodak, Monster.com, and many others. He can be followed @bzipkin
What inspires you? Helping patients find the right path to treatment.
Cassie Meyer
Assistant Account Executive
Experience: High-energy account manager with experience across nephrology, transplant, and orphan therapeutics; specializes in helping translate client vision and ideas clearly to agency teams.
What inspires you? An insanely organized desk/closet.
Cheryl McCaffrey
Studio Manager
Experience: 10+ years of studio and production management across all therapeutic categories, including consumer, digital, and print media.
What inspires you? Walking through the Arnold Arboretum. Pantone color swatches. Visiting Portland, Maine with my husband. Software upgrades. Misquamicut Beach, Rhode Island. Chocolate and peanut butter.
Karin Monfredo
Associate Creative Director, Copy
Experience: Award-winning writer specialized in healthcare advertising, branding, and strategic initiatives on products ranging from popular OTC brands like Bayer; Aspirin and Aleve; to oncology therapeutics.
What inspires you? Anything and everything.
Kate McKenna
Copywriter
Experience: During her time at CB, Kate has written on a number of Genzyme accounts, including Seprafilm, Renvela, Thyrogen, and Thymoglobulin.
What inspires you? My family, my friends, people who have overcome adversity—people in general.
Katie Best
Assistant Account Executive
Experience: "The Wrangler" as Katie has been dubbed, is equal parts vivacious and tenacious, in her quest to produce quality work. Katie has been a key player in one of our largest accounts. She is also a new addition to the Amylin account team and always willing and able to go above and beyond what is required for her clients.
What inspires you?
Katie Tilton
Director of Finance
Experience: Over 15 years experience on both client- and agency-side financial management, with a special focus on auditing.
What inspires you? People who pay it forward.
Susie D'Etremont
Management Supervisor
Experience: Powerful combination of digital knowledge and account management encompassing consumer and life science brands such as Philips, BioClinica, Athena Diagnostics and Genzyme.
What inspires you? Innovative applications of digital to create completely new experiences.
Steve West
CEO & Chief Creative Officer
Experience: 25 product launches and counting, across all therapeutic categories.
What inspires you? Classic Vinyl on Sirius XM, seemingly impossible marketing challenges, and all the people at CB.
Shauna Horvath
Group Account Director
Experience: Over 8 years of experience within biotech and pharmaceutical across all communication channels. Worked in multiple categories for a wide array of clients including Alexion, Genzyme, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, and Wyeth.
What inspires you? Friends and family; good work/amazing creative; organized anything and everything.
Samuel Falsetti, PhD
Clinical Science Director
Experience: 10+ years experience in drug discovery, development and medical communications for a combination of deep clinical knowledge with marketing acumen; has led the development of medical communications programs for a variety of clients, including Bristol-Myers Squibb and Astellas Oncology.
What inspires you? Innovative science that changes lives.
Rich Thorne
Senior Art Director
Experience: Went from lowly intern to award-winning art director during my time at CB. Developed branding, integrated campaigns and interactive experiences for clients such as Cubist, Biogen Idec, Alexion, and Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company.
What inspires you? Contemporary art, photography, cycling, and traveling with my wife.
Mike Hodgson
Partner, Creative Director
Experience: 15+ years experience across every major therapeutic category, including multiple "best-ever" launches in the orphan/specialty space.
What inspires you? Great books, good dogs, big waves, and everyone around me.
Lynne Travers
Office Manager/HR
Experience: 15+ years of agency office management and HR experience; played a key role in helping the agency grow from start-up to mid-size company over the last 10 years.
What inspires you? Being a Mom to my kids (and sometimes, to my coworkers) is most inspiring to me!
Laurie Hergrueter
Editorial Director
Experience: Extensive experience across a broad range of therapeutic categories, including successful product launches, new indication launches, and rebranding campaigns across US and global accounts.
What inspires you? I am inspired by random acts of kindness, and the people receiving those kindnesses.
Lauren Michelle
Senior Art Director
Experience: 7+ years experience creating and developing a wide range of print and digital pieces for clients such as Alexion, Seprafilm, and Thyrogen.
What inspires you? The wanna-be copywriter.
Laura Fleming
Account Executive
Experience: Multiple disease categories including orphan, transplant, OBGYN, oncology, and consumer healthcare.
What inspires you? My family & friends.
Kristen Casey
Group Account Director
Experience: Three years of experience as a psychologist in direct healthcare service; 9 years of pharmaceutical marketing experience in orphan and specialty markets.
What inspires you? My amazing daughter—terrible twos and all.
Tanja Stieglmeier
Graphic Design Director, Global
Experience: 5+ years experience as an art director, bringing crisp vision and fresh perspectives to a range of print, digital, and experiential projects for professional and consumer audiences.
What inspires you? Walking across the Upper East Side, getting lost inside MOMA, and swimming with sea turtles in Hawaii.
Amanda Stoney
Traffic Coordinator
Experience: over a year experience in the digital print industry managing numerous direct mail, cross media, on-demand print, and full service marketing campaigns from planning to completion. I also have over 5 years of client service experience in multiple industries ranging from nonprofit organizations to Fortune 500 companies.
What inspires you? My family (in particular my two incredible nephews!) and unreserved, whole-hearted high-fives.
Guido Baratta
Creative Director, Interaction
Experience: 18+ years of experience creating award-winning branding and interactive innovations across many markets segment. Italy's native son. Mentor & online pioneer. Love design, fashion and people's brains.
What inspires you? Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future. What inspires me, is creating a brighter future.
Justin Rebello
Junior Copy Editor
Experience: I have previously worked editorial roles for a national legal publication, state medical trade paper and in the marketing department for Inflexxion, which specializes in providing interactive technologies for health care providers.
What inspires you? Anyone who can write good...and appreciates sarcasm.
Karen Shaffer
Copywriter
Experience: I have previously worked editorial roles for a national legal publication and state medical trade paper, and helped produce and edit marketing copy concerning interactive technologies for health care providers and major universities.
What inspires you? All things digital inspire me. Things like SEO, web site analytics, user behavior and interactive design help me find new ways to engage others to take notice and take action.
Michael Doring
Assistant Account Executive
Experience: Michael specializes in digital advertising and integrated marketing solutions. He has worked on high profile clients such as CBS and Honda Powersports, and gained pharmaceutical industry experience after working for the finance department for Pfizer Global Operations. His international work experience includes working for the marketing department for Fulham Football Club in London, England.
What inspires you? The ever-evolving digital age and traveling the world.
LIbby Safford
Digital Producer
Experience:: 6+ years experience in digital producing and interactive development in Boston, NYC, London, and Shanghai; builds include tablet, mobile apps, and interactive games.
What inspires you? Cyborgs, early digital art, mad scientists, false eyelashes, and nostalgia.
Danielle Stanton
Designer
Experience:: BA in Graphic Design from MassArt; previously worked at Children's Hospital Boston as a designer in the vascular biology program.
What inspires you? Cut paper art, art nouveau, the weird, the ugly, and the beautiful.
Stephanie Curtis
Creative Services Manager
Experience:: Equal parts Producer and Designer, Stephanie's experience as an innovative, creative resource serves to support our bustling creative team.
What inspires you? Great photography, surprising uses for ordinary materials; interesting textures, and challenging deadlines.