Our Team

Betsy Merryman Chairperson & CEO

Medical devices and diagnostics, health information technology, life sciences, hospital systems, provider groups and payers, nonprofits – Betsy Merryman has put her marketing and communications expertise to work for companies, products and services in all of these categories. She has experience in almost any therapeutic area, including diabetes, orthopedics, epilepsy, heart and vascular disease, women’s health, infectious disease, ophthalmology, and oral care, among others.

With more than 25 years of experience, Betsy has experience across virtually all communication disciplines: strategic corporate and marketing communication programs, branding, company and product launches, B2B and direct-to-consumer programs, crisis communications and media relations.

Prior to founding Merryman Communications (now M+), Betsy worked in senior strategic positions with premier, global communications agencies, including Porter Novelli Life Sciences (formerly FischerHealth, a specialized healthcare arm of Porter Novelli) and Fleishman-Hillard. Prior to her agency experience, Betsy spent several years in positions of responsibility on the payer and hospital sides of the industry. She also worked for Rubin Postaer & Associates, one of Southern California’s leading advertising agencies.

Betsy has taught healthcare marketing and public relations as a visiting professor at UCLA’s Executive Master of Public Health program and as an adjunct professor at University of Southern California’s Annenberg School.

Betsy’s work has earned industry recognition from the Public Relations Society of America, Ragan’s PR Daily, the Medical Marketing Association (including a Best in Show at the In-Awe Awards for an e-prescribing company’s brand launch), the Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Association, The Holmes Group (now PRovoke), and Los Angeles Advertising Women.

Betsy received her Master of Business Administration from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and her bachelor’s degree in communication and political science from Newcomb College of Tulane University.

Jeff Speer President & Managing Partner

Jeff has more than 20 years of healthcare brand, marketing, and communications experience working with provider, service, technology and device companies to engage consumers, businesses, physicians, nurses, and other key stakeholders. A versatile senior leader and strategist, Jeff has led teams through a wide variety of engagements including brand strategy and positioning, creative strategy and ideation, message development, integrated marketing programs, internal communications, and research design and analysis.

His clients have ranged from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Ethicon, Boston Scientific, HCA, Hoag, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, ArchWell Health, Signify Health, UC Davis Health, Brookdale Senior Living, ResMed, and AccentCare.

Prior to joining M+, Jeff was executive vice president of strategy at Revive, a full-service healthcare agency. In addition to his client work, Jeff contributed significantly to Revive’s agency management and evolution. He joined Revive as the eighth employee in 2010 and was heavily involved in crucial agency initiatives during the agency’s growth and through the acquisition by Weber Shandwick. Over the years this included agency strategic planning, new business, thought leadership, recruitment, departmental management, change management, and internal communication.

Jeff was also previously a vice president with Porter Novelli Life Sciences (formerly FischerHealth, a specialized healthcare arm of Porter Novelli) where he developed and oversaw the implementation of successful integrated marketing and public relations programs. He’d joined the firm early in his career and spent nearly 10 years in positions of increasing account management responsibility.

Jeff graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree in English and a concentration in business administration. He is married and has three children.

Jackie Aker Account Director

Jackie Aker has more than 22 years of experience in healthcare public relations and multicultural marketing, and she’s worked with M+ since 2017. Jackie is bilingual in Spanish and supports clients with corporate communications, traditional/social media campaigns and rebranding efforts. She is a reputation management expert, providing counsel on crisis communications and advocacy engagement. She has coached C-suite executives to prepare for interviews, communicate during times of crisis, and present in corporate and sales meetings. She has also worked with influencers and celebrities to prepare them to become brand ambassadors. In addition, she provides media training and issues management services in both Spanish and English.

Jackie’s clients have included: Boston Scientific, Cardinal Health, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Shire Pharmaceuticals, as well as several of Johnson & Johnson’s medical device brands, such as Biosense Webster, Advanced Sterilization Products, Mentor and Acclarent. She has also worked with nonprofit organizations such as the Epilepsy Foundation, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association and First 5 LA, as well as government agencies including the California Department of Public Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

Previously, Jackie was a senior vice president at Edelman where she helped expand the Health Practice’s capabilities to multicultural, public health and early childhood education. She also served as a group leader and managed the P&L for the Consumer Multicultural Practice, overseeing a team of 10 bilingual specialists. During her tenure at Edelman, Jackie led million-dollar campaigns in a variety of sectors, including healthcare, early-childhood education, government, consumer, as well as food and wellness. She managed clients’ advertising/creative agencies and multi-office Edelman teams, including a team of 32 Edelman offices globally on behalf of Advanced Medical Optics (now Abbott Medical Optics) to mitigate negative news and issues surrounding a product recall in the U.S., APAC, Europe and the Middle East.

Jackie served as chair of the American Diabetes Association’s Los Angeles Chapter World Diabetes Day Task Force and as vice president/president-elect of the Hispanic Public Relations Association’s Los Angeles chapter. Jackie received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from California State University, Long Beach.

Ashley Cadle Group Director

Ashley Cadle has more than 20 years of healthcare communications experience providing strategic counsel and oversight on product approvals and launches, corporate marketing, issues management, third-party alliance-building, trade and mainstream media relations and education campaigns. She has been working with M+ since 2014.

Among her many accomplishments, Ashley has implemented national, professional and grassroots campaigns for Roche, DePuy Synthes Companies, Covidien, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, BioMarin, Boston Scientific, Alder BioPharmaceuticals and Allergan working with large and boutique PR agencies in addition to M+, including TogoRun, Chandler Chicco Agency and FischerHealth.

Ashley helped guide KYTHERA Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. to bring to market their blockbuster drug, KYBELLA™, including the strategic media relations surrounding the FDA Advisory Committee Meeting, the FDA approval and the post-approval marketing activities. This led to KYTHERA becoming the “most attractive takeover target” in the industry.

For DePuy Synthes Companies, Ashley oversaw multiple consumer campaigns that received multiple awards including a CLIO Healthcare Award. The campaigns were fully integrated and included patient education, healthcare professional communications as well as tools, resources and incentive programs for the company’s salesforce. Resulting coverage included national media attention in USA Today, Fox and Friends and ABC News.

Ashley also led a ground-breaking campaign for Covidien, bringing together multiple medical societies and a celebrity to launch an awareness campaign and a coalition for varicose veins. The campaign received national media attention and praise from the medical community.

In her work for Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Ashley pioneered the development of a one-of-a-kind healthcare professional education program that won the accolades of the American Diabetes Association as well as American Association of Diabetes Educators.

Ashley is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication with an emphasis in public relations as well as a minor in business administration.

Keshia Cain Account Director

Keshia Cain brings 15 years of public relations and marketing communications experience to M+. Her experience spans strategic counsel and implementation for product launches, educational campaigns, thought leadership initiatives, celebrity spokesperson and KOL management, stakeholder relations, internal communications and event execution. She has managed successful branded and unbranded disease awareness campaigns; consumer, professional and media events; and spokesperson media tours.

At M+, Keshia has focused primarily on communications efforts for medical device companies. Activities include content development, local and national consumer campaigns, and healthcare professional campaigns.

Before joining M+, Keshia managed multiple accounts at Chandler Chicco Agency and TogoRun, including Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, Allergan, Aclaris Therapeutics, DePuy Synthes Companies (recognized with a CLIO award), and Covidien. Keshia has managed the day-to-day account work for numerous FDA approvals recognized in top-tier national media such as the NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, the Today Show and The New York Times.

Before moving to the agency side, Keshia was the principal lead of the comprehensive public relations program at Northeast Valley Health Corporation, one of the largest community health centers in the United States, heading both internal and external communications.

Keshia earned both a Master of Arts in communication and a Bachelor of Science in public relations with a minor in psychology (magna cum laude) from Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. She previously served as an adjunct professor for public relations courses at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Liz Fatone Account Director

Liz Fatone is an award-winning healthcare communications strategist with a consistent track record of implementing successful, multi-channel programs that are aligned with the business strategies of public and private healthcare companies. Her more than 20 years of healthcare communications experience includes pipeline communications, FDA approvals and product launches, KOL and advocacy relations, media campaigns, influencer programs, corporate and brand social media content, event marketing, internal communications, issues management and strategic counsel.

Working with a wide range of biotech and pharmaceutical clients, Liz’s clinical specialties include ADHD, asthma, burn care, cervical dystonia, dermatology, eye care, heart failure, hyperhidrosis, infectious disease, medical devices, obesity, oncology (ovarian and prostate cancer), rare diseases and spasticity. Past our-work has included implementing large-scale programs for clients including Allergan, Amgen, Dynavax, Genentech, Moderna, Novartis and Revance.

Consumer health campaigns are Liz’s passion. Some notable achievements include launching the first FDA-approved treatment for excessive sweating, increasing awareness and education for a rare movement disorder, and securing national media coverage and influencer endorsements for a leading aesthetic medicine brand.

Liz earned her Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University and Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern California.

Rachel Lipsitz Account Director

Rachel Lipsitz has more than 20 years of experience in developing and implementing strategic communications and advocacy relations programs for life sciences and biopharmaceutical companies.

Prior to joining M+, Rachel was Vice President of Corporate Communications and Advocacy at PharmaEssentia USA, where she implemented media and thought leadership and cross-functional communication strategy and co-created programs with patient advocacy in the rare blood cancer space. Prior to PharmaEssentia, Rachel was at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) where she led all external science and R&D communications activities and was the communications lead for the company in California. She also created a unique Tour of Duty with the early asset patient advocacy team to develop SOPs for engaging the patient advocacy community during early R&D. Before BMS, Rachel spent 18 years on the healthcare agency side where she led public relations, corporate communications and advocacy relations strategy for a roster of biopharmaceutical clients across various therapeutic areas.

Rachel received a Bachelor of Science from The University of Texas at Austin where she majored in public relations with a focus in business foundations.

Paula Moggio Account Director

Paula Moggio has 20 years of experience working in public relations and marketing communications across many healthcare specialties including medical devices, healthcare technology, health systems, and overall health and wellness. Most recently, she led the strategic development of and established a healthcare professional focused platform for Nature Made Vitamins and Supplements—raising awareness and brand recommendations among key HCPs. Another recent campaign included the development of an HCP-focused outreach and awareness program for Johnson & Johnson’s “Heartline” study, a digital study in partnership with Apple.

During Paula’s time at PR agencies FischerHealth and Porter Novelli, she worked on many medical device accounts including Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon EndoSurgery where she implemented communication programs that helped raise awareness among patients, professionals and employees. Her experience with health technology companies includes Vital Data Technology, which provides electronic health records and other information services. With Vital Data Technology, she helped lead the development of their brand identity, messaging and ultimately launched the company.

Paula has also managed communication and PR initiatives for many hospital systems, including Hoag Hospital. One of the many campaigns she worked on for Hoag included a launch of their tomosynthesis diagnostic capability in their cancer institute, as well as building awareness around their robotic assisted surgery using the da Vinci surgical systems for minimally invasive surgeries. She also worked with CHOC Children’s Hospital, where she garnered local and national media coverage for many of CHOC’s institutes and milestones, including work and advocacy around adolescent and young adult cancer, as well as the opening of a new CHOC patient tower—which garnered an HPRMA award.

Paula received her bachelor’s in sociology from UC Santa Barbara, and her MBA from California Polytechnic University.

Joni Ramirez Group Director

Joni Ramirez has more than 25 years of award-winning agency and in-house experience and has been working with M+ since 2014.

At M+, Joni oversees communications programs for early-stage companies, content creation and digital marketing programs for established companies and ongoing marketing and communications support for hospitals and health systems. Her areas of expertise include clinical trial recruitment, social media community management, product-related marketing and communications, corporate identity systems and website development, corporate and product milestone support and ongoing media relations campaigns. Her work has touched diabetes, oncology, orthopedics (spine, shoulder and knee), telemedicine, radiology, urology, and general and vascular surgery.

Joni brings big agency experience to M+, having spent more than 10 years at many top public relations firms. Most recently, she served as vice president in Edelman’s healthcare practice. In that role, she specialized in data, FDA milestone and issues communication for pharmaceutical and biotech companies in many different therapeutic areas, including diabetes, immunology, oncology and rheumatology. Early in her career, she held positions of increasing responsibility at GolinHarris, Communicore, FischerHealth and Ruder Finn.

Joni has also worked in-house as director of marketing and public relations for Miller Children’s Hospital/Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, where she oversaw a $3 million internal and external marketing and communications program. Among her accomplishments were spearheading the development of a new logo and advertising campaign; creating a year-long 100th anniversary “Century of Care” campaign; handling communications for a $151 million expansion project; supporting service line marketing with brochure development and ongoing television, radio, print and outdoor ad buys; handling internal communications for nursing union related issues, including a strike; ensuring ongoing local and national media exposure; and revamping employee communications, including redesigning the employee newsletter and intranet site.

She is an excellent writer with a keen ability to translate complex information into easy-to-understand language. She is also an experienced editor with a nose for grammar, punctuation, consistency and AP style errors.

Joni earned her master’s in business administration and bachelor’s in journalism/public relations degrees from California State University, Long Beach, where she also was a part-time instructor in the undergraduate public relations program for more than 20 years.

Amy Thomas Account Director

With over 15 years of experience in healthcare communications, Amy Thomas is a dynamic and strategic public relations professional known for her creative vision, sharp attention to detail and ability to lead with impact.

She has successfully delivered integrated communications strategies across a wide range of therapeutic areas including dermatology, aesthetics, oncology, cardiovascular disease, orthopedics/medical device/sports medicine, neurology and food/nutritional supplements.

A skilled storyteller and thoughtful strategist, Amy has led corporate and thought leadership initiatives, driven high-profile product launches and marketing campaigns and navigated complex data and regulatory milestones. Her work is grounded in a deep understanding of the healthcare landscape and brought to life through compelling storytelling. From working with influencers and celebrities to amplify awareness, to collaborating with HCPs and advocacy organizations, to developing websites and producing sponsored content that resonates, Amy combines creative insight with tactical precision. She is a natural leader who not only sees the big picture but also executes with excellence – bringing ideas to life through clear messaging, visual storytelling and cross functional collaboration. Whether building brand visibility, launching breakthrough therapies or managing multi-channel campaigns, Amy brings a thoughtful, results-driven approach to every project she touches.

Prior to joining M+, Amy worked with several agencies including Porter Novelli, TogoRun and Chandler Chicco Agency.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in communication and informational sciences and a Master of Arts in advertising and public relations, both from The University of Alabama. She also previously served as an adjunct professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Kirsten Thomas Account Director

Kirsten Thomas is a dynamic strategic communications leader with 15 years of experience partnering with pharma, biotech and medtech clients to shape narratives, build reputation, and drive visibility that achieve key business outcomes. She has led communications and public relations at both boutique and global agencies, becoming a trusted communications advisor to clients at all stages of growth, from early-stage to multi-million-dollar portfolios. Most recently, at Porter Novelli she led integrated corporate communications for a large pharmaceutical client’s oncology franchise, spanning above-brand narrative building and reputation refinement, marketed product communications — notably including guiding four successful FDA approvals in four years, with one award-winning launch — and pipeline support and clinical development. Prior to that, at investor relations firm The Ruth Group she helped position and capture attention for growth-stage companies that contributed to multiple acquisitions and funding successes.

Kirsten’s expertise spans corporate and brand positioning and storytelling, product launch excellence, data and regulatory milestones, medical meeting strategy, market shaping disease state education and awareness, media relations, thought leadership, KOL and patient engagement, and issues management. She has deep expertise in oncology with additional therapeutic experience in cardiology, neurology, spine, infectious diseases, dermatology and aesthetics, among others.

Kirsten is known for her energetic optimism, passion for scientific innovation, and collaborative spirit. Her work is rooted in innate curiosity, thoughtful strategy, and delivering impact. She leads with a partnership approach built on open communication, shared vision, and a commitment to trust, respect, and mutual success.

Kirsten holds a dual B.A. in Public Relations and Biology from Syracuse University.

Traci Tournoux Account Director

Traci Tournoux is a seasoned communications and PR strategist with more than 20 years of experience helping brands and agencies craft compelling stories that drive awareness, engagement, and results. 

Her work spans corporate communications, executive positioning, brand messaging, social media strategy, influencer campaigns, internal engagement, and more. She’s partnered with top names like Amgen, Novartis, and Dexcom, leading high-stakes campaigns across both regulated and consumer health sectors.

Traci brings a hybrid background that combines sharp narrative instincts with digital fluency. She’s led communications around FDA approvals, created influencer-first content strategies, and run social media programs from the ground up—everything from daily content creation to ambassador training and analytics. She’s also a go-to for messaging, having facilitated narrative workshops and developed message maps for product launches, DEI initiatives, and brand repositioning efforts.

A trusted partner known for her creativity, strategic insight, and ability to seamlessly flex between big-picture thinking and tactical delivery, Traci thrives in fast-paced environments where clarity and connection matter. 

She holds a B.S. in Journalism from Ohio University.