Physicians Interactive Chairman and CEO Donato Tramuto to Receive Inaugural "PharmaVOICE Magazine" Red Jacket Award

READING, Mass., Aug. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Donato Tramuto, the CEO and Chairman of Physicians Interactive Inc. (PI), has been selected as an inaugural recipient of the Red Jacket Award from PharmaVOICE Magazine. The Red Jacket Award recognizes a select and distinguished group of leaders who have been lauded by their colleagues and peers for their many contributions to their companies and the life sciences industry at large.

PharmaVOICE is introducing the award this year in conjunction with events celebrating the magazine's 10^th anniversary of publishing.

"Donato Tramuto's entrepreneurial spirit and leadership have not only inspired his employees and companies to thrive throughout his career, but his influence is impacting the larger sphere of the life-sciences industry through his commitment to philanthropic associations and communities dedicated to social change," said Taren Grom, Co-Founder and Editor of PharmaVOICE. "Donato demonstrates that success is not just based on hard work and a healthy bottom line, but by creating a legacy that extends to improving the healthcare environment for all, now and in the future."

Grom said Tramuto is being honored by PharmaVOICE for his commitment to innovation, motivation, mentorship and philanthropy in the life sciences industry over the past three decades. Tramuto's Red Jacket profile is featured in a special section of this year's July/August issue of PharmaVOICE Magazine.

"I am honored to be one of the inaugural recipients of the Red Jacket Award from PharmaVOICE Magazine," said Tramuto. "I have been fortunate to work throughout my career with outstanding, innovative teams on both my business and philanthropic endeavors, and this is a reflection of their commitment to improving the well-being of people across the globe through life sciences, healthcare and technology. Through our efforts both in the life sciences industry and through technology innovations in healthcare, together we are able to make a difference around the world, one person at a time."

At Physicians Interactive, Tramuto has worked tirelessly to use digital communications to improve connections and build trust between physicians and life sciences companies in order to improve healthcare processes and positively impact patient outcomes. Earlier in his career, he also led the way in developing many key healthcare programs, including the first HIV/AIDS Arthur Ashe workplace education program in 1991, followed by the launch of a national HIV Provider Network focused on comprehensive disease management. 

In 2001, Donato founded The Tramuto Foundation following the September 11 terrorist attacks in honor of two close friends and their 3-year-old son who were on United Flight 175, the second plane to hit the World Trade Center. The Tramuto Foundation provides educational grants to youths with unique challenges to help overcome adversity and build the confidence necessary to achieve personal excellence.

Over the last 13 years, The Tramuto Foundation provided financial assistance to several individuals, families and programs in need. It provided funding to rebuild the home of a Hurricane Katrina family with a special needs child; a full sponsorship grant to teach English to an entire Cambodian village; the support of an Emergency Healthcare Services program with an AIDS/HIV center; the installation of advanced technology at a Maine playhouse to allow the hearing impaired to enjoy the performances; and the funding of high school education of four young adults in need through a partner organization in Kenya.  Recently, the Foundation also announced the approval of four five-year grants to address gaps in healthcare and education around the globe.

In 2011, following the devastating effects from the earthquake in Haiti, Tramuto and Physicians Interactive partnered with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights to create Health eVillages, an effort to "heal-the-villages" around the world. Today, Health eVillages provides handheld devices, such as smartphones, iPod Touches and iPads, preloaded with specialized medical reference content and clinical decision support tools powered by the Omnio medical app, to clinicians in the most challenging clinical environments worldwide.

The impact of the difference Health eVillages makes is demonstrated in Lwala, Kenya, where infant mortality has been reduced from 95 deaths per thousand births to less than 40 per thousand since the program began its support. To date, Health eVillages has made critical improvements to patient care and helped save lives in pilots around the world including Kenya, Uganda, India, Haiti, Ethiopia and rural Louisiana. 

In December 2013, under Tramuto's leadership more than $150,000 was raised to support the new construction of the first Health eVillages Inpatient Clinic in Lwala, which will provide 15 additional beds to the facility among other much needed utilities.

In February, Tramuto announced the expansion of Health eVillages in India through a partnership with Dr. B. R. Lakshmi, Founder and Director of the Molecular Diagnostics Counseling, Care and Research Center (MDCRC) which provides support to children afflicted with muscular diseases in India. Health eVillages is providing tablets, medical content, and portable projectors to community health workers at MDCRC who will travel to rural areas and educate the families and communities of children who are suffering from the muscular diseases.

In addition to the Red Jacket Award, this year Tramuto was named one of the four recipients of the Ripple of Hope award for his commitment to social change throughout his career as a relentless advocate in addressing healthcare needs across the globe. He will join Hillary Clinton, Robert DeNiro and Tony Bennett as honorees at the Robert F. Kennedy Institute for Justice and Human Rights Gala in December in New York City.

About Physicians Interactive

Headquartered in Reading, MA, PI aspires to use the power of worldwide networks of healthcare professionals and life sciences companies together in ways that will change the practice and business of medicine for the better. PI's value proposition is to offer the life science industry a low-cost, virtual, multi-channel marketing approach that can be used to supplement currently promoted products, as well as non-promoted and orphaned products, that deliver benefits to physicians and patients. A key focus is providing services that fit into physicians' and healthcare professionals' daily workflow at the point-of-care when they make diagnosis, treatment and prescribing decisions. More information can be found at www.PhysiciansInteractive.com.

Media Contact:
Tim Boivin
Amendola Communications for Physicians Interactive
224.209.6495
[email protected]

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SOURCE Physicians Interactive