PinneyAssociates Announces Senior Staff Promotions

BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- PinneyAssociates, Inc., a health care consulting firm with offices in Bethesda, MD and Pittsburgh, PA, is pleased to announce the following promotions, effective 1 January 2012:

• Karen Gerlach, PhD, MPH, to Co-Director, Clinical and Behavioral Research
• Lucy Owen, to Vice President, Program Operations and Over-the-Counter Switch
• Mitch Zeller, JD, to Senior Vice President
• Joe Gitchell, to President
• John Pinney, to Chief Executive Officer

"We are fortunate to have such a high-performing and effective team, and I believe that these promotions will serve PinneyAssociates, and its clients, very well in 2012 and beyond," stated CEO, John Pinney.

PinneyAssociates works closely with clients on marketing, business development, research and development, scientific and regulatory affairs, and government affairs throughout a product's lifecycle.  PinneyAssociates' interdisciplinary teams of scientists, policy experts, researchers, and analysts integrate an understanding of the scientific and policy environments with peer-reviewed literature, research, and data analysis to meet a client's needs and forge long-term strategic success.  Our main practice areas include risk management; issues assessment, management and strategy; prescription-to-OTC switch; pharmaceutical product support; data analysis; abuse liability and behavioral research.

Additional background information on those who received promotions includes the following:

• Karen Gerlach joined PinneyAssociates in 2007 after serving as a Senior Program Officer and Team Leader at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey. Gerlach completed her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at the Indiana University School of Medicine and an MPH in epidemiology and health policy at The Johns Hopkins University.  She is a graduate of Indiana University.

• Lucy Owen has been with PinneyAssociates since 1998, and for much of that time directed the Issues Management team. Lucy completed her graduate work in the history of medicine at Oxford University, having graduated from the University of Michigan with High Distinction and High Honors.

• Mitch Zeller joined PinneyAssociates in 2002. Prior to joining, Zeller served as associate commissioner and director of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Office of Tobacco Programs and Executive Vice President of the American Legacy Foundation. Zeller attended Dartmouth College and received his JD from American University Washington College of Law.

• Joe Gitchell has been with PinneyAssociates for 19 years. Prior to serving as President, Gitchell led the Marketing Strategy team and served as Vice President of Program Operations.  Gitchell graduated magna cum laude from Yale University.

• John Pinney founded PinneyAssociates in 1987. Previously, Pinney worked in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (now Health and Human Services), and co-founded and served as the executive director of Harvard University's Institute for the Study of Smoking Behavior and Policy. Pinney is a graduate of Yale University.

SOURCE Pinney Associates, Inc.