Syneos Health, a fully integrated biopharmaceutical solutions organization, has appointed Michelle Keefe as CEO and a member of the company’s Board of Directors.
 
Keefe, currently president, Medical Affairs and Commercial Solutions, succeeds Alistair Macdonald, who will retire after 20 years at Syneos Health. Macdonald will remain an advisor to Syneos Health through March 2023.

About Michelle Keefe

Keefe brings more than 30 years of life sciences industry experience to the role. Since joining Syneos Health in 2017, her leadership has driven the ongoing transformation of the company’s Commercial business, including its second straight year of double-digit growth.
 
Her successes across the product development continuum include launching Kinetic, Syneos Health’s modern customer engagement capability, building integrated solutions such as Full-Service Commercial and Medical Affairs, and collaborating to drive growth in Syneos One, the company’s unique end-to-end offering.
 
Prior to Syneos Health, Keefe served as global group president and chief development officer of Publicis Health, responsible for the Contract Sales Organization (CSO), medical affairs and specialty agency functions. Earlier in her career, she spent 20 years at Pfizer, with increasing levels of responsibility culminating as a regional president and led market development for the Visiting Nurse Service of NY. She currently serves as executive sponsor of the Syneos Health DE&I Council and sits on the HBA Global Board of Directors. She holds a B.S. in marketing from Seton Hall University.
 
“Michelle’s focus on customer outcomes is at the center of all that she does, making her the ideal leader to drive the Syneos Health integrated value proposition forward. Her expertise will usher in Syneos Health’s next era as a data- and insights-driven organization, addressing market opportunities with a product development mindset,” said John Dineen, chair of the Syneos Health Board of Directors. “She is a highly accomplished executive with a strong track record of execution, innovation and customer success. Michelle is well respected and trusted by customers and employees alike, and with the rest of the management team will continue Syneos Health’s momentum well into the future.”
 
“I am incredibly honored to take on this role and lead Syneos Health and our talented colleagues around the world,” Keefe commented. “I want to thank Alistair for his partnership and guidance these past four plus years, and I appreciate the support from the Board. Syneos Health holds a unique market position to maximize benefits to customers while driving enhanced returns for shareholders. I look forward to continuing to build on our successes as we accelerate toward becoming a more intelligent enterprise and impactful healthcare leader.”

Appointment of Michael Brooks as COO

As part of this transition, Michelle Keefe has appointed Michael Brooks to the newly created role of chief operating officer (COO), effective immediately.
 
Brooks will report to Keefe and be responsible for day-to-day operations within Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, and Commercial Solutions with a focus on creating greater customer success through integrated solutions and technology-driven insights across the product development lifecycle.
 
Brooks currently serves as the company’s chief development officer and global head of Clinical Development Solutions, encompassing clinical pharmacology services, full-service clinical trial and product development capabilities, scientific and therapeutic offerings FSP and hybrid models and digital and mobile health solutions. He has more than 25 years of clinical development and commercialization experience and a strong track record of transforming business units and companies, setting strategy and spearheading high-value solutions. He previously served as president & global head of Clinical Development & Commercialization Services at LabCorp (Covance) and Executive Vice President & Global Head of Clinical Development at PRA Health Sciences. He received a B.S. from North Carolina State University.
 
Dineen said, “Since joining Syneos Health, Michael has further enhanced how the organization delivers an exceptional customer experience, implementing innovative, integrated solutions while helping ensure we achieve our growth targets. As a proven executive with decades of industry experience, Michael is ideally suited to help deliver on our goals for the business.”