Meet Our Team
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Tara DiMilia
Managing Director, CEO, Founder
Jennifer Devine
Strategic Director
Caitlin Henderson
Strategic Director
Caren Begun
SVP, Media Relations
Emily Pihlquist
SVP
Tara DiMilla | Managing Director, CEO, Founder
Tara’s leadership, passion for innovative science and propensity for building synergetic teams have fostered TellMed’s ability to achieve success for clients and sustain consistent growth. Routinely exceeding client expectations, Tara believes strongly in the value of teamwork, well-crafted messaging and taking time to understand the viewpoints of patients, reporters and other audiences. A 30-year veteran in healthcare public relations, she spent a majority of her career focused on media relations and was involved in the initiation/restructuring of three companies before founding TellMed.
Tara.DiMilia@tmstrat.com
908-947-0500 x 700
Julie Croce | Strategy & Counsel
Julie is a dedicated communications leader bringing 25+ years of expertise, strategic insights and personalized service to TellMed and our clients. Her work with life science companies at all phases of growth guides her approach to customizing multi-faceted campaigns that consistently exceed expectations. Julie has a passion for building relationships with key audiences and stakeholders that support communications objectives and attract media interest. Her insatiable curiosity about healthcare and science has expanded her experience in oncology and cardiology to include work in countless disease areas.
Julie.Croce@tmstrat.com
908-947-0500 x713
Caitlin Henderson | Strategic Director
Caitlin’s considerable expertise in managing broad communications and social media strategies is underscored by 15+ years of experience spanning patient care, marketing, and corporate communications. Her leadership, strategy, and masterful navigation of the ever-changing landscape of social media have been integral in building TellMed’s reputation for exceptional social media communications and exceeding client expectations. Caitlin’s commitment to growth, excellence and client success exemplifies our company culture and has benefited clients including: EMD Serono, Arvinas, Lantheus, Cybrexa Therapeutics, LambdaVision and Bay Area Lyme Foundation.
Caitlin.Henderson@tmstrat.com
908-947-0500 x708
Jennifer Devine | Strategic Director
A veteran healthcare public relations professional, Jennifer is exceptionally skilled at understanding and communicating both the business and human sides of biotech and pharmaceutical issues. She is highly adept at overcoming complex communications challenges in the areas of branding, positioning, employee engagement, advocacy relations, and media relations. With her passion for healthcare, patient advocacy, and rare diseases, Jennifer is integral to the success of countless communications objectives and campaigns for TellMed clients.
Jennifer.Devine@tmstrat.com
908-947-0500 x706
Emily Pihlquist | SVP
With more than 20 years in brand and corporate communications across the healthcare spectrum, Emily brings the depth and breadth of her experience in the biopharma and life science spaces to TellMed clients. With extensive background in numerous therapeutic categories, Emily has provided counsel and programming for both Big Pharma and startup biotechs, Rx and OTC, HCPs, patients and consumers, payer and patient advocacy and managed every regulatory milestone including approvals, launches, advisory committee hearings, label changes, recalls and line extensions.
Emily.Pihlquist@tmstrat.com
908-947-0500 x710
CORE TEAM
Amy Cuccia
Office Manager
Courtney Dai
Account Coordinator
Lauren Fabrizio
Account Manager
Amanda Flood
Account Supervisor, Operations
Claire Kissane
Account Coordinator
Gabrielle Muscatell
Account Coordinator
David Rooney
Account Coordinator
Alana Stalvey
Account Manager
DESIGN TEAM
Sheri Beran | Creative Director
With a background in marketing, advertising, communications and branding, Sheri has spent the last 30 years developing masterful design campaigns for print and web including corporate identity, branding, and corporate fact sheets; social media visuals and animations, tradeshow displays, and infographics and design for publications and annual reports. Her clients have included EMD Serono, Kaiser Permanente, Rallybio and other leaders in the life science sector. Her designs demonstrate each company’s business “persona”, taking into account the audiences, content and messaging.
Sheri.Beran@tmstrat.com
908-947-0500 x704
Alex Crookshanks | Branding & Multimedia Design
Over the past 25 years, Alex’s work for university research institutes, laboratories and companies has been seen locally, nationally and internationally on publications, educational materials, packaging, billboards and signage. As a multimedia visual artist, designer and branding expert, his talent, experience and commitment to collaboration enable him to visually tell the stories of clients through print, digital, and motion graphics. Alex holds degrees in both Graphic Design and Studio Art.
Kelly Swaney | Graphic & Digital Design Support
With a background in project management and client service, Kelly managed client relationships while in her roles at Vanguard and SEI Investments. At TellMed, her ability to deeply understand clients’ needs and her results-driven approach have been paired with an innate creativity to yield illustrative graphic design concepts that convey client branding and messaging. Kelly develops eye-catching social media visuals and animations, marketing materials and PowerPoint presentations to support the needs of the TellMed team and clients.
Amy Covino | Media Relations
During her 20+ years in healthcare communications, Amy has designed strategic media campaigns and secured valuable coverage for biopharma/medtech companies at outlets that span NBC Nightly News, Woman’s Day, BioCentury and Cardiology Today, among others. Her background includes roles on the production side at NBC News as well as in communications at Continuum Health Partners, a group of New York City hospitals including Beth Israel Medical Center.
Amy.Covino@tmstrat.com
908-947-0500 x701
Claire Kissane | Account Coordinator
Claire is a strong communicator and storyteller committed to supporting healthcare, biotech and advocacy organizations to grow their visibility and brand awareness. Claire’s commitment to excellence, talent for writing, and strategic social media capabilities make her a valuable team member across several TellMed client accounts. She is a recent graduate of Bates College.
Amy Cuccia | Office Manager
With Six Sigma training and an eye for improving systems and efficiencies, Amy helps manage day-to-day operations of the company. She supports the team in budget planning, benefits management, human resources and as a liaison for IT support. Formerly with Educational Testing Service, Amy is an experienced manager specialized in supporting fast-paced teams, and brings to TellMed these skills along with an eagerness to contribute to the overall health of the company.
Amy.Cuccia@tmstrat.com
908-947-0500
Caren Begun | SVP, Media Relations
A veteran media relations expert and strategic thought partner, Caren brings 25+ years of experience securing thousands of media placements for pharma, biotech, medical device, advocacy, academia, diagnostics, and manufacturing clients. She’s a skilled storyteller with a passion for partnering with patients and researchers to build concise, compelling pitches worthy of media coverage that reaches key audiences with actionable information. Our clients appreciate her insights, creativity, and drive to achieve the best results possible.
Lauren Fabrizio | Account Manager
Lauren has a talent for storytelling on behalf of healthcare brands, and has worked with numerous print, online, and broadcast media, including WebMD and Health.com, to encourage meaningful stories. Holding a master’s degree in Public Relations and Strategic Communications, Lauren has led employee and patient advocacy campaigns, strategic social media planning and implementation, and media relations efforts. She previously worked for Mountainside Treatment Center, where she led media relations campaigns for this nationally recognized addiction treatment facility, and Coligo, Inc. where she inspired social and environmental change by developing content relevant to nonprofits.
Amanda Flood | Account Supervisor, Operations
With attention to detail and contagious enthusiasm, Amanda plays a critical role in supporting social media efforts for TellMed clients and their executives, boosting their social media engagement and elevating visibility through long-form writing, social media strategy and development. With over 15 years in operations and business management, Amanda has extensive experience leading teams and developing internal communications programs. Prior to joining TellMed, Amanda developed and implemented internal training and educational programs for employees at Boehringer Ingelheim in Danbury, CT and drafted campaigns for health issues related to cardiology and nutrition.
Amanda.Flood@tmstrat.com
908-947-0500 x715
Alana Stalvey | Account Manager
Alana is a diligent, seasoned, and highly organized project manager and communicator. Her background as a clinical scientist, laboratory supervisor, and clinical training manager uniquely positions her to provide valuable counsel to clients in the healthcare and biopharma spaces. She’s highly skilled at distilling complex data into succinct and compelling messaging, and has led the development of marketing collateral, investor presentations and media materials.
Courtney Dai | Account Coordinator
With deep passion for science and communications, attention to detail, and creativity, Courtney develops strategic social media posts, newsletters and other materials for several TellMed clients including LambdaVision, Lupus Research Alliance, Bay Area Lyme Foundation, and Cardiac Safety Research Consortium. Courtney previously assisted with research at Rutgers Equine Science Center and is currently a Biological Sciences major at the University of South Carolina.
Gabrielle Muscatell | Account Coordinator
Gabrielle is a detail-oriented communicator with a passion for the sciences and strong writing skills. She develops newsletters, strategic social media posts and other materials for several TellMed clients including Bay Area Lyme Foundation, LambdaVision, and Cybrexa. Formerly a certified nursing assistant and biotechnology scribe at Worcester State University (WSU), Gabrielle is graduating from WSU with a degree in biotechnology and a minor in chemistry.
ADVISORY TEAM
Sandra Spina Bierstein
Media Relations, Patient Advocacy
Amy Covino
Media Relations
Julie Croce
Strategy & Counsel
Sandra Spina Bierstein | Media Relations, Patient Advocacy
With broad communications experience and exceptional knowledge of media, Sandra has created successful public relations campaigns and helped clients see their stories on the Today show, the View, NBC Sports and in People Magazine, among other outlets. She previously held roles at D’Arcy Macius Benton & Bowles (now MediaVest) in media buying, at Wyndham Worldwide where she was responsible for employee communications/events, and in the communications department at top-rated national daytime talk shows.
Sandra.Spina@tmstrat.com
908-947-0500 x702
Kristin Rose Jutras | Account Supervisor
Over the past 16+ years, Kristin has worked in life science communications and marketing at Pearson Education, Yale University, The New York Times, and Virginia Tech. She is a seasoned communications director with extensive experience developing strategic marketing plans, press releases, social media initiatives, magazines, and videos. Driven by curiosity and a love of science, Kristin’s work at TellMed includes cutting edge client work at the intersection of research, immunology, oncology, space, and women in science. Kristin attended Stanford University and received a B.A. in English Literature with a minor in Biological Sciences and an M.F.A. in Writing from Fairfield University.
David Rooney | Account Coordinator
Coming to TellMed with a background in journalism, David is a strong writer and overall communicator. He previously freelanced for the Record-Journal and interned with the Quinnipiac University Public Affairs Office. He holds an undergraduate degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University, and will earn his master’s degree in public relations this Spring.