Michael Rinaldo

Michael Rinaldo has built reputations, brands and businesses over the course of a three-decade career in healthcare public relations. His ability to marry public health needs with business opportunity has helped influence opinion, shape policy and change diagnostic, treatment and care delivery. During his career, Michael has delivered business results and shaped public discourse for some of the largest pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and most influential healthcare organizations including Novartis, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Celgene, Abbott and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

At Interdependence Public Relations, Michael oversees the global healthcare business where he’s responsible for driving business strategy, delivering senior counsel to clients, identifying emerging health issues, growing healthcare client relationships and strengthening Interdependence’s position and influence in the global healthcare business arena.

Michael has broad experience across a wide swath of healthcare communications, from public health and patient education to brand marketing and corporate reputation. Michael’s work has been honored with awards including several PRSA Silver Anvils and PR Week Awards. His team captured the Public Relations Society’s highest campaign honor, the Best in Silver Anvil award, and the PR Campaign of the Year award from PR Week for a program addressing asthma among children in the inner city. Michael was instrumental in transforming osteoporosis from a little recognized, poorly understood disease to one that is discussed among women over lunch and at cocktail parties, as well as in physicians’ offices. Through his work with the National Osteoporosis Foundation, Michael created strategic campaigns that raised visibility for prevention and the promise of emerging therapies, while championing bone density testing and helping to change reimbursement policies. For thyroid disease, Michael took an often overlooked and underdiagnosed disease and engaged patients, changed physician mindset and helped alter government policy on diagnostic testing. He and his team created a patient self-screening tool that has been reprinted in academic and consumer books including “Thyroid for Dummies,” from the book series of the same name.

Earlier in Michael’s career, he led Fleishman Hillard’s global healthcare practice for more than a decade. He followed that up by playing a lead role in building dna Communications – part of the IPG and Weber Shandwick network – into a global healthcare public relations agency.