Q&A with Leo Francis, new COO at Evolution Health

Leo Francis is the new COO at Evolution Health Group, a global, full-service health care communications group in Pearl River.

The company’s brands include Evolution Medical Communications, blulava, Maestro360, and Darwin Academy.

Francis served as chief medical officer at Evolution before his current role. He has been with the group since 2019.

The Business Journals sat down with Francis to learn more about his past experience and plans for his tenure as chief operating officer.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

What is your professional and educational background and how do you think it”™s prepared you for this position?

A pharmacologist and physiologist or simply a scientist by training, I harnessed my natural curiosity and turned it into a structured and investigative evaluation of problems and a solution-focused mindset. My transition from academia/education into a corporate environment equipped me with a deep understanding of people and business.

The combination of science and business was often considered an unusual mix earlier in my career ”” subsequently those two, combined with an ever-growing capability of leadership and how to be of service to others, has indeed prepared me for my current role.

What was your time as chief medical officer for Evolution like?

Joining EHG as the CMO was a deliberate action by our owners (managing partners Andrea Lanzetta, Carolyn Vogelesang Harts and Mark Edfort) as part of an orchestrated drive towards achieving their goals for EHG. Their desire and track record of success, growth and competitive strength required a concerted effort as a science-first agency to elevate the contribution of our medical function in a way that unleashes our talent and excites clients, ultimately creating, not just adding, value in both dimensions. We want to be both a client and talent destination in our sector.

Achieving best-in-class performance is a desire rarely satisfied, hence our need to continue to innovate — (we seek) continual progress in the journey toward the ever-elusive perfection. So my time as CMO can be described as exciting, challenging, yet immensely satisfying in the progress we have made and motivating in envisioning what the future can be.

What made you want to contribute to Evolution Health Group?

Fundamentally, a recognition that I could be part of creating, through my contributions, the future path for our organization. Empowered change by owners truly committed to growing their organization in every way.

What changes do you hope to make as COO? Are there any new directions for Evolution that you hope to pursue?

The themes mentioned above will continue to shape the decisions, improvements and refinements we will institute. We have a clear vision for our organization, an unwavering commitment to progress and a passion for what we do — ultimately having a beneficial impact in the patients, people and clients we serve. We need to continue to engage with our people with even more verve and veracity to keep us locked into and committed to our goals. If we are successful each and every day in this regard, we will most certainly overachieve against our business goals.

Among the components that would be considered enablers here for our people and clients alike, exceptional partnership, service excellence, product development and a focus on results are noteworthy.

What do you think are the biggest challenges or new developments in the medical communications field today?

Continuing to increase our relevance and meaning to those whom we serve, in times where increasing regulation and reduced access to stakeholders must be given equal attention in the context of a voracious appetite for accurate, credible health information and its unequivocal role in better decision-making for improved patient care.