Decades of Leadership

Geoff has worked in pharmaceuticals and healthcare for more than three decades. He is a knowledgeable veteran on the challenges faced by healthcare leaders in today’s complex environment.

Before founding Cook GM, Geoff was a patient engagement and communications leader for Novartis, Pfizer and several healthcare agencies serving diverse clients. His two decades of leadership in Novartis spanned global product communications, patient advocacy relations and engagement, reputation and issues management, and access to medicines initiatives.

In the oncology business unit at Novartis, he pioneered innovative approaches to help teams bring the patient voice into their day-to-day work, dramatically expanding the level of patient engagement in drug development. Geoff also led development of an independent, patient-centered access model which provides thousands of patients in low-income countries free access to CML medicines.

At Pfizer, he was a corporate spokesperson and communications leader in men’s health and neuroscience.  There among many accomplishments, he led a global campaign to improve men’s sexual health featuring soccer legend Pele and launched the first global survey of sexual health.

In his healthcare agency roles, Geoff had the opportunity to work with leaders representing all aspects of the healthcare system including payers, managed care organizations, physician practices, and hospitals as well as diagnostic, medical device, and healthcare information system companies. These experiences helped build his broad-based understanding of healthcare delivery and his passion to help patients overcomes the challenges navigating healthcare systems to achieve optimal care.