Welcome to Stony Hill Communications

Melissa Katz has more than 25 years of healthcare public relations, corporate communications and advocacy experience. Since 2013, she has been consulting for healthcare companies all over the world providing comprehensive communications strategy, media training, message mapping, executive speaker coaching and PR/internal communications. She is also a HuffPost contributor.

She spent 14 years in communication leadership positions at the world’s largest healthcare company, Johnson & Johnson. Within the Medical Device & Diagnostics sector of J&J, she worked at Ortho Clinical Diagnostics on change management communications as they prepared for divestiture. She also led the communications efforts for the integration of the global surgery business including Ethicon, Ethicon-Endo Surgery and the cardiovascular franchises. She created and led the communications function and served as a management board member at Animas (insulin pumps). She led a team to develop PR strategies for global franchises on OTC, consumer and nutritional brands such as Tylenol®, Motrin®, Splenda® and Listerine®. In the biotech space at Centocor, Melissa led the corporate rebranding campaign and internal communications function. She also secured press coverage for Remicade®, a biologic anti-TNF agent and multibillion-dollar brand. She spent 11 years in the CNS space launching an Alzheimer’s treatment and communicating about the gold standard antipsychotic Risperdal®.

Melissa lived and worked in Belgium for two years with J&J conducting PR for all regions outside the U.S. She speaks exactly three words of Flemish. While in Washington, DC, Melissa was the spokesperson for the advocacy group NAMI and the American Psychiatric Association. Melissa began her career at Wang Associates Health Communications in New York. While in school she co-anchored her college news station and worked at NBC affiliates in both Boston and Cincinnati (when Jerry Springer was the anchor). She has a B.A. from Brandeis University in English and American Literature and minor in Journalism and was on the Dean's List. 

Melissa gave JNJTEDx Talks on 12.12.12 (watch here!) and 3.30.17 (watch here!). She performed as a professional improv comedian with Comedy Sportz in Washington, DC. She has traveled to Muhuru Bay, Kenya four times to teach at the WISER School for Girls and is currently a U.S. Board Member www.wisergirls.org, www.educateagirl.blogspot.com    

​Melissa and her husband, Michael, have four children none of whom find her amusing at all.

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