Recognition by MedAdNews Highlights JPA Health’s Innovation in Medical Communications
Washington, DC, Monday, April 28, 2025 – JPA Health, a global, full-service, integrated health agency, has been named Med Comms Agency of the Year at the 2025 Manny Awards, hosted by MedAdNews in New York. Now in its 36th year, the Manny Awards celebrate the industry’s best in healthcare marketing, creative excellence, and strategic leadership.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized by the industry for our team’s passion for helping people live healthier lives through strategic storytelling, scientific rigor, and creative excellence,” said Carrie Jones, CEO. “Our partnerships with clients inspire us every day. They are the reason we continue to dream bigger, think smarter, and expand what’s possible in medical communications—and beyond.”
This recognition comes at a pivotal moment for JPA Health, as the agency continues a period of transformational growth, fueled by both organic momentum and strategic acquisitions. Pharmaceutical and biotech companies are increasingly turning to agencies with deep expertise in medical communications, AI-driven data strategy, and international market insight—areas where JPA Health is leading the charge.
“This award marks a major milestone in our journey, especially as we integrate a world-class medical communications capability into our synced-up specialist model,” said Colleen Carter, Head of Life Sciences. “It’s a powerful validation of the way we’re redefining excellence—responding faster, solving more complex challenges, and delivering deeper solutions for our clients.”
Over the past year, JPA Health also expanded into investor relations, helping clients align science, finance, and market expectations, and launched a health tech & services practice to bridge the gap between breakthrough ideas and real-world implementation. The agency was also recently recognized by PRovoke Media and O’Dwyer’s as a top healthcare agency for leadership, innovation, and impact across marketing, corporate communications, investor relations, and patient advocacy.
With six offices and more than 150 specialists worldwide, JPA Health continues to lead with a model designed for today’s healthcare needs, leveraging smarter systems, embracing flexible workstyles, and prioritizing asking the right questions to push the industry forward.
JPA Health
JPA Health is a health innovation agency with a powerful mission: help people live healthier lives. Established in 2007, the independent, woman-owned agency brings together flexible solutions in public and investor relations, brand marketing, medical communications, and patient advocacy across Life Sciences, Health Tech & Services, and Public Health. Leveraging tailored AI solutions, our data-driven insights fuel communications and campaigns that amplify real stories, bringing clarity to complex health challenges and inspiring meaningful progress. Discover more at www.jpa.com.
WellQuest™: Serious Health Game to Support Lifestyle Change Program
JPA Health collaborated with CDC’s Innovations to Grow Enrollment and Retention (InGEAR) initiative supporting the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) to launch WellQuest™. The cross-platform serious health game was designed to enhance participant retention in the DPP, encourage healthy lifestyle habits , and reinforce diabetes management knowledge.
The Impact
Participants
recorded over 152,000 steps
during the
activation period
Users rated health and wellness tips and achievements most beneficial
20% of users
played the game
10 hours or
more over a
6-month period
The Challenge
The National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) is working to prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes among high-risk populations by encouraging the adoption of healthy lifestyles. Improving enrollment and retention in the National DPP is one way to help support and sustain intervention efforts. Evidence shows that achievement of body weight and physical activity goals are directly related to the overall number of sessions attended in the National DPP, but retention in the year-long program is a challenge.
Our Approach
To support and increase engagement and overall retention among persons living with prediabetes and at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes in the National DPP, JPA designed, developed, and launched WellQuest™, a serious health game available for both iOS and Android devices. Applying a user-centered design process, multiple surveys and focus groups helped ensure game design, mechanics, and aesthetics would resonate for the target audience.
The Solution
Our research showed a “Match 3 Gameplay” design that also includes elements for persistent play encouragement would be most effective to reinforce healthy lifestyle choices and create a sense of community. JPA deployed an iterative development process to address feedback from coaches and players, users were able to help shape the final form of the game. The game incorporated biometric data from wearables or mobile devices to incentivize exercise. It incorporated weekly challenges, monthly achievements, and daily in-game health tips centered around 5 key content themes, aligned with the goals of the DPP. Chat functionality enabled coaches to offer words of encouragement and issue custom challenges to individuals and teams, who competed for high rankings on leaderboards.
Dynamic Scientific Communications and Learning Solutions
At JPA Health, we collaborate with clients to elevate scientific communication for both patients and HCPs, contributing to advancements in medicine and better health outcomes.
In May 2024, JPA acquired BioCentric, Inc, an award-winning medical communications agency >
Together, our expertise spans the entire product lifecycle, crafting client-focused engagements that powerfully support the drug development and commercialization journey—from the bench to the clinic, from physicians to patients.
Our team of professionals excel in handling complex data, transforming it into visually compelling presentations that meet our clients’ communication objectives.
With a global perspective and deep understanding of both the U.S. and European markets, we ensure our solutions are innovative, strategically driven, and clinically pertinent. Our expanded services include medical affairs strategy, publication planning, scientific communications and running KOL advisory boards. Additionally, BioCentric brings with it a best-in-class learning and training team, along with expertise in applying modern game mechanics and interactive media to research, education, and behavior change applications.
Our Clients
- Nobelpharma
- Milestone
- Medicines360
- Top 10 Pharma Company
- Epizyme
- Top 10 Pharma Company
- Ascendis
Our Expertise
Advocacy & Public Affairs
Marketing & Advertising
Medical Communications
Public Relations
Health Tech & Services
Public Health
Life Sciences
Federal Government
Featured Insights
Addition brings together synchronized experts to offer comprehensive predictive analytics, data visualization and AI-driven end-to-end solutions for life sciences, government and non-profit organizations.
Washington, D.C., October 18, 2023 – JPA Health, a global full-service, integrated agency, today announced the acquisition of True North Solutions, Inc., a consulting firm based in Cambridge, Mass. True North specializes in commercial, clinical, and medical affairs, with expertise in digital acceleration and customized predictive analytics, as well as solutions powered by AI and natural language processing. This acquisition, the first for JPA Health, will further expand JPA’s strategic offerings providing end-to-end integrated medical affairs, clinical development, commercial strategy, creative marketing, public relations and patient advocacy solutions to clients.
Key Takeaway
– JPA acquires True North Solutions
– Expansion in data analytics expertise
– Strengthens JPA’s service offerings
Related Case Studies
“Here at JPA Health, we utilize cutting-edge data and analytics technology to uncover valuable insights that fuel our success,” said Carrie Jones, CEO of JPA Health. “The addition of True North Solutions, with its profound expertise in creating custom solutions rooted in data sciences, will help keep our clients ahead of their competition in connecting with target audiences and driving results. We extend a warm welcome to the entire True North team, individuals who share our passion for helping people live healthier lives.”
True North Solutions, led by founder Colin Baughman, was founded in 2016. The company has led projects spanning dozens of therapeutic areas, including CNS, oncology, infectious diseases and rare diseases for many of the largest pharmaceutical companies globally. True North focuses on eight key areas: brand strategy, healthcare professional and patient experience, launch excellence, medical strategy, performance management, KPIs and evaluation, predictive analytics and visualization, and segmentation and persona modelling. As a Google Cloud partner, True North offers commercial grade AI, predictive and visualization capabilities.
“We are thrilled to become part of the JPA Health team, bringing together our deep expertise in AI-driven data analytics solutions with the scale and expertise of a full-service healthcare agency,” said Baughman. “By taking a creative approach to data analysis, visualization and discovery we dramatically accelerate insight generation for our clients. Whether through claims-based patient geospatial research, adaptive territory design or AI-driven medical insights, we continually test the limits of possibility for our clients. Joining JPA Health presents new opportunities to elevate this work while delivering end-to-end research, marketing and commercialization solutions to our customers.”
Baughman brings more than 20 years of experience in the life science industry with expertise across commercial, medical, market access and clinical development functions. He will join JPA Health as an executive vice president (EVP) based in Boston, Mass. All True North employees, including Baughman, will join JPA Health.
About JPA Health
JPA Health is an award-winning independent, full-service agency established in 2007. With four offices in the U.S. and UK (Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, London), the company provides omnichannel marketing, public relations, and advocacy services. JPA Health recently was awarded PR Daily’s Agency of the Year, 2023 and included in MM+M’s Agency 100. The firm is a leader in the health sector recognized for its work designing health campaigns that drive change and deliver measurable results. The JPA Health team is passionate about helping people live healthier lives. To learn more, visit www.jpa.com
While new technologies bring tremendous promise – and the excitement around tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney is palpable – communication and marketing agencies must be thoughtful and intentional as we use them.
In the weeks and months ahead, we’ll likely see professional services companies integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into their workflows to generate written and visual content. At JPA Health, we believe the use of AI has the potential to enhance productivity, increase efficiency, and even spark creativity. By utilizing these tools to automate simpler tasks, we can free up valuable time and mental energy to focus on solving more complex strategic problems.
While we are confident AI is here to stay and will become a game-changer in our work, we know we must navigate this transformational moment responsibly. The following principles outline how JPA plans to leverage AI.
Key Takeaway
– Transparency is key
– Inclusivity is a must
– Your privacy is our priority
Related Case Studies
- Transparency is Key: As AI continues to evolve and become more widespread, we are committed to being transparent about when and how we use these tools. For instance, we may use AI to generate variations or strings of similar copy to save time and resources.
- Inclusivity is a Must: We have observed the limitations of AI when it comes to biased content and health equity. As experts in this field, we are dedicated to ensuring that the content we create resonates with diverse audiences and is designed with equity in mind.
- Your Privacy is Our Priority: We understand that anything put into open-source platforms for these tools could potentially appear elsewhere. We value the confidentiality of the work we do for our clients and will never jeopardize your information by sharing sensitive data.
We encourage you to invest time exploring these novel platforms to gain a deeper understanding of the amazing opportunities they offer.
If you would like more information about these tools and how they can be used in your organization responsibly, please contact us.