United States newsroom

NORTHBROOK, Ill., August 2, 2017 – Astellas today announced three senior-level changes in its  Corporate Affairs organization, and several promotions throughout the function. Moyra Knight is promoted to Executive Director, Communications and Corporate Citizenship; Karl Uhlendorf is promoted to Senior Director, Policy and Government Communications; and Andrew Lewis is promoted to Senior Director, Medical and Development Communications.  Knight and Lewis will report to Senior Vice President Corporate Affairs Jeffrey A. Winton while Uhlendorf will report to Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs Joseph Devaney.

Knight, who oversees corporate communications, employee engagement and sustainability efforts for Astellas in the Americas, will add Business Communications, charitable giving as well as Canada and Latin America regional communications. She will continue to serve as the President of the Astellas USA Foundation.

Uhlendorf will assume responsibility for the Astellas Political Action Committee (PAC), Executive Communications as well as policy and government affairs communications based out of Astellas’ Washington, D.C. offices.

Lewis will expand Astellas’ Medical and Development Communications with responsibility for the Astellas Institute of Regenerative Medicine (AIRM) in Marlborough, Mass. and the Astellas Research Institute of America (ARIA) in San Diego, Calif.  He will oversee communications support for Astellas’ Medical and Development team in EMEA and Asia Oceania in addition to the Americas. Lewis established a new communications organization for Astellas’ Medical and Development in 2014.   

"We began building this new capability within Astellas nearly four years ago, and during this time, the company has experienced tremendous growth," says Winton. "At the same time, our industry continues to go through unprecedented change, and so the evolution of the Corporate Affairs function will now reflect these dynamics both internally and in the marketplace."

Additional transitions in the Corporate Affairs function include:

• Sarah D’Orsie is promoted to Director, Federal Government Affairs, and reporting to Senior Director Federal Government Affairs Mary-Lacey Reuther in Washington, D.C.
• Kate Madigan is promoted to Director, Policy, and will continue to report to Senior Director Therapeutic Area Government Strategy Emily Wheeler in Washington, D.C.
• Donna Gandia is promoted to Assistant Director, Corporate Events; and Ashley Lunardini is promoted to Specialist, Corporate Events, in Northbrook, Ill. Both will report to Associate Director Corporate Events Debbie Webber.  
• Jamie Pawlak is promoted to Manager, Corporate Events; and Kelly Reigner is promoted to senior associate, Corporate Events. Both report to Donna Gandia in Northbrook, Ill.

About Astellas
Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products. For more information on Astellas, please visit our website at http://www.astellas.us/. You can also follow us on Twitter at @AstellasUS, Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AstellasUS or LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/astellas-pharma.