Health, Public Affairs Expert Mathew Shearman Joins APCO Worldwide as North America Health Practice Lead

Washington – February 10, 2022: Mathew Shearman, health and public affairs expert specializing in developing fully integrated, cross-functional strategic communications campaigns, joined APCO Worldwide as North America lead of its Health practice, APCO North America President Kelly Williamson announced today.

“Mathew brings a truly global perspective to his work, drawing on his knowledge of health care systems around the world and experience supporting clients across a broad range of public affairs disciplines,” Williamson said. “I am very excited to have Mathew join APCO’s industry-leading health team, and I look forward to his leadership and guidance to help clients and colleagues alike.”

A well-functioning and sustainable health care system is essential to our quality of life and makes up a significant portion of most national economies. APCO’s robust global team of expert practitioners help the world’s top health and life sciences companies navigate unprecedented challenges across markets and understand policy environments to drive growth, achieve desired results and ultimately generate a healthier world. By leveraging strong relationships with stakeholders—companies, regulators, governments, payers, advocates and media—and research-based approach, APCO delivers thoughtful and strategic counsel for clients through a full spectrum of integrated services, from public affairs and reputation management to crisis communications and patient advocacy, among others.

Prior to joining APCO, Shearman served as a senior vice president of public affairs and crisis at BCW. In this role, he provided strategic counsel to many Fortune 500 companies from across the health care sector. He has advised clients to successfully navigate reputational risks during litigation, product recalls, counterfeiting, clinical data readouts, and cybersecurity challenges. With deep experience developing both disease awareness and policy-focused campaigns, he has supported patient access to numerous medical and diagnostic products for conditions including COVID-19, cancer, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, and immune-driven diseases.

“I am proud to join APCO’s Health practice to lead a team that is truly passionate about empowering clients to promote health and advance health care equity around the world,” said Shearman “At a time when health is central to public and policy discussions, APCO’s deep expertise on the critical issues affecting this sector strongly position us to help companies navigate the environment and communicate effectively. It is a privilege to work with this talented team of colleagues to further build on this deeply meaningful work.

Shearman joins a deep global bench of health experts and industry veterans at APCO, including Global Health Practice Lead James Tyrrell, Greater China Lead Anne Wang and Southeast Asia Lead James Yi, as well as APCO International Advisory Council Health Advisory Board Members Lance Leggitt, Leslie Norwalk, Fredrik Nyberg, Kavita Patel, Wayne Pines, Chew Suok Kai and Peter Urbanowicz.

For more than 37 years, APCO has been a trusted advisor and partner to private, public and non-profit clients as they try to identify and manage new and emerging issues, challenges and opportunities around the world. Established by Margery Kraus as a single-person operation in 1984, APCO has grown to a global advisory and advocacy communications consultancy helping clients be catalysts for progress through its 900+ staff and International Advisory Council members in more than 30 markets, and having experience working in more than 80 markets globally, providing in-depth advice, perceptive guidance and creative approaches for its clients.