John Ponsoll

John Ponsoll is the Managing Director at Symbiotix, LLC, the US scientific medical communications flagship agency within Havas Health & You. Since 1999, John has served many roles in agency services, from project management and account services, to business development, innovation, and strategy. He has a proven track record in growing companies, new capabilities, and offerings, and he excels at forging deep relationships with clients and exploring novel technology applications for health-related challenges. 

From a scientific medical communications and, specifically, transplant perspective, John has developed a deep knowledge and mastery over his more-than-two-decade career. He has been a key driver for strategy and innovation for clients working in immunosuppression, organ rejection, and efforts to increase awareness of the need for organ donation amongst minority populations. He has participated in more than 20 launches during his career and has had significant experience in hepatology, nephrology, neurology, hematology-oncology, rare diseases, and with complex mechanism of action products in crowded or undifferentiated categories.

Separately, John co-wrote and served as Executive Producer of the award-winning documentary, Honor in the Valley of Tears (2010). His film details the first-person account over 40+ years of A-Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry of the US Army’s 4th Infantry Division—of which his father was a soldier—during their time in Vietnam in 1966-67 and the heroic actions of 1st Sgt. David H. McNerney, who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1968. The film won jury prizes at six film festivals, was aired on the Documentary Channel, and was enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum along with Sgt. McNerney’s stamp collection upon his death in 2011.