Altum Continues Growth with Three Promotions and Six New Hires.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. -- Altum, a CommonHealth freestanding, full-service professional advertising and promotion company with global reach, spanning every marketing discipline with a focus on high-science and specialty markets, today announced three promotions and six new hires.

CommonHealth (www.commonhealth.com) is the world's leading healthcare-communications network and a WPP Group (NASDAQ/ADR: WPPGY; www.wpp.com) company.

Promotion

Judy Accardi has been promoted from vice president, director of business management to vice president, operations. In her new role, Ms. Accardi will establish and monitor best practices for business management, traffic, editorial and studio services, as well as ensure collaboration among the departments. Ms. Accardi is a seventeen-year veteran of the CommonHealth organization and has been with Altum for one year.

Lisanne Budwick has been promoted from group art supervisor to vice president, group art supervisor. In this role, Ms. Budwick will be responsible for the execution of professional advertising campaigns and for overseeing the creative development of global branding for agency clients. Prior to joining Altum, Ms. Budwick was employed at CommonHealth's sister agency, Ferguson, for seven years.

Anita Caruso has advanced from group art director to group art supervisor. In her new role, she will coordinate strategic insights, overseeing large projects for quality and consistency. Additionally, Ms. Caruso will continue to play an integral part in creative global branding for the agency's clients. Ms. Caruso has been with the CommonHealth network for nine years.

New Hires

Barbara Leistrum comes to Altum as group art supervisor. In her role, Ms. Leistrum will be responsible for directing photographers and outside illustrators as well as supervising concept development and design. Previously, Ms. Leistrum was employed by Euro RSCG Life, a specialized healthcare communications company, in Lambertville.

Steven Newdorf comes to Altum as senior business manager. In this role, Mr. Newdorf will act as liaison between account, creative and finance departments to develop artwork for production on his assigned accounts. Previously, Mr. Newdorf worked as a senior production manager at DVC Worldwide, a marketing and advertising company, located in Morristown.

Eva Scartozzi joins Altum as business manager. In this position, Ms. Scartozzi will develop and monitor budgets, secure bids and generate specifications for her designated accounts prior to release for production. Prior to joining Altum, Ms. Scartozzi was employed as a senior production manager by echo Torre Lazur, a professional healthcare advertising agency, in East Hanover.

Melanie Gargano joins Altum as an art director. In this position, she will be responsible for concept development and implementation on her assigned brands. Most recently, Ms. Gargano worked as a freelance art director for Chock full o'Nuts, a Sara Lee company, in Harrison, NY.

Nisha Rana, Pharm.D., joins Altum as a copywriter. In her role, Ms. Rana will help to maintain the agency's standards of writing practices, enhancing the agency-client relationship. Prior to joining Altum, Ms. Rana was employed by Nu Way Advertising, a New York City-based South Asian marketing firm, as an account executive.

Patrice Nora comes to Altum as an assistant art director. In this role, she will assist in the concept design and execution for her assigned accounts. Previously, Ms. Nora worked as an assistant graphic designer at Steps to Literacy, a catalog company, in Bound Brook.

CommonHealth comprises Altum, Ferguson, Adient, Carbon, Conectics, HLS, MBS/Vox, Noesis, ProCom, Qi, Quantum, Solara and Xchange. The organization also maintains numerous partnerships both within and outside of the WPP network of companies.