Who We Are

Deborah Mullen established Captus Communications in 2002 to provide strategic planning and integrated marketing communications services focused on health promotion, community development, and public safety. With over 25 years of experience in the health communications field, including eight years of experience leading the development of Web sites and multimedia productions, Deborah is adept at keeping multiple projects on track, paying attention to the details while not losing sight of the bigger picture. She has managed the development of hundreds of print publications over the course of her career for a variety of audiences — from consumers to policy makers. She has overseen the development and production process for just about every format — brochures, direct mail postcards, catalogs, newsletters, reports, exhibits, posters, booklets, toolkits, binders, print ads, Web sites, etc., working closely with clients, designers, and writers to achieve award winning results.

With over 25 years experience in advertising design and communications marketing, Bob Walter is uniquely qualified to deliver successful print, Web, broadcast, and direct response campaigns for a wide range of consumer and business communications. His work has been recognized internationally and his numerous awards include the DMA Gold Echo Award, The American Graphic Design Awards, International Telly Awards, and the 2009 Davey Award. After serving as Managing Creative Director for Broadcast at Time Life, Bob launched his own advertising agency, Blue Sky Marcom in October 2000. Since then he has delivered strategic marketing solutions for a wide range of clients including Guthy-Renker, Comcast, Ketchum Public Relations (GSK, Pfizer, Aetna, HHS, Clorox. HaagenDaz, FedEx), USA
Today/Gannett, AOL/Time Warner, Columbia House Music & Video, The Nature Conservancy, and The National Geographic Society.

In early 2008, Bob joined Captus full time, as Creative Director and manager of Captus’ art department. Since joining Captus, he has led design efforts for a wide range of projects including the Keeping America Healthy toolkit for the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (which recently won an international visual arts award), the 2009 PhRMA Profile, eight Web sites, and much more.

Marge is a medical marketing and advertising professional with over 15 years experience working in account, copy, research, creative and editorial services. At Captus, Marge provides project management, content management, copywriting and editorial services for Web and print projects for the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Renal Physicians Association, and PhRMA. She has worked in Washington, Massachusetts, and London. Her work with Boston Scientific Corporation won the Rx Awards of Excellence for Ad Campaign and Collateral; the Biomedical Marketers Association Best of Show for Ad Campaign and First Place in Ad Category; and the Medical Marketing Association Gold Award for Ad Campaign. She has also worked with Indian Health Services, Pharmacia Corporation, Sanofi-Aventis UK, Elsevier Publications, and Genzyme Corporation.

Melissa joins Captus with a well-rounded marketing and communications skill set — account/project management, production management, business development, writing, and editing. Having worked in a variety of sectors, including higher education, non-profit and financial, she offers a diverse scope of experience. With a BA in Journalism and two years of graduate-level study in history, Melissa offers a strong editorial background and a keen eye — ideal for proofing and editing our client's highly detail-oriented marketing and communications materials. Her “eagle eye” and attention to detail will be an asset to any project she works on and her highly organized and conscientious work ethic ensures that all Captus Communications clients get only the highest level of service and professionalism. Melissa has years of experience effectively managing production schedules and working with print and other creative vendors to produce exceptional quality deliverables on-time and on-budget. As Production Manager, she manages the company’s production schedule and is responsible for gathering competitive bids, documenting print specifications, analyzing quotes and bids, and making vendor recommendations.

Oliver brings over 20 years of experience in the field of graphic design and print management. He has provided services including art direction, publication design, print production, computer graphics, and production management. His project involvement has included magazines, books, annuals reports, newsletters, conference proceedings, corporate identity, brochures, print advertising, direct mail promotions, and posters. Clients he has worked with include the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center, Children’s Hospital of Boston, Clinical Pharmacy Associates, Inc., American Public Human Services Association, the Department of Education, and Gallaudet University. Since joining Captus, Oliver served as the lead designer on many projects including multiple annual reports and publication kits for PhRMA; a toolkit for the Partnership to Fight Chronic Diseases which won an international visual design award;  promotional materials and Web design components for the Renal Physicians Association, to name a few. 

Lynne is a graphic designer with experience in print, web, corporate identity and video graphics. At Captus, she brings her vision and creativity to a wide range of projects including those for the Renal Physicians Association and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). With a background in pre-press production, she also brings strong technical skills to her projects. Before joining Captus, Lynne’s clients included TelNet of Virginia, Inc., and the FBI Fraud Squad.

Dara Padwo-Audick, President of Creative Strategies, is an award-winning writer, producer and director with over 20 years of experience in cable and network broadcast programs and series as well as educational and corporate videos.

Dara served as an Executive Producer for Discovery Channel and Discovery HD Theater National Park related programming from 2005-2007.  At Discovery Studios, Dara’s work encompassed a variety of history, medicine, military, natural history, and adventure topics and included such titles as Grand Teton National Park: Life on the Edge and The Discovery Young Scientists Challenge. In addition to being a film and television professional, Dara is an adjunct professor at American University where she teaches Writing for Visual Media.

As an independent writer/producer/director, Dara’s credits on Discovery Channel include Weapon Masters, Monster Garage, Discovery Channel Eco-Challenge — Morocco, and Extreme Conditions: OCD.  Dara also wrote and produced the U.S. version of Spy on the Wild and an archive original, Natural Born Winners for Animal Planet.  Dara’s directing credits include six episodes of Trailside for PBS.  She earned a CINE Golden Eagle for Crittercam, a National Geographic Television special for FOX and the National Geographic Channel.  Dara produced and directed nearly 50 segments for National Geographic Explorer; produced a domestic version of Dangerous Jobs: Tuna Cowboys for the National Geographic Channel, and developed several programs and series for National Geographic Television.  Other broadcast clients include Home & Garden Television, WETA, The Learning Channel, and Discovery Health Channel.

Mark is a senior editor skilled in both AVID and Final Cut Pro editing and video production tools. With over 20 years of experience, Mark has edited, directed, and produced a wide range of video and audio productions for corporate, industrial, military, and medical audiences. He has edited video productions for the Discovery Channel, Discovery Education Health Connection, and for a variety of Captus clients. In addition, Mark is a musician, theater technician, playwright/director, and an experienced photographer and gaffer. Mark serves as Captus’ in‑house video producer and photographer. He captures video at client events and edits the footage adding sound and graphics. He regularly produces quick turnaround video for the Web for our clients to promote events, products, and services.

Winner of four Emmys, Mike is a seasoned professional who brings a great eye and positive attitude to projects. He was a member of NBC Sports’ Olympic Features production team in Athens, Torino, and Beijing.  Michael’s camera-work has received international and national distribution, appearing on The Discovery Channel, The Travel Channel, The Learning Channel, ABC Sports, CBS Sports, NBC, Fox-TV, CNN, ESPN, ESPN-2, Comedy Central, HBO, USA Network, PBS, Lifetime Television, Black Entertainment Television, ITN of London, Australian-TV Channel 9, BBC, NHK of Japan, Swedish TV, Finland's YLE-TV, Norwegian TV, Italian TV, Danish TV-2, and many others.

Karen has more than 15 years experience developing and directing health-related outreach initiatives for government and private clients in the health care and pharmaceutical sectors. She has directed corporate public relations initiatives; developed award-winning print and online materials to educate the public about cancer, diabetes, women’s health, fetal alcohol syndrome, and behavioral health; and print materials including books and posters used nationwide by health care professionals.

For the National Cancer Institute, Karen directed press activities including promotion of clinical trial launches and coordination of media training initiatives. One launch consisted of the development and production of a video news release which was picked up by more than 800 media outlets, including NBC Nightly News and ABC World News Tonight. Karen directed outreach and media efforts for the Diabetes Prevention Trial — Type 1, a clinical study sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease in addition to directing patient recruitment and retention programs. Karen co-led the development of a public awareness campaign on fetal alcohol syndrome and wrote weekly articles to support the Office on Women’s Health Pick Your Path to Health program and audiovisual products.

For Captus, Karen recently researched and wrote a chapter of Plain Language Pediatrics for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Joy brings more than 25 years of experience assisting clients in conceiving, writing, and managing production of health and health policy communication projects including reports, policy papers, fact sheets, articles, books, promotional and advocacy products, press releases, newsletters, video/audiovisual scripts, Web site articles, speeches, grant and contract proposals, and training materials. Joy has received numerous awards during her career including Cine Golden Eagle (script writing); Honorable Mention (script writing), 41st Columbus Film Festival; First Place Awards for Excellence in Writing from the American Medical Writer’s Association; Blue Pencil Award from the National Association of Government Communicators; and Awards of Merit from the Society for Technical Communication.

Joy has developed communication products for organizations such as PhRMA, the National Council on Patient Information and Education, American Cancer Society, the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Proctor and Gamble Pharmaceuticals, National Health Council, National Sleep Foundation, National Osteoporosis Foundation, Women’s Health Council of the Association of State and Territorial Chronic Disease Program Directors (ASTCDPD-work sponsor: Merck), Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, Maryland Public Television, Maryland State Health Department, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Danya International.

Phyllis is a technical writer and health educator with over 10 years experience She has served as the Acting Associate Director for the National Kidney Disease Education Program (NKDEP), co-founded a grassroots advocacy group, Start Later for Excellence in Education Proposal (SLEEP), managed the National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NAMSIC), and consulted as a public health educator and writer and editor on numerous health education projects.

Phyllis has planned community health education and outreach programs, developed community health-education kits, written and evaluated health education materials for professionals and patients, including a series of low-literacy fact sheets, the plain-language version of NKDEP’s PCP Targets for Chronic Kidney Disease, and online articles for the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute’s Diseases and Conditions Index, among others.

Anne has been a writer and editor for more than 25 years. Her primary focus is on health-related issues, and she has covered topics such as child health promotion, nutrition, physical activity, obesity prevention, Alzheimer’s disease, media literacy, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, cancer, and teen pregnancy prevention. Anne has experience across a range of writing and editorial projects, including writing and editing books and reports, editing scientific manuscripts, developing content for Web sites, and writing and editing curricula.

Recent examples of Anne’s work include providing writing and editorial assistance to the editors of Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents (3rd ed., 2008). She also has provided editorial support for several ancillary publications, including the Bright Futures Pocket Guide and a guide to preventive services for children. She has written a number of publications for the National Institute on Aging, including Alzheimer’s Disease: Unraveling the Mystery (2002 and 2009 editions), the annual Alzheimer’s Disease Progress Report (1999 through 2007), and Exercise and Physical Activity: Your Everyday Guide from the National Institute on Aging (2009). Anne is currently serving as the science writer for the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which will advise USDA and HHS on revisions to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In 2008, she served in the same capacity for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (both the Scientific Advisory Committee’s report and the Department’s policy document). Anne also writes articles for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Diseases and Conditions Index and assists the National Cancer Institute’s Applied Research Program with a wide variety of print and Web writing and editing.

Cynthia Wright, Principal of CJW Associates, has a wide-ranging experience in marketing communications for health care and non-profit organizations includes managing communications and education campaigns, publications, special events, and cause-related marketing communications. Her extensive experience in nephrology is rooted in her work for the National Kidney Foundation as well contract management for the National Institutes of Diabetes, Digestive & Kidney Diseases, and NIH. In those roles, she has supported clinical trials, PR and public information campaigns, managed advocacy-related public hearings, created patient education programs and materials, and managed all communications elements of the U.S. Transplant Games.

In addition to kidney diseases and transplantation, Cynthia has issue-specific experience in lung diseases including asthma, air quality, environmental health, tobacco control, cancer, heart disease, and rare diseases. Since establishing CJW Associates in 1999, she has executed editorial and professional education projects and conference support. She has worked with such agencies as the American Lung Association, Environmental Education Foundation, the Renal Physicians Association, and Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation.

Donna has over 12 years experience as a writer and program manager with non-profit organizations and federal government contractors. Her writing experience includes public communication materials, reports, Web-based and magazine articles, and grant proposals for a wide range of audiences, with much of her work in a research-based environment. She has researched, wrote, and managed production of a toolkit for treatment agencies to provide support services for children of addicted parents for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. For Captus, she has recently developed content for several American Academy of Pediatrics Web sites, including Bright Futures and children’s mental health sites.

Zain brings over eight years of experience managing and leading the assessment, development, and design of cutting edge Web solutions. Since joining Captus, he has managed the development of numerous Web sites for Captus clients — some involving redesign and migration of content from existing sites, while other projects require development of new sites from branding to launch through maintenance. He is proficient in Web application development for data driven sites as well as graphic design and interactive media. He has knowledge and experience developing sites that are compliant with government standards for accessibility. His technical skills include HTML, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, ASP, Flash, Fireworks and he works with Adobe Web Creative Suite. Before joining Captus, Zain provided Web consulting services for tourism and major commercial enterprises including National Geographic, EDS, Nine Yards Media, Media Barn, Sprint, Comtek, Proxicom, and Legg Mason.

Eddy is President and Senior Architect of Dumire Technologies, which provides Web site and Web applications development and programming. He brings 11 years of technical and management experience across a wide variety of skill sets. Eddy has experience with ASP and ASP.Net using both C# and VB; strong, high-level knowledge of SQL Server versions 6.5 through 2008; domain and server management of Windows NT Server 4.0 through Windows Server 2008. He is also skilled with core Web technologies such as XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Eddy has worked with large clients such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and smaller clients such as Declaration Management and Research, Wright & Co, and Professional Education Services Group.