LONDON – Former GSK global director of communications Camilla Dormer has joined biopharmaceutical firm Atai Life Sciences as vice president of communications.

Dormer moves back in-house after seven months at Ketchum, which she joined in February this year as deputy managing director of health. She had previously been international head of communications at vaping company Juul.

Speaking to PRovoke Media, Dormer said Ketchum’s UK CEO, global client solutions Jo-ann Robertson and MD of health Con Franklin had been supportive of the move to Atai, which is a specialist in mental health treatments and is headquartered in Berlin.

“It was never my plan to have such a short stint at Ketchum. It was like a ‘coming home’ in many senses, given that I started my career there and have been a client of theirs too at various points. I can only thank Jo-ann and Con for being so incredibly supportive. But I just couldn’t pass up a rare opportunity such as this and really fell in love with the team at Atai from our very first interactions,” she said.

“They are so very passionate about making a meaningful difference to the mental health crisis – which has of course been compounded even more by the pandemic – with an incredible array of programmes underway to unlock innovative treatments, including psychedelics, which are currently seeing an important ‘renaissance’ across medical research and regulation. I’m really excited to be a part of their journey and next steps towards achieving their vision.”

In her new role, Dormer reports to Atai Life Sciences CEO Florian Brand, who added: “We are delighted to have secured Camilla to lead our communications function. She brings just the right blend of strategy, scientific comms acumen, creativity and drive to take us through our next chapter as a company, following our NASDAQ listing in June, and help us advance our mission to improve mental health worldwide.”