MIAMI—Stephen Whitehead, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, will be among the speakers at the first Global Public Relations Summit, taking place in Miami at the end of October.

Whitehead, a veteran communications professional who became head of the UK’s pharmaceutical industry trade association in June of last year, will be part of a panel of senior public relations professionals discussing “Communicating Through Controversy: When Reputation is on the Line” at the Summit.

In his current role, Whitehead is the chief advocate for the research-based pharmaceutical industry in the UK. He sits on the ABPI board of management and is responsible for all aspects of the ABPI’s work.  He is focused on fostering greater partnership between the industry and the National Health Service and will lead the industry’s pricing negotiation of medicines with the Department of Health this year.

Earlier in his career, Whitehead spent 10 years with pharma industry giants Glaxo and Lilly, at UK, European and international levels. He also worked in senior roles in alcohol policy and financial services with Diageo, Barclays and Prudential. He has expertise is in policy, public affairs, communications, pricing, social policy issues and reputation management.