NEW YORK--()--Consonance Capital Partners, a leading U.S.-based healthcare private equity firm, today announced that it has added health care leaders Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH and Robert Fraiman to its Operating Council. Consonance Capital Partners’ Operating Council and Senior Advisory Board members work closely with the firm’s investment professionals, bringing valuable market insights, helping to source and diligence investments, and advising portfolio company management teams and serving on their boards of directors.

“We are thrilled to add Rob and Rochelle to the Consonance team. We have known and worked closely with Rob for over three decades and gotten to know Rochelle more recently. Each of them has made substantial achievements in the healthcare industry, and both are recognized as accomplished leaders in their respective fields,” said the firm’s four Managing Partners and Co-Founders, Mitchell Blutt, Benjamin Edmands, Stephen McKenna, and Nancy-Ann DeParle.

Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH served on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts until beginning her tenure at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where she served as the 19th Director (2021-2023). Prior to that, she served as Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital (2017-2021), and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School (2012-2021).

Dr. Walensky is an infectious disease clinician and researcher. Her research has focused on drug pricing and cost-effectiveness of HIV care and she has over 300 peer-reviewed research publications. Dr. Walensky has been an active member of policy discussions at the WHO, UNAIDS, the DHHS HIV Guidelines Committee, and the NIH Office of AIDS Research.

Dr. Walensky received her BA from Washington University in St. Louis; her MD from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and her MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and her Infectious Disease fellowship at the Massachusetts General/Brigham and Women’s Hospital combined program. Dr. Walensky is a member of the American Academy of Physicians, National Academy of Medicine and the Council on Foreign Relations. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees at the Doris Duke Foundation and The Carter Center.

“The Consonance team’s focus on partnering with innovative companies that improve health outcomes and reduce overall costs to the healthcare system resonates strongly with me. I’m excited to partner with them on this endeavor,” said Walensky.

Rob Fraiman was the CEO & President of leading healthcare investment bank, Cain Brothers, a division of KeyBanc Capital Markets, until mid-2023 when he retired from his investment banking career. As an investment banker for 37 years, he advised CEOs and Boards of enterprises in the U.S. healthcare industry in mergers & acquisitions, capital raising, and strategic growth initiatives. As CEO & President of Cain Brothers, Mr. Fraiman oversaw the significant expansion of the firm’s M&A franchise, private equity and health care sector coverage, and thought leadership initiatives. He has worked with clients in dozens of high-profile transactions, including recapitalizations and M&A of major physician groups, health systems, payers, health tech, life sciences and medical technology companies. He has been involved in over 150 major transformational transactions across the healthcare economy over the course of his investment banking career.

Mr. Fraiman is a National Advisor at Manatt Health. He is chair of the Advisory Board of the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Program at Columbia Business School and chair of the Board of Campus Bound Scholars, a Westchester, New York organization providing mentoring and financial support to first generation college students. He is a General Partner of the CB Executive Co-Investment private equity fund.

“I have known the senior team at Consonance for decades and have always had the highest respect for their intelligence and integrity in the middle market healthcare industry. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to help the firm continue to build its investment franchise with companies innovating in the U.S. health care industry,” said Fraiman.

Dr. Walensky and Mr. Fraiman join a deep bench of senior healthcare executives and experts at Consonance Capital Partners.

About Consonance Capital Partners

Consonance Capital Partners invests in private companies in the lower and middle markets of the U.S. healthcare industry, with an emphasis on businesses driving efficiency, cost containment, and high-quality care to patients. Consonance Capital Partners participates in growth equity, leveraged buyout, carve-out, recapitalization, and special situation transactions. For more information, visit www.consonancecapitalpartners.com.