We’re proud to announce that our Creative Director and Head of Copy, Ryan Wallman, has been selected to serve on the jury for the pharmaceutical category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, taking place in June 2026.
Cannes Lions is the world’s most celebrated festival of creative excellence – a stage where the most impactful work in healthcare and pharmaceutical marketing is recognised, scrutinised and celebrated. Ryan joins a carefully curated jury tasked with evaluating campaigns that push creative boundaries while also translating complex science into messages that resonate with both healthcare professionals and consumer audiences.
As the only Australian judge in the pharmaceutical category – and one of just 14 Australians selected to judge across the entire festival – Ryan’s appointment is a meaningful reflection of the creative rigour and strategic thinking coming out of this market, and a recognition of his standing on the global stage.
But for Ryan, this kind of responsibility is familiar territory. In 2025, he represented Australia on the judging panel for the New York Festivals Health Awards, a global competition celebrating creative excellence in healthcare communications. The year prior, he travelled to Las Vegas to serve on the Pharmaceutical and Medical Jury at the LIA Awards, alongside some of the biggest names in international healthcare creativity. And in 2021, he served on the Creative Floor Awards jury, dedicated exclusively to the healthcare and wellness sector.
As Ryan puts it: ‘Pharma is probably the most creatively constrained category there is, and yet some of the most powerful work I’ve ever seen has come out of it. That paradox is what makes judging it so compelling.’
A former medical doctor with nearly two decades of experience leading award-winning campaigns for healthcare brands, Ryan brings to the jury something rare: a clinician’s understanding of science married to a creative leader’s instinct for what makes work truly land. His selection reflects Wellmark’s ongoing commitment to raising the standard of healthcare creativity – not just locally, but on the world’s biggest stages.
Congratulations to Ryan, whose appointment is a reflection of the expertise, instinct and standard he has brought to this industry throughout his career. We’ll be watching – croissant in hand.
Julia Mellios,
Senior Writer at Wellmark.
Connect with me on LinkedIn
