Dewan joins the company from Electronic Arts (EA), where she was director of consumer insights, overseeing research initiatives across all titles in the portfolio. She has also held senior insight roles at Warner Bros and BabyCenter.

In the newly created role, Dewan will be responsible for building a customer insights and analytics function, appointing a team of researchers who will lead efforts to improve the company’s understanding of its users.

San Francisco-based Healthline’s brands include Healthline.com, Greatist.com and MedicalNewsToday.com.

The company has also appointed Steve Swasey as its first vice-president of communications. Prior to joining Healthline, he was vice-president of global communications at Moovit, and previously led communications at Netflix between 2005 and 2012.

Both report to senior vice-president of marketing Tracy Rosecrans.

Rosecrans said there was a need to “further hone Healthline’s consumer and business partner-facing narrative and better understand the customer journey.”

She added: “Both Steve and Laurie bring a wealth of expertise in these areas, and will be vital in ensuring Healthline’s success during this exciting and unprecedented time of growth.”