Business Drivers 4125

BUSINESS DRIVERS

Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc. (Foxborough, MA) has appointed Kurt H. Kruger to the newly established position of chief financial officer. Prior to his appointment, Kruger was with Banc of America Securities LLC and Hambrecht & Quist, where he served as managing director and medical technology research analyst. In that role, Kruger followed a wide range of medical technology companies and structured financing for multiple device manufacturers.

Gentris Corp. (Research Triangle Park, NC) has promoted Karen Nield to vice president of finance and human resources. Prior to the promotion, she was executive director of finance for the company. In her new role, Nield will lead Gentris in standardizing human resources policies, attracting top talent, and strengthening employee benefits.

Steve Ward has joined Small Bone Innovations Inc. (New York City) as chief financial officer. Prior to his joining the company, Ward was vice president of finance and administration at International Technidyne Corp. (Edison, NJ) for six years. Small Bone has also appointed Robert Churinetz as vice president of worldwide manufacturing and operations and Thomas B. Loring as vice president of worldwide product development. Prior to joining the company, Churinetz was senior vice president of global operations for Wright Medical Group (Arlington, TN), and Loring was senior director of product development and orthobiologics at Osteotech Inc. (Eatontown, NJ). In addition to the new executives, Small Bone announced the executive promotions of Shawn T. Huxel to vice president of worldwide technology development and business development; Nicholas M. Pachuda, DPM, to vice president of continuing medical education; Scott Ludecker to vice president of sales for lower-limb products; and Jill Pflieger to vice president of worldwide marketing for upper-limb products.

Celera Genomics Group (Rockville, MD), an Applera Corp. business, has appointed Joel Jung as vice president of finance. Most recently, Jung was vice president and treasurer for Chiron Corp. (Emeryville, CA), where he held several executive and senior positions during his 11-year career.

St. Jude Medical Inc. (St. Paul, MN) announced that its new cardiovascular division—which will be the product of a merger of its cardiac surgery and cardiology divisions, effective January 1, 2007—will be led by George J. Fazio, who has served as president of the cardiac surgery division since 2004. Paul R. Buckman, president of St. Jude Medical's cardiology division, will become corporate vice president for business development.

Molecular diagnostics company XDx (San Francisco) has appointed James P. Yee, MD, PhD, to the position of chief medical officer. Yee has more than 20 years of research and development experience and was most recently vice president and head of development for Celera Genomics (Rockville, MD).

Markus Rudin, PhD, has joined the scientific advisory board of VisEn Medical (Woburn, MA). Rudin is a professor of molecular imaging and functional pharmacology at both the University of Zürich and ETH Zürich in Switzerland. He was formerly head of imaging technologies for Novartis (Basel, Switzerland).

Transport Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Framingham, MA), a developer of drug-device combination products for the treatment of dermatological diseases, announced that Dennis Goldberg, PhD, president and chief operating officer, has been appointed to the position of chief executive officer. A 20-year veteran of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, Goldberg had served as president and COO of Transport since October 2004.

CryoCor Inc. (San Diego) has appointed electrophysiologist Helen S. Barold, MD, as its chief medical officer. Barold will lead CryoCor's efforts to obtain regulatory approval for its cardiac cryoablation system for the treatment of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter. Previously, Barold worked as a medical officer in the Office of Device Evaluation in FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. She currently practices cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology at the National Naval Medical Center (Bethesda, MD).

American Medical Systems Holdings Inc. (Minnetonka, MN) announced that its chief financial officer, Carmen Diersen, has resigned from the company to pursue a senior role at an orthopedic start-up company. The company appointed Jill Burchill to the role of CFO on an interim basis until a permanent replacement for Diersen is identified. The company also elected Robert McLellan, MD, and D. Verne Sharma to its board of directors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (New York City) announced the departure of chief executive officer Peter R. Dolan. In his place, the company's board appointed James M. Cornelius as interim CEO. Cornelius has been a director of Bristol-Myers since January 2005 and is chairman emeritus of Guidant Corp. (Indianapolis).