Charlene Underwood, director of government and industry affairs for the company's healthcare IT division, was elected to a second term as chair of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Electronic Health Record Vendors Association.

Don Rucker, MD, vice president and chief medical officer for Siemens, was appointed to the National Alliance for Health Information Technology clinical advisory group.

Hans Buitendijk, senior product manager in the healthcare IT division, was elected director-at-large to the Health Level Seven Inc. (HL7) board for a second time.

Sam Brandt, MD, vice president and chief medical informatics officer in the healthcare IT division, was elected to the HL7 advisory committee.

Don Bechtel, chief privacy officer for Healthcare Data Exchange, a Siemens company, was elected to the board of directors of the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel of the American National Standards Institute.

Steven Goldberg, MD, has joined Cardiac Dimensions Inc. (Kirkland, WA) as its chief clinical officer. A board-certified interventional cardiologist and director of the cardiac catheterization lab at the University of Washington Medical Center (Seattle), Goldberg will work with Cardiac Dimensions' chief medical officer to support the ongoing worldwide clinical trials of the company's Carillon mitral contour system.

Inion Ltd. (Tampere, Finland), a developer of biodegradable medical implants, has appointed Julien Cotta as its chief financial officer and an executive member of its board of directors. Cotta was previously group financial controller of Whatman Plc.

Sten+Barr Medical (Tampa, FL), a manufacturer of therapeutic support surfaces, bariatric equipment, and specialty patient beds, has named Micheal Cole as its president. Prior to joining Sten+Barr, Cole was managing director and partner at Kendrick Pierce & Co. (Tampa, FL), a firm specializing in investment banking for life sciences companies and financial institutions.

Industry association AdvaMed (Washington, DC) has selected Michael J. McGarry as its executive vice president of public affairs. McGarry has held top communications positions for Royal Dutch Shell since 2001, and has more than 20 years' experience in public- and private-sector communications.

Metiscan Technologies Inc. (Dallas), a provider of Web-based radiology information systems and teleradiology solutions, has promoted Jeffrey Brooks to the position of chief executive officer. Prior to the appointment, Brooks held senior executive positions with Metiscan, formerly MRI Management Inc. The company reports that Brooks, who has more than 10 years' experience in the diagnostic imaging sector, will focus on increasing the company's market share and visibility.

Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc. (Tustin, CA) has named Lawrence Dentice as general manager, senior vice president, and an officer of the company. Dentice, who has been the company's vice president of sales since joining Toshiba in 2002, succeeds Edwin Lodgek, who has left the company. In his new position as general manager, Dentice, a diagnostics imaging industry veteran, will be responsible for leading the company's full-line sales, marketing, service, and business operations teams, as well as Toshiba's ultrasound business unit.

Albert G. White has joined the Cooper Companies Inc. (Lake Forest, CA) as vice president and treasurer. White was previously director of the consumer group at Key Bank, and Cooper reports that he has served as the company's primary relationship banker for the past 10 years.

Lance Balk has joined Dade Behring Inc. (Deerfield, IL) as senior vice president and general counsel. Balk was previously a partner in the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where he was involved in the firm's private-equity activities, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions and securities law. In his new role, Balk will be responsible for all of Dade Behring's global legal activities.

Given Imaging Ltd. (Yoqneam, Israel) has appointed Nachum Shamir as president, chief executive officer, and a member of its board. He comes to the company from Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, NY), where he was corporate vice president and president of the transaction and industrial solutions group. Gavriel Meron, Given's founder and previous president and CEO, has transitioned to the roles of executive vice chairman of the company's board of directors and chairman of the board's executive committee.

InforMedix Holdings Inc., which has developed a medication compliance system for disease management and clinical drug trial markets, has appointed Larry D. Grant as its chief financial officer. Grant, a partner with executive services firm Tatum LLC, has 20 years' experience as a financial operating executive in the healthcare and life sciences industries. He replaces Arthur Healey, who is leaving InforMedix to pursue other interests.

CryoCor Inc. (San Diego) has promoted Edward F. Brennan, PhD, to the role of chief executive officer and a member of the company's board of directors. Previously president and chief operating officer for CryoCor, Brennan will lead the company as it transitions from an early-stage product development company to a commercial-stage enterprise, the company reports. Brennan, who has been with the company since January 2005, succeeds Gregory M. Ayers, MD, founder of the company. Ayers will continue with the company as an adviser to Brennan and a member of the board. "CryoCor has a tremendous opportunity to penetrate the market for the catheter-based treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF)," Brennan said. "I look forward to leading CryoCor in achieving its long-term strategic goals and working closely with Greg on our AF and atrial flutter clinical initiatives."

Ricardo Mesa-Tejada, MD, has joined Aureon Laboratories (Yonkers, NY), a manufacturer of predictive clinical tests for cancer care, as vice president of pathology and medical director. Mesa-Tejada has served on the faculty at Columbia University and held leadership roles at Quest Diagnostics. In his new position, he will be responsible for expanding Aureon's team of diagnostic pathologists.

CeraPedics (Lakewood, CO), a privately held synthetic-bone-graft developer, has added Bharat M. Desai, MD, to its clinical advisory board. A board-certified orthopedic surgeon, Desai is currently in private practice at Panorama Orthopedics (Golden, CO).

Anthony Viscogliosi, founder, chief executive officer, and chairman of Small Bone Innovations LLC (New York City), in April presented the keynote address at a graduation ceremony at the University of Michigan- Dearborn. Viscogliosi, who is also founder and principal of venture capital and merchant banking firm Viscogliosi Bros. Inc., was also presented with the school's distinguished leadership award during the ceremony. A Dearborn native and 1984 UM-Dearborn graduate, Viscogliosi and his brothers have committed more than $350,000 to the community's educational system in recent years.

Duravest Inc. (Chicago), a publicly traded holding company that acquires medical technology firms, announced that Borys Chabursky has joined its board of directors. Chabursky, a biotechnology entrepreneur, is president and founder of SHI Consulting, a firm operating in the life sciences sector. Duravest currently has two subsidiaries: Bio-Magnetic Therapy Systems Inc. (Munich) and Estracure Inc. (Montreal).

Arthrocare Corp. (Austin, TX), which manufactures surgical tools based on its patented Coblation technology, has announced several changes to its executive management team. Michael Gluk, previously vice president of finance and administration, has been promoted to senior vice president and chief financial officer. He succeeds Fernando Sanchez, who is now senior vice president of business development. John Raffle, previously vice president of corporate development and legal affairs, has been promoted to senior vice president of strategic business units. He replaces John Tighe, who has left the company to assume the role of chief executive officer for California-based medical technology company Peak Surgical Inc.

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