• Jill Anderson has been named president/CEO at Cianna Medical (Aliso Viejo, California). Anderson was previously president of BioLucent. Cianna is focused on women’s health and the treatment of early-stage breast cancer.

• Edwards Lifesciences (Irvine, California) reported the planned departure in the middle of 2008 of corporate officers Anita Bessler, Stuart Foster and Alex Martin. Bessler, who joined the company in 1988, will continue in an ongoing advisory role. Foster, who joined the company in 1994, also will continue in an ongoing advisory role. Martin, who joined Edwards in 2004, plans to pursue other opportunities upon his departure. Edwards specializes in developing cardiovascular disease treatments.

• NewCardio (San Jose, California) said that it has entered into a long-term consulting agreement with Gari Clifford, PhD. Clifford is currently a Principal Research Scientist at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences. NewCardio is a cardiac diagnostic and services company.

• Rapid Micro Biosystems (Bedford, Massachusetts) reported the addition of executives in marketing, sales and finance. Deborah Brusini brings 25 years of accomplishment in life science, diagnostic and biopharmaceutical markets to her role as VP of product management and marketing. Brusini most recently led product management, sales and market development functions at PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences. Wayne Miller, named director of sales, most recently held the position of VP of growth and business development at SP Industries. Michael Ellis has joined the company as CFO. Ellis most recently was with Dymec. Rapid Micro is developing products for detection of microbial contamination in pharma and personal care products.