• DaVita HealthCare Partners (Denver) said Garry Menzel, chief financial officer, is leaving to return to the biopharmaceutical industry. James Hilger will serve as interim chief financial officer effective March 30, in addition to continuing in his role as chief accounting officer. Menzel will remain on board for a period of time to ensure a smooth transition. DaVita HealthCare Partners is the parent company of DaVita Kidney Care and HealthCare Partners.

• Heidrick & Struggles (Chicago) said John Mitchell has joined the firm to lead its global Healthcare and Life Sciences practice. Mitchell most recently led the global Private Equity Practice at a leading executive search firm. Heidrick & Struggles says it serves the executive talent and leadership needs of the world's top organizations as the premier provider of leadership consulting, culture shaping and senior-level executive search services.

• Insulet (Billerica, Massachusetts) said Michael Levitz will be named chief financial officer starting May 4. Mike will succeed Allison Dorval, who reported her resignation, effective May 4, to pursue other professional opportunities and will remain with Insulet through July 3 to assist with an effective transition. Levitz is currently the senior VP, chief financial officer and treasurer of Analogic. Insulet makes tubeless insulin pump technology with its OmniPod insulin management system.

• Royal Philips (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) has hired Robert Cascella to head up its imaging businesses, including the newly acquired assets from catheter-based imaging company Volcano. He was the former president/CEO of Hologic, where he held executive positions for about a decade. Cascella will hold the title of EVP of Royal Philips. He succeeds Gene Saragnese, who will retire as of May 1.

• Sorrento Therapeutics (San Diego) has named George Ng to the position of executive VP & chief legal officer. Ng joins the company from BioDelivery Sciences International, where he was senior VP & general counsel and a member of senior management. Sorrento is an oncology company developing new treatments for cancer and associated pain.

• Cochlear's VP of U.S. sales Jerry Schloffman has decided to leave the company to join Valencia Technologies (Valencia, California) and his longtime mentor and friend, Jeff Greiner, who is the CEO of Valencia Schloffman will be the chief of market development and will be responsible for generating enthusiasm and support for the use of Valencia's coin-sized neuromodulation device in the treatment of resistant hypertension, including the recruitment of clinical trial sites and the recruitment of patients for the pivotal trial in the U.S. in 2016.