• Michael Mussallem, CEO and chairman of Edwards Lifesciences (Irvine, Calilfornia), has been elected to a two-year term as chairman of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed; Washington). For the past two years, Mussalem has served as chairman of AdvaMed’s committee on payment and healthcare delivery. Mussallem has headed cardiovascular products manufacturer Edwards Lifesciences since it was spun-off from Baxter International in 2000.

• Michael Steele has been named VP of business development for SeraCare Life Sciences (Milford, Massachusetts). Previously, Steele held development roles at Corautus Genetics and Life Therapeutics. SeraCare is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in human and animal diagnostics and therapeutics.

• URAC (Washington) has named Joann Genovich-Richards, PhD, RN, to serve as the organization’s first VP of research and measurement. Genovich-Richards has worked with a range of healthcare organizations, including the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the Agency for Healthcare Policy and Research, and CareScience. URAC is an independent accreditor offers more than 20 accreditation and certification programs along the continuum of care.

• Vitro Diagnostics (d/b/a/Vitro Biopharma; Aurora, Colorado) said that Tinalyn Kupfer, PhD, formerly technical director of the Rocky Mountain Islet Transplant Program, has joined Vitro’s team that is developing stem cell-derived human pancreatic beta islets applications for research and drug development. Vitro specializes in the development of stem cell lines from pancreatic tissues.