• Robert deGroof, PhD, has been named chief scientific officer of Accelovance (Rockville, Maryland), a clinical services company. Before arriving at Accelovance, deGroof served as senior vice president of drug development for Ambit Biosciences.

• Richard Middelberg has joined Aperio Technologies (Vista, California) as vice president of finance and administration. Middelberg joins Aperio from dj Orthopedics, where he was vice president and general manager of the consignment inventory and insurance billing division. Aperio Technologies, a provider of virtual microscopy and digital pathology, said it is has the largest installed base of virtual microscopy systems.

• Tord Lendau has resigned as CEO of Artimplant (Stockholm, Sweden). Recruitment of a new CEO has been initiated. Artimplant is a biomaterials company focused on solutions to problems in orthopedic, odontological and reconstructive surgery.

• Dr. Julian Feneley, president of BriteSmile (Walnut Creek, California), will leave the company June 1 to pursue other opportunities. Feneley joined BriteSmile in February 2004 as its president. Feneley will continue as a director of the company. John Reed, a director of the company and the company's CEO from June 1999 to April 2004, has been appointed CEO, effective immediately. BriteSmile develops teeth whitening technology and manages BriteSmile Professional Teeth Whitening Centers.

• Steve Barnett, a member of the board of directors of DOBI Medical International (Mahwah, New Jersey) since April 2005, has been appointed to serve in the role of non-executive vice chairman of operations. Barnett is the former co-founder of Apelco Health Service. The company also appointed Michael Jorgensen as interim CEO following the resignation of Phillip Thomas, co-founder of DOBI Medical. Jorgensen, who has been with DOBI since 2003, will continue his responsibilities as CFO. DOBI Medical is a developmental stage, medical imaging company working to create a new means for the improved diagnosis of malignant breast disease through the identification of abnormal vascularization associated with tumors.

• Peter Langecker, MD, PhD, has joined Durect (Cupertino, California) as chief medical officer. Langecker was most recently chief medical officer and vice president of clinical affairs for Intarcia Therapeutics. Durect is an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development of pharmaceutical systems based on its drug delivery platform technologies that treat chronic debilitating diseases and enable biotechnology products.

• Tenet Healthcare (Dallas) said that it has formed a national strategic development group to focus on its freestanding and hospital-based outpatient services and facilities. The effort will be led by Stephen Corbeil, a veteran Tenet hospital executive who most recently has served as senior vice president of Tenet's 18-hospital Central Northeast-Southern States region. The company named Christopher Bird vice president of outpatient services. Bird joins Tenet from his position as Western division vice president of DaVita. Tenet Healthcare, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals and related healthcare services.