• The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed; Washington) has tapped Christopher White, an attorney with more than 15 years experience in healthcare law, to be the association’s new general counsel. Since 2001, White has been a partner in the FDA/Healthcare Regulation Practice of Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius, an international law firm that concentrates on the legal representation of the life sciences industry.

• Larry Czapla has been named senior vice president of worldwide sales and business development for Cardiogenesis (Foothill Ranch, California). Czapla brings nearly 30 years of medical device experience to Cardiogenesis, most recently as executive vice president and general manager for the Cardiology Division of Accellent. Cardiogenesis makes surgical products and accessories used in angina-relieving transmyocardial revascularization and percutaneous myocardial channeling procedures.

• The Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland) reported the appointment of Steven Nissen, MD, as interim chairman of the hospital’s department of cardiovascular medicine. Known internationally for his research into coronary artery disease, Nissen assumes his new role following the resignation of former chairman Eric Topol, MD, who is moving to the department of genetics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (also Cleveland). “Steve brings a tremendous amount of medical expertise, experience and leadership to the department that will enable this world-class program to continue on its path of excellence in research and clinical care,” said Joseph Hahn, MD, chief of staff at the Cleveland Clinic. Nissen joined the Cleveland Clinic in 1992. Most recently, he served as medical director of the Cleveland Clinic Cardiovascular Coordinating Center, an organization that directs multi-center clinical trials. He currently serves as president-elect of the American College of Cardiology (Bethesda, Maryland) and will become president of the organization at its annual meeting in Atlanta this month.

• FoxHollow Technologies (Redwood City, California), manufacturer of the SilverHawk Plaque Excision System – a minimally invasive device for the treatment of peripheral artery disease – reported a pair of management changes. Ron Steckel has been named chief operating officer of the company, while Richard Zimmer has been named vice president of sales. They replace David Martin and Bill Hoffman, respectively. Steckel has been FoxHollow’s senior vice president of operations and research & development since July 2004 and has more than 30 years of experience in medical technology companies. Zimmer, who has two decades of healthcare industry sales experience, joined FoxHollow more than two years ago and has served as director of sales since October. The company said the transition was due to its new strategic initiatives.

• Medical AlleyBIO (St. Louis Park, Minnesota), a life sciences trade association serving Minnesota and surrounding areas, has added two new vice presidents to its staff. Dana Boyle will serve as vice president for business development, with a focus on bioscience, and Larry Kuusisto, PhD, is the new vice president of education and executive director of Alley Institute. Boyle has served for the past 20 years as a trade commissioner at the Consulate General of Canada in Minneapolis, where she built relationships between the business and scientific communities, bridging Canada to the Upper Midwest and Rocky Mountain states with a focus on the biosciences and environmental sectors. Kuusisto has served Medical Alley for 12 years on the organization’s Government Committee and three years on its board of directors. In 2004, he designed and implemented a community decision-making process determining consumer healthcare coverage stemming from Alley Institute’s “Town Hall” convener initiative.

• Vlad Budzynski MD, PhD, has joined MIV Therapeutics (Vancouver, British Columbia) as senior scientist in drug research and application. Budzynski has held senior scientific research and management positions in companies such as Inimex Pharmaceuticals, Cytovax Biotechnologies and Biomira. MIV Therapeutics develops new generation biocompatible coatings and advanced drug delivery systems for cardiovascular stents and other implantable medical devices.

• Cardiac Science Chairman Raymond Cohen has been appointed to the board of directors of Syncroness (Westminster, Colorado), an outsourced engineering product design and development firm, signifying its expansion into medical technology markets. Cohen is an accredited director and currently serves as chairman of the board of Cardiac Science, a developer of advanced cardiac monitoring and defibrillation products formed by the September merger of Quinton Cardiology Systems, and Cardiac Science, where Cohen served as CEO for the past nine years.

• John Rooney has been named vice president of marketing at Terumo Interventional Systems (Somerset, New Jersey). Rooney most recently was director of marketing at Roche Diagnostics. Terumo Interventional Systems, a business unit of Terumo Medical, sells guidewires, catheters, introducer sheaths and embolization products for use in interventional procedures. Rooney is playing a role in the expansion of Terumo’s marketing capabilities as it takes back distribution of its interventional products, including Glidewire guidewires, Glidecath catheters and Pinnacle introducer sheaths, as the company ends a 15-year relationship with Boston Scientific, which has provided marketing, sales and distribution of Terumo’s vascular interventional products.