Adelbert Stagg, PhD, has been named vice president, regulatory affairs and quality assurance for Artes Medical (San Diego). Stagg formerly was head of the Regulatory Affairs Department teams at Allergan that took regulatory leadership for Botox. Artes is a specialty medical device and pharmaceutical company.

Mark Roellig has been named vice president, general counsel and secretary for Fisher Scientific International (Hampton, New Hampshire). Fisher Scientific is a supplier of research and laboratory tools.

Dr. Richard Hunter has been elected new chairperson of the Food Irradiation Processing Alliance (FIPA). Since 2001 Hunter has served as president and CEO of Food Technology Service, a NASDAQ-listed company that helped pioneer food irradiation. FIPA, established in 2000, promotes consumer and industry understanding of food irradiation technology and says it serves its members as "the voice" of this industry.

Kevin Fickenscher, MD, has been named to the newly created position of executive vice president of clinical transformation for Perot Systems (Plano, Texas). Fickenscher previously was with CSC where he was national director and partner of Global Health Solutions. Perot Systems is a provider of information technology services and business solutions.

Dee Mellor has been promoted to vice president of GE Healthcare's (Waukesha, Wisconsin) Global Services business. Mellor replaces John Chiminski, recently selected to lead GE Healthcare's Global Magnetic Resonance business. Mellor, a 27-year veteran of GE businesses, most recently served as vice president and general manager of global supply chain. GE's Global Services business deploys more than 6,500 highly engineers worldwide to service both GE and non-GE diagnostic imaging, ultrasound, clinical monitoring, information technology and bio-sciences customers.

Dr. Jason Schneir has joined Imago Scientific Instruments (Madison, Wisconsin) as director of marketing. Schneir previously served as director of sales and marketing with KLA-Tencor. Imago Scientific Instruments develops "nanolytical" tools and solutions for manufacturers, engineers, scientists and researchers in nanotechnology.

• Karl Storz Endoscopy-America (KSEA; Culver City, California), a leader in endoscopy and medical video imaging systems, promoted Charles Wilhelm to president and chief operating officer. Wilhelm, who joined KSEA in 1992, previously was executive vice president, operations. In addition, Frances Ridlehoover has joined the company as vice president of operations. Ridlehoover formerly was the chief operating officer for the UCLA Hospital System.

Gerry Braun has been named CFO of LifePoint (Ontario, California), a provider of non-invasive drug diagnostic technologies. Braun replaces Craig Montesanti, who has accepted a position with a privately held company. Since 1998, Braun was CFO and a director of precious metals firm Heraeus Metal Processing.

Ron Wheet has been named CEO and chairman of the board of Maxxon (Tulsa, Oklahoma). Wheet replaces former CEO Gifford Mabie Jr., who has resigned as CEO and a board member. Wheet is a director of the company and is president of Osprey South. Maxxon is a development-stage company focused on reducing the risk of accidental needlestick injuries and deaths. Maxxon's 3cc. safety syringe, presently in development, is designed as a single-handed, vacuum-operated safety syringe that retracts the used needle into the syringe after use.

Donald Monack, executive vice president and chief development officer, is resigning from National Mentor Holdings (Boston), effective March 31. Monack joined The Mentor Network in 1989 as national business director. National Mentor Holdings, marketing its services under the name The Mentor Network, is a provider of home and community-based human services for individuals with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities, at-risk youth and persons with acquired brain injury.

Scott L'Heureux, one of the founders of Surgical Information Systems (SIS; Atlanta), has been promoted to president and chief operating officer. L'Heureux, who had been executive vice president of sales, succeeds the company's primary founder, Richard Jackson, who will remain as CEO. SIS provides automated intelligence across the entire perioperative continuum, empowering hospitals to enhance patient care and business operations.

William Craig has been named executive vice president and CFO of Vital Signs (Totowa, New Jersey). He has 20 years' experience in accounting and finance and for the past year has been providing consulting services in the area of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance as well as functioning as an interim CFO. Vital Signs and its subsidiaries manufacture single-use medical products for anesthesia and critical care.