• David Sankaran has been named CFO and senior vice president of Accelrys (San Diego). Sankaran previously was vice president and corporate controller for Ocular Sciences. John Hanlon, who has served as CFO of Accelrys, formerly known as Pharmacopeia, for the past three years, will help with transition and will leave his position at the end of this month to rejoin his family in Northern California. Accelrys is a provider of software for computation, simulation and the management and mining of scientific data, including nanotechnology researchers for product design as well as drug discovery and development.

• Maura Connell joined the American Diabetes Association (ADA; Alexandria, Virginia) as chief marketing and communications officer, a new position. Connell's career includes working in various management and marketing positions for International Paper and Gaylord Container, as well as at her own management consulting and professional writing practice. The ADA is a leading voluntary health organization supporting diabetes research, information and advocacy.

• Scott Garrett has been named CEO of Beckman Coulter (Fullerton, California), effective Feb. 21. Garrett, currently president and chief operating officer, succeeds retiring CEO John Wareham, who continues as chairman until the company's annual shareholders meeting on April 7. Garrett also was elected a director. Beckman Coulter is a leading maker of biomedical testing instrument systems, tests and supplies that simplify and automate laboratory processes.

• Russell Medford, MD, PhD, president and CEO of AtheroGenics (Alpharetta, Georgia), has been elected chairman of the Georgia Biomedical Partnership, an organization focused on growing the life sciences industry in Georgia. Medford, who has served as president and CEO of AtheroGenics since 1995, is a molecular cardiologist whose research has focused on the molecular basis of cardiovascular disease. AtheroGenics is focused on the discovery and development of drugs for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases, including heart disease (atherosclerosis), rheumatoid arthritis and asthma.