Abiomed (Danvers, Massachusetts) has appointed Karim Benali, MD, vice president of product development and Vincent Wong director of commercial software engineering. Benali previously held several global positions in R&D, product management and new product development at GE Healthcare. Wong previously was PET/CT workstations product manager for GE Healthcare. Abiomed makes cardiac assist devices, including the AbioCor artificial replacement heart.

Joseph Kletzel II has been named senior vice president and general manager of the Pacific Division of CardioGenesis (Foothill Ranch, California). Kletzel has more than 25 years of operations and strategic management experience with biotech and medical device companies. Previously chief operating officer of Advanced Tissue Sciences, he has been a member of the CardioGenesis board of directors for nearly three years and will continue to serve as a director. CardioGenesis is a maker of surgical products and accessories used in angina-relieving transmyocardial revascularization and percutaneous myocardial revascularization procedures.

K. Kay Hannah has joined CryoCor (San Diego, California) in the newly created position of vice president, human resources. Hannah has more than 12 years of human resources experience with start-up companies, such as SonoSite, where she served as vice president of human resources and facilities. Gregory Tibbitts also has joined the company as vice president of finance and chief financial officer. Tibbitts has more than 15 years of financial, accounting and administrative management experience, including serving as chief financial officer at Elitra Pharmaceuticals. Ruchir Sehra, MD, has been promoted to the newly created position of vice president, clinical affairs. Sehra, who joined the company in 2003, directs all of CryoCor's clinical studies. The CryoCor Cardiac Cryoablation System is approved in Europe for use in treating atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter and supraventricular tachycardia.

Timothy Still has been named executive vice president of sales and marketing at HemoSense (San Jose, California). He previously was vice president of sales and marketing for Cholestech. HemoSense's products include the INRatio System, which tests and records the clotting time of blood via prothrombin time testing, a blood test used to monitor oral anticoagulants such as Coumadin.

Anne Kulis has been named vice president of quality, regulatory and clinical affairs for OmniSonics Medical Technologies (Wilmington, Massachusetts), a developer of advanced medical devices to treat vascular occlusive disease. Most recently, she was vice president of regulatory and clinical affairs for NMT Medical.

Sam Williams has been named chief financial officer for SynCardia Systems (Tucson, Arizona). He previously was chief financial officer at AlphaGraphics. SynCardia Systems develops biomechanical cardiac replacement and assist devices. Its CardioWest Total Artificial Heart is designed for patients with end-stage congestive heart failure.