Scantibodies names president of new Tokyo branch
Dr. Akio Myoga has been named as president of Scantibodies Japan, a recently established company branch located in the Tokorozawa area of Tokyo.
Thomas L. Canto, president and CEO of Scantibodies Laboratory, Santee, Calif., said Dr. Myoga has accepted the position following a history of medical diagnostic advancements in Japan. For more than 30 years, Dr. Myoga has served as head of scientific affairs, regulatory affairs, patent and licensing, and marketing for Abbott, Japan.
Anthony P. Towell elected to seat on DiaSys board
Anthony P. Towell has been elected to the Board of Directors of DiaSys Corp., Waterbury, Conn.
Towell is a director of a number of U.S. public companies. He served on the board of AmeriData Technologies Inc., until its sale to General Electric Capital in 1996. Prior to retirement, Towell held various senior management positions with Royal Dutch Shell, including that of managing director of the Shell Group in Columbia, vice president of Shell International Trading Co., London, and director of Asiatic Petroleum in New York.
Towell was born in the United Kingdom and was awarded the Military Crown for his service in Korea.
MediSpectra appoints new chief technical officer
Medical device company MediSpectra Inc., Lexington, Mass., has appointed Ross F. Flewelling, Ph.D., to the newly created position of chief technical officer. Flewelling will be responsible for product development, technology development and research for the company.
Prior to joining MediSpectra, Flewelling worked as an independent biomedical consultant, specializing in technology and program development and venture capital technology assessment for medical R & D start-ups. Previously, Flewelling held the position of senior director of technology development at Mallinckrodt/Nellcor Puritan Bennett.
Olympus America honors outstanding pathologists with Unsung Heroes awards
Tracey Corey Handy, M.D., chief medical examiner of Kentucky, and Matthew Zarka, M.D., affiliated with the University of Vermont and the Fletcher Allen Health Center, were the 1999 winners of the Unsung Heroes Awards. The awards, sponsored by Olympus America of Melville, N.Y., in cooperation with the College of American Pathologists (CAP), were presented at a ceremony during the Fall CAP Conference in New Orleans.
This year’s awards are the first for the Unsung Heroes program whose goal is to increase public awareness of the role pathologists have in saving lives. Dr. Handy was recognized for her role in contributing to the well being of children as Kentucky’s chief medical examiner. Along with several colleagues, Handy founded the state’s Living Forensics team in 1991. Since its inception, the team has consulted on more than 700 cases of suspected child abuse, leading to an increased conviction rate among abuse perpetrators.
Dr. Zarka was recognized for his efforts in aiding the extremely poor Mexican-Indian population in the remote mountain regions of Oaxaca, Mexico. During the last two years, Zarka has volunteered his time and services to bring medical care to these impoverished communities. He and his OB/GYN team have set up clinics throughout the area, enjoining the coffee companies of Mexico to spread word of the clinics to the local population, and to help transport patients.
The Olympus Unsung Heroes program was launched in May 1999. A panel of board certified pathologists judged the candidates. The winners will each receive an Olympus microscope to help them continue their work in clinical, forensic or research science.
BD board adds CEO title to president Edward J. Ludwig
The Board of Directors of Becton, Dickinson and Co., Franklin Lakes, N.J., has elected Edward J. Ludwig to the BD board of directors. Ludwig, who was named BD president in May 1999, was elected chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1, 2000. Ludwig will succeed Clateo Castellini, who retired on Dec. 31, 1999. Castellini will continue as chairman of the board.
Ludwig joined BD in 1979. In 1987 after five years’ with the company’s medical segment, he assumed responsibility for corporate planning and development. From 1989 to 1994, Ludwig was president of Becton Dickinson Diagnostics in Baltimore. While there, he also served as senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer from 1995 to 1998. In July 1998 he was appointed executive vice president of the company.
Robert M. Hallenbeck named new VP and general counsel at BD.
The Board of Directors of Becton Dickinson and Co., Franklin Lakes, N.J., has named Robert M. Hallenbeck vice president and general counsel, effective Jan. 1, 2000. The election follows the previously announced retirement of John W. Galiardo as general counsel on Dec. 31, 1999.
Hallenbeck will have overall responsibility for the company’s law group, government relations, ethics and business practices, and environmental affairs and safety. Hallenbeck joined BD in 1987 as a patent attorney and spent six years in several roles within the intellectual property department. In 1993, he was named associate general counsel and in February 1999, assistant general counsel.
| Becton Dickinson exec joins Med-Design as VP and COO Michael W. Simpson has been appointed executive vice president and chief operating officer of Med-Design Corp., Ventura, Calif. The company designs and develops safety needle products for medical use. Simpson joins Med-Design from Becton Dickinson, where he was worldwide director of advance protection infusion therapy systems. He was responsible for product development, manufacturing and marketing of safety-based IV catheters and catheter introducers. Simpson joins Med-Design just as OSHA’s new regulations mandating the use of safety sharps has been announced. As part of his responsibilities as COO, Simpson will be involved in developing and executing Med-Design’s ongoing strategy to provide safety-based devices to the medical market through partnerships with larger companies and through other types of agreements. Prior to his work at BD, Simpson worked at Johnson & Johnson where he was responsible for business development, product management and marketing and research for interventional devices. |
Pharmacopeia scientist wins award for high throughput drug-screen product
Dr. Jonathan Burbaum, associate director of HTS technologies at Pharmacopeia Inc. in Princeton, N.J., received the Society of Biomolecular Screening’s 1999 PolyWhat Innovation in Microplate Design Award for his work with Corning Inc. of Acton, Mass. At Corning he developed a 1,536-well plate used for high-throughout drug screening. The miniaturized plate allows for a 16-fold improvement in throughput and a 100-fold reduction in reagents consumed, compared with the current industry standards.
William Janzen, president of the Society for Biomolecular Screening presented the award at the Fifth Annual SBS Conference and Exhibition in Edinburgh, Scotland. The award recognizes the role of both companies in miniaturizing ultra high-throughput screening.
