Halloran Consulting Group appointed Laura Araujo senior director of quality management, and Tina Forrister senior associate for training and development. Said Laurie Halloran, president and CEO of Halloran Consulting Group: “We are thrilled to have Laura and Tina on board, as they are integral to the expansion of our practice areas and bring valuable knowledge and expertise to our firm and to our clients.” Here’s the release.

SRA International has won a contract with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention to provide laboratory support services to the select agent program. The contract has an estimated value of $24.9 million over five years, if all options are exercised. “The Select Agent Program is key to ensuring the safety and security of the registered select agent facilities, the staff who work with those agents and the general public,” said Wayne Myers, director of public health informatics, the SRA business unit that supports the select agent contract. “Our laboratory inspectors have conducted more than 1,000 onsite inspections over the past five years, and we look forward to continuing to help CDC manage this critical emergency preparedness program.”

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PDI appointed Nancy Lurker as CEO and a member of the company’s board of directors, effective November 18, 2008. Lurker’s board appointment fills a vacancy on PDI’s 10-member board of directors. “Today marks the beginning of a new and exciting time for PDI,” said John Dugan, chairman of the board. “Nancy is a proven leader and a highly accomplished executive with particular expertise in sales and marketing, commercial operations and the evaluation of prescriber behavior.”

Encorium signed $6.5 million of new business contracts, primarily consisting of two oncology clinical trials with a U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company. David Ginsberg, Encorium’s CEO, stated, “This new business win confirms Encorium’s increasingly strong position in the therapeutic arena of oncology as well as our determination to further leverage our capabilities to become one of the leading CROs in the oncology space. The fact that we have the capability to conduct all or part of a client’s trials in Europe exemplifies how we are able to bring value-added services to our U.S. clients through our transatlantic presence.” Here’s the release.

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National Public Radio will drop a radio show by Frederick K. Goodwin, a George Washington University psychiatrist with financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry. GSK paid Goodwin at least $325,000 for speaking about Lamictal ((lamotrigine), which has indications for epilepsy and biopolar disorder. The news is the latest development in a Congressional campaign intended to discredit industry-friendly psychiatrists in academia. Here’s a New York Times story.

ProTrials was awarded top honors in the 5th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business. The company won for best overall company of the year. ProTrials beat nine other finalists in its category, service businesses with up to 100 employees. Cofounder and CEO Jodi Andrews and Inger Arum, ProTrials cofounder and president, accepted the award in New York City on November 14. “A Stevie is an important symbol of a business’s successful accomplishments and we are honored to have ProTrials selected,” said Andrews.

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