Career Moves

Cato Research's new leader is pharma veteran

John Cline has been named president of Cato Research, a Durham company with about 300 employees that helps pharmaceutical companies research and develop medicines.

Cline has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently as founder and CEO at etrials Worldwide, a Morrisville company that develops software for experimental drug tests. Cline said in May that he would step down as head of etrials to make room for a leader experienced in guiding the company through the next stage of growth.

Publicly traded etrials employed 125 as of Dec. 31, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Cato Research is a privately owned company that was founded in 1988 by Allen Cato, chief executive of the company, and Lynda Sutton, the company's chief operating officer and chief regulatory officer.

In other moves ...

Robert A. Sheets was appointed executive vice president and chief financial officer at Alliance One International, a leaf tobacco merchant in Morrisville.

Marian McCord joined the research and development team at Entegrion, a life-sciences company in Research Triangle Park.

Kipp Bodnar was hired as account executive in the public relations and interactive communications departments at Howard, Merrell & Partners in Raleigh.

Linda Anderson joined PerformanceLight of Morrisville as design associate. The business provides lighting products and services for home builders.

Ben Blankenship has been named president and chief executive officer of Be Active North Carolina.

Christopher Pilz and Glen Malpass have been promoted to vice presidents at TerraTech Engineers, which provides geo-technical and environmental engineering services from offices in Raleigh and Wilmington.

Cynthia "Cindy" B. Graham was hired as account executive in the Raleigh office of Rutherfoord, a risk management and insurance brokerage firm.

Theresa S. Dew has been named a member of Stuart Law Firm in Raleigh.

Mark Sieber was hired as designer and sales associate at Porto, a home home furnishings store at North Hills in Raleigh.

Johnny M. Loper has been named managing member of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice in Raleigh.

Brian Sharp of Chapel Hill was hired as senior manager at Kalypso, a management consulting firm. He will lead the firm's practice in pricing strategy and value management.

Pam Owen was hired as business development manager at The Greer Group, a staffing firm in Raleigh. Stephanie Tatta was hired as an on-site manager.

Peter Bellantoni joined Driesenga & Associates in Cary as civil engineering group manager. Debra Harris was hired as survey technician at Driesenga & Associates in Morrisville; Scott Batson was hired as CAD Designer I in the firm's civil engineering department; and Lauren Cline has been hired as administrative assistant.

Louise Bannon and Ayana Hernandez were hired as account supervisors in the Raleigh office of Fleishman-Hilliard.

Steve Henderson of Cary and Ben Betts have joined as sales representatives at McDonald Enterprises, which provides architectural, institutional and educational equipment.

Bill Cashman was hired as virtualized services manager at Peak 10, a data center operator and managed services provider in Raleigh.

Antonella B. Jeffreys was hired as an oncologist at Veterinary Specialty Hospital of the Carolinas in Cary.

Business Technology Solutions promoted Chad Watson to manager of client engagements. The company, based in Raleigh, caters to the accounting, human resources and technology needs of small to midsize businesses.