Two new neurosurgeons have joined the UA Department of Surgery Section of Neurosurgery. Rein Anton, MD, PhD, assistant professor of clinical surgery, received his medical degree from Tartu University, Estonia, where he also completed his initial residency training in neurosurgery and earned his PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology. Dr. Anton also completed a neurosurgery residency at Loma Linda University, Calif. Dr. Anton's clinical expertise includes complex spine neurosurgery, including cervical/thoracic/lumbar disorders, cervical and lumbar stenosis, cervical/lumbar disc herniations and spinal cord tumors. Karsten Fryburg, MD, assistant professor of clinical surgery, graduated from Hannover Medical School, Germany, where he also completed an internship. He completed his residency training in Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) at the University of Dusseldorf, a neurosurgery fellowship at the UA, and a neurosurgery residency at the Medical College of Georgia.

Linda A. Ritter, MBA, who has extensive experience in fund-raising, marketing and communications in health care and social service arenas, has been appointed development director at the Arizona Arthritis Center. Since 1999, Ritter served as vice president of communications and fund development at Jewish Family & Children's Service. Among other duties, she planned and directed fund-raising programs, managed communications and worked closely with its board of directors. From 1996-99, she was manager of marketing and communications for Carondelet Health Network, where she planned, organized and directed marketing and communications activities for community-focused health services and developed and implemented award-winning advertising and promotional campaigns, among other activities. Before that, she was magnet program marketing specialist for Tucson Unified School District, where she developed and implemented recruitment strategies for magnet programs.

Stephen D. Neeleman, MD, has joined the Department of Surgery Section of Trauma and Critical Care as clinical assistant professor. His clinical interests include general surgery, minimally invasive surgery, endoscopy and trauma and critical care. His research interests are health care reform and financing, and health systems management. Dr. Neeleman received his medical degree from the University of Utah and recently completed his residency in general surgery at the UA.

Harvey W. Meislin, MD, professor and head of the UA Department of Emergency Medicine, has been elected president-elect of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), the umbrella organization for the 24 approved medical specialty boards in the United States. Established in 1933, ABMS serves to coordinate the activities of its member boards and to provide information to the public, the government, the profession and its members concerning issues involving specialization and certification in medicine.

Daniel W. Spaite, MD, UA professor of Emergency Medicine, was elected chairman of the Southern Arizona EMS Council. SAEMS focuses on the emergency medical services of Southeastern Arizona and is responsible for provider grant funding, training opportunities, data collection and protocol development.

Arthur B. Sanders, MD, MHA, UA professor of Emergency Medicine, has been elected chairman of the Residency Review Committee for Emergency Medicine (RRC-EM), part of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). ACGME seeks to improve the quality of health care in the United States by ensuring and improving the quality of graduate medical education experiences for physicians in training.

Tara McMahon has been named director of development for the UA College of Nursing. Prior to joining the College, McMahon served in the same capacity for the Arizona Respiratory Center and the UA College of Engineering. Before arriving at the UA in 1999, she spent four years as director of university relations at AlliedSignal in Morristown, N.J. From 1979-95, McMahon worked for Western Savings & Loan, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Health Insurance Association of America, Central European Institute and the U.S. Peace Corps. She earned her bachelor's degree in education and her law degree from the UA.