* Advanced Corneal Systems Inc., of Irvine, Calif., appointed Edward Danse president and CEO.

* Advanced Magnetics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., elected to its board Joseph Lassiter, a professor at Harvard University Business School, in Cambridge, Mass., and named Ernest Groman senior vice president of research and company.

* Advanced Tissue Sciences Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., named to its board Ronald Nelson, head of finance and operations at DreamWorks SKG.

* Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., made the following appointments: Barry Quart, senior vice president of drug development; R. Kent Snyder, senior vice president of commercial affairs; William Denby, vice president of sales and marketing; Donna Nichols, vice president of corporate communications; Michael Varney, vice president of research; Stephanie Webber, vice president of development pharmacology; Marvin Brown, vice president; Neil Clendeninn, vice president of clinical affairs; Steven Cowell, vice president and chief financial officer; Gary Friedman, vice president and general counsel; and Glenn Zinser, vice president of operations.

* AlphaGene Inc., of Woburn, Mass., appointed Alan Schechter president and CEO.

* Alza Corp., of Palo Alto, Calif., named Edward Schnipper clinical research vice president and Daniel Swisher marketing vice president.

* Anergen Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., appointed Maureen Howard vice president of research.

* Aradigm Corp., of Hayward, Calif., appointed R. Jerald Beers executive vice president of marketing and business development.

* Athena Neurosciences Inc., of South San Francisco, appointed Michael Boss vice president of operations of Athena Diagnostics Inc.

* Bionutrics Inc., of Phoenix, named Stephen Chabre president and chief operating officer of its health products company.

* California Healthcare Institute, of La Jolla, Calif., appointed Cristin Carty director of public policy.

* Cepheid Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., named M. Allen Northrup vice president and chief technical officer.

* Chiron Corp., of Emeryville, Calif., appointed to its board Vaughn Bryson, former president and CEO of Eli Lilly and Co., and named James Knighton vice president of investor relations.

* Clinicor Inc., of Austin, Texas, named James Clark chief financial officer and appointed to its board Joseph L. Dowling, a partner at Oracle Partners L.P.

* Council of State Bioscience Associations named as its chairman J. Thomas Rankin, the executive director of the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association.

* Creative Biomolecules Inc., of Hopkinton, Mass., made the following appointments: Sean Evans, senior director of formulations and analytical sciences; Philip Fantasia, senior director of regulatory affairs and quality; Daniel Ellis, director of program management; Ron Marchesani, director of quality control; and David Shea, director of information services.

* CytRx Corp., of Atlanta, appointed Joe Medlin director of investor relations.

* Dyax Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., appointed Susan Jones director of technology strategy and named the following to her strategic advisory committee: Charles Cooney, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Peter Feinstein, of Feinstein Kean Partners Inc.; James Fordyce, of Prince Ventures; Harvey Lodish, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology; William Scott, of Physiome Sciences Inc.; Thomas Stossel, of Harvard University Medical School; Alan Tuck, of BioCode Inc.; Christopher Walsh, of Harvard University Medical School; George Whitesides, of Harvard University; and Peter Wirth, of Genzyme Corp.

* Gene Logic Inc., of Columbia, Md., named Christopher T. Dunne director of finance and administration.

* Gliatech Inc., of Cleveland, appointed Derrick McKinley medical director.

* ICAgen Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., elected to its board Charles A. Sanders, former chairman and CEO of Glaxo Inc.

* Immunomedics Inc., of Morris Plains, N.J., named to its board W. Robert Friedman, senior managing director at Dominick & Dominick.

* Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Vancouver, Can., appointed John Bothwell vice president of corporate communications.

* Insmed Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Richmond, Va., appointed Cabot Caskie vice president and chief financial officer.

* Integra LifeSciences Corp., of Plainsboro, N.J., appointed Carlos Blanco medical director for the company's INTEGRA Artificial Skin product.

* LifeCell Corp., of The Woodlands, Texas, named to its board David Thompson, CEO of Strategic Improvement Processes.

* Matrix Pharmaceutical Inc., of Fremont, Calif., named James Glynn interim CEO.

* MediChem Research Inc., of Lemont, Ill., appointed Jeffrey Whitnell chief financial officer.

* Myriad Genetics Inc., of Salt Lake City, appointed Arnold Oliphant vice president of functional genomics.

* Neurex Corp., of Menlo Park, Calif., named John Varian chief financial officer, Dawn McGuire vice president for clinical research and medical affairs and David Ellis medical director.

* Neurogen Corp., of Branford, Conn., appointed Alan Hutchison senior vice president of drug discovery.

* NitroMed Inc., of Boston, named David Garvey senior director of chemistry and S. William Tam senior director of biology.

* Oncogene Science Inc., of Uniondale, N.Y., appointed Walter Carney vice president for diagnostics.

* Pangaea Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., named Joseph Rokovich vice president for product development.

* Quidel Corp., of San Diego, named as vice chairman Andre de Bruin, chairman, president and CEO of Somatogen Inc.

* SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Mateo, Calif., named to its board Rolf Henel, a partner in Naimark & Associates Inc.

* Sequus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., appointed Kenneth Cunningham vice president of clinical development and medical director.

* T Cell Sciences Inc., of Needham, Mass., appointed to its board Ronald Urvater, managing director of Aurora Capital Corp.

* Thoratec Laboratories Corp., of Berkeley, Calif., named to its board J. Daniel Cole, a general partner of the Spray Venture Fund, of Boston.

* Trega Biosciences Inc., of San Diego, appointed to its board Jeremy Levin, chairman, president and CEO of Cadus Pharmaceutical Corp., and Anders Wiklund, senior vice president of Biacore Holding Inc.

* Viragen Inc., of Miami, named Jay Raman director of research and development.

* Vivus Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., appointed to its board Joseph Smith, worldwide group president and a corporate vice president of Warner-Lambert Corp.

* XOMA Corp., of Berkeley, Calif., named Ellen Martin director of corporate communications and Marian Sticht director of human resources.