The Melior Group, a Center City, Pa., research firm, has promoted Elizabeth Foley and Liz Cohen to vice president.

Verve, a London research company, has named three cofounders: Andrew Cooper, partner and CEO; Mike Hall, partner, development; and Jon Gumbrell, partner, technology progression.

Hotspex, a Toronto research company, has hired Lisa Manuzza as senior vice president in its New York office.

Lake Forest, Calif., fast-food chain Del Taco has appointed Tom Johnson as director, consumer insight.

New York research company Arbitron Inc. has promoted Jeanette Schaller to account manager, national radio service team.

Mark McLaren has been hired as national accounts manager, agency and advertiser sales, with Mediamark Research & Intelligence , New York.

Stewart Jones has joined Paris research company Ipsos as global head of operations.

Ipsos Marketing, a New York division of Paris research company Ipsos, has named Peter Saracena senior vice president.

TNS Healthcare, a division of New York research company TNS, has hired Susanne Michel as managing director, global market access, pricing and reimbursement practice; and Mark Sales as leader of its global stakeholder management practice.

Evo Research and Consulting, London, has appointed Debbie Jones as associate director and Gideon Feldstein as research manager. Feldstein will work out of Evo’s New York office.

Captura Group, a San Diego research company, has named Felipe Korzenny senior strategy consultant.

Fred LaManna has been appointed to the affiliate board of the Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence and Research Group , Phoenix.

Christopher Urinyi has been promoted to CEO of Lightspeed Research, Basking Ridge, N.J. Urinyi will be based in Princeton, N.J.

LoyaltyOne, a Toronto research company, has hired Andrew Mitchell as vice president, business de-velopment, and Dennis Armbruster as managing partner, LoyaltyOne consulting.

Voxco, a Montreal research software company, has named Yves Leblanc its COO. Additionally, Voxco has hired Michel Saulnier as an expert consultant.

Steven Wyatt has been promoted to director of Focus Pointe Chicago, which is part of a network of focus group facilities in the United States and Europe.

Synovate, a Chicago research company, has hired Pamela Welch as key account director, Southeast Asia. Welch will be based in Singapore.

McCallum Layton, a Leeds, U.K., research consultancy, has appointed Laura Finnemore as research executive and Paul Fanning as trainee research executive with its quantitative team.

GfK Custom Research North America, a New York division of Nuremberg, Germany, research company The GfK Group, has appointed Tracy Karagianis as CIO. Additionally, GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media, a Washington, D.C., division of GfK Custom Research North America, has named Bob Ward vice president, account management.

Vancouver, B.C., research company Angus Reid Strategies and its parent company Vision Critical Inc., also of Vancouver, have hired Andy Morris as research director and Louise Davies as account director to their London offices.
Additionally, Angus Reid Strategies has hired Stéphane Lebrat as vice president, based in Montreal.
Finally, Vision Critical has promoted Jennifer Reid to chief panel officer.
 
Trevor Godman has been named research director, technology, media and telecoms, of Rochester, N.Y., research company Harris Interactive .

Omaha, Neb., research company infoGroup has hired Thomas J. McAlister as CIO.

Finbarr O’Neill has been promoted to president of Westlake Village, Calif., researcher J.D. Power and Associates .

PDi, a Saddle River, N.J., research company, has appointed Nancy Lurker as its CEO and as a member of its board of directors.

The NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y., research company, has appointed David Pritchard to lead its European toy sales tracking business.

Innerscope Research, Boston, has hired Geoffrey Gill as CFO and vice president, strategy; Ravi Kothuri as vice president, technology and research and development; and Donna DeAngelis as vice president and general manager.

Virtual Surveys, Manchester, U.K., has hired Andy Buckley to lead an online communities specialist team.

Peter Wills has stepped down as managing director of Snap Surveys, London, and will be replaced by his fellow cofounder Steve Jenkins. Wills will remain with the company as chairman.

Interpret LLC, a Los Angeles research company, has appointed Elaine B. Coleman as vice president, strategy and analysis.
 
International Communications Research, Media, Pa., has named Jeff Nevitt senior vice president, consumer packaged goods.

Eric G. John has joined SciMedica Group Marketing Research and Consulting, Conshohocken, Pa., as senior vice president.

ESRI, a Redlands, Calif., geographic mapping software company, has hired Lawrie Jordan as director, imagery enterprise solutions.

WorkPlace Media, a Cleveland research company, has hired Robert De Jong as vice president, business development.

Graham Lane has joined Burke, Inc., Cincinnati, as a senior account executive, client services.

CGC Consulting Services, a Cumming, Ga., research company has hired Glenn Weissman as vice president, marketing.

InsightExpress, a Stamford, Conn., research company, has named Rory O’Flynn vice president, research, digital media measurement. Separately, InsightExpress has expanded its digital media measurement analytics team by hiring Shannon Gessner as market research manager and Katie Frey as market research analyst.

Edward (Ted) G. Donnelly III has been promoted to managing director of Baltimore Research , Baltimore.

ESOMAR has named its 2009-2010 council. Gunilla Broadbent of GB Global Positioning has been elected as the new ESOMAR president, and Sue Nosworthy of TNS will serve as vice president. The 2009-2010 ESOMAR Council will also include John Marinopoulos, representing Australia; Paulo Pinheiro de Andrade, representing Brazil; Laurent Florès, representing France; Dieter Korczak, representing Germany; Jasal Shah, representing India; Daniela Ostidich, representing Italy; Tatiana V. Barakshina, representing Russia; and Mike Cooke, representing the U.K. Frits Spangenberg will remain in an ex-officio capacity as past president for the next two-year term.