Lobbying world

•Daphna Peled, a top aide to Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), will join the Motion Picture Association of America as senior counsel for federal affairs. Greg Frazier and Michael O’Leary were promoted to executive vice president and senior vice president respectively.

•Brendan J. Weiss, who served in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has joined the lobbying shop of Porterfield and Lowenthal. Prior to joining the SEC, Weiss was a legislative director for Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) and served in the office of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

{mosads}•Julie Cohen, a former staff director of the Senate Aging Committee, has joined the Advanced Medical Technology Association as vice president of government affairs. Cohen previously served as an adviser to Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.).

•Kyle T. Mulroy, Julie P. Pawelczyk and Michelle B. Vogel announced the creation of Washington Strategic Consulting (WSC), a new government-relations consultancy specializing in the healthcare sector. Mulroy most recently served as a partner in the lobbying consultancy Holt, Mulroy & German Public Affairs and was a senior staffer to former Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.).

Pawelczyk most recently headed her own consulting firm. She previously led the government-relations office for Princeton University and was a staffer for former Rep. Jack Davis (R-Ill.). Vogel came from the Immune Deficiency Foundation, where she was vice president of government affairs.

Spencer O. Perlman has joined WSC as vice president. Perlman comes from the law firm Drinker Biddle & Reath, where he served for two years as director of government relations.

•Jacqueline Carberry Baratian has joined Alston & Bird as counsel in the firm’s healthcare practice. Baratian previously served as senior counsel with the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

•Susan Roth has joined M+R Strategic Services as senior vice president of communications. A former manager at Walt Disney Company and Universal Studios, Roth most recently managed her own public-relations firm, Roth PR.