Stem Cell Agency Prepares To Name New President
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine could name a successor to former President Zach Hall as early as Tuesday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Hall in May resigned as president two months earlier than expected due to a number of factors including an increased amount of friction with the chair of CIRM, Robert Klein, as well as other internal problems.
Proposition 71, which California voters in 2004 approved to create the stem cell agency, "poses an administrative challenge in that it gives significant leadership responsibility to both the chairman and the president," Hall said.
The power struggle between the agency's chair and president could play a role in the board's search for a new president, which has been conducted with a high level of secrecy to protect the privacy of those applying for the job. CIRM is seeking a senior statesman of science or industry, whose name and reputation represent the power of the agency, the Union-Tribune reports.
Hall said that the institute's next president could make an impact by establishing a strategy for collaborating with the private industry (Somers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6/24).