Australian Scientist to Lead $3 Billion Stem Cell Research Program in California [NYT]
By ANDREW POLLACK
Published: September 15, 2007
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 14 — A prominent Australian scientist was named Friday to run California’s $3 billion stem cell research program, filling a leadership vacuum that had threatened to rob the program of recently gained momentum.
The new president, Alan O. Trounson, 61, is director of the immunology and stem cell laboratories at Monash University in Victoria, Australia.
Dr. Trounson helped derive some of the earliest human embryonic stem cell colonies in the late 1990s. He also helped start fertility clinics in Australia as well as ES Cell International, a Singapore company researching human embryonic stem cells.
His appointment was approved late Friday by the stem cell program’s board of directors after a meeting here, ending a months-long search. Board members said Dr. Trounson’s mix of scientific and business experience was an important factor in his selection.
The California program, which was approved by state voters in 2004, is expected to last at least 10 years and be the largest research effort in the world devoted primarily to human embryonic stem cells, which many scientists say could provide new understanding of diseases and potential therapies.
But the program has had a somewhat rocky start. Opponents of the research — which involves the destruction of human embryos — challenged the program’s constitutionality in court, preventing the state government from issuing bonds to pay for the work.
The court challenge was defeated this year, and the state is preparing to issue the first $250 million in bonds. In the meantime, more than $200 million in grants have been awarded for research and laboratory construction using money borrowed from the state and philanthropists.
But management issues have threatened progress. Zach Hall, the previous president, announced his retirement last December and left in April. Several other executives on the small staff have also left or announced their departures, including Arlene Chiu, the chief scientific officer.
With the search to replace Dr. Hall taking longer than expected, the board overseeing the effort last month appointed an interim president, Richard A. Murphy, the former president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego.
People familiar with the search said it was slow-going because many of the star scientists approached about the job did not want to give up their laboratory research to devote themselves full time to the management of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, as the stem cell program is called. The desired salary cap of about $400,000 was also considered a barrier, given the cost of housing in San Francisco, where the institute is based. Dr. Trounson is expected to be paid $475,000 or $490,000, depending on relocation costs.
Another issue was over how much authority the president would have, given the powerful influence of Robert N. Klein, the chairman of the board overseeing the institute. Dr. Hall, the past president, had clashed at times with Mr. Klein, a real estate developer who played a pivotal role in winning approval of the research program by voters.
Dr. Trounson earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the School of Wool and Pastoral Sciences at the University of New South Wales, and a doctorate from Sydney University.
He soon turned from research with sheep, however, to pioneering in-vitro fertilization for women, producing some of the world’s earliest test tube babies. He was also a founder of the Australian Stem Cell Centre, a government-financed collaborative research effort involving multiple universities.
nytimes.com |
