New head at Calif. stem cell group

Richard Murphy, neuroscientist and former CEO of San Diego's Salk Institute of Biological Sciences, will serve as interim president at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, replacing Lori Hoffman, the institute's chief financial officer who has served as president since May.

CIRM's governing board, the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, or ICOC, approved Murphy's six month, $300,000 contract on Wednesday (August 8).

CIRM, which was created in 2004, is responsible for meting out the $3 billion in stem cell research funding made available by the passage of California's Proposition 71. Murphy's term as president will begin September 1 and will end in early March of next year.

"My job as president is going to be, first and foremost, to make sure the operation of CIRM is efficient and effective," Murphy told The Scientist. Murphy, who served on the ICOC from 2005 until July, said he will also be responsible for overseeing the development of research funding applications to which California's research and academic institutions apply, but that he will not vote on where funding ultimately goes. "I don't think that the role of the president is to evaluate science," he said.

Murphy recused himself from any decisions involving San Diego institutions in his contract with CIRM. "I wanted it to be very clear that under no circumstance, because of my connection to San Diego, would I be involved in making evaluations of the San Diego research community," he said.

Evan Snyder, stem cell program director at San Diego's Burnham Institute for Medical Research, told The Scientist that though Murphy has recused himself from making direct funding decisions when San Diego institutions are involved, he will be valuable to the community because of his intimate knowledge of science in the area. "He has an appreciation for what's going on in San Diego, and I know that will be a great benefit to us," Snyder said. The Burnham Institute has already received almost $13.5 million in CIRM money.

Murphy was the head of the Salk Institute from October 2000 until his resignation last month. Before 2000, he was the director of McGill University's Montreal Neurological Institute for eight years.

Robert Klein, chairman of the ICOC, told The Scientist that Murphy is a good person to fill the temporary position. "I have tremendous confidence in the knowledge and performance and leadership skills that he brings to the job," he said.

Murphy will come onboard at a time when CIRM critics are faulting the agency for taking so long to find a permanent post.

California watchdog groups and at least one ICOC board member have voiced displeasure with a selection process that has yet to find a permanent replacement for Zach Hall, CIRM's last permanent president who announced his retirement plans last December and left the institute in April. Hall left CIRM after being diagnosed with prostate cancer and voicing frustration in dealing with CIRM committees.

John Simpson, stem cell project director for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer advocacy group, told The Scientist that the search has dragged on too long. "Everyone thought that they were going to name a permanent president in June," Simpson said, "but I don't think they got started fast enough."

Simpson said that he agrees that Murphy is a good interim choice, but that the ICOC's search for a permanent president is focusing on the wrong types of candidates. "I have some fundamental questions about whether or not they're looking for the kind of person they really need," Simpson said. "They want someone with a scientific name and reputation, but they might do better getting someone who knows how to run a public health organization, for example," and would therefore have ample managerial and administrative experience.

Jeff Sheehy, an HIV/AIDS patient advocate who sits on the 29-person ICOC board as well as the search committee for CIRM's new president, said that the delay is due to ICOC's poor conception of who the new president should be. Sheehy was the only member of the ICOC board who voted against approving Murphy's appointment. "This isn't really about Dr. Murphy as an individual," Sheehy told The Scientist, "but I've had concerns all along about some of the procedures by which we get these appointments."

Though the names of candidates are strictly confidential, Sheehy said the board is focusing too much on individuals with strong scientific backgrounds and not enough on people who have rich managerial and administrative experience. "I feel like we have a lot of deans of medical schools on our board, and they keep looking in the mirror," he said, "I'm not sure that's the phenotype that we need in this job."

Sheehy added that Murphy's appointment only delays the institute's need to seriously consider this identity issue. "In a way he's a band-aid on a deeper problem we have," said Sheehy, "which is not coming to terms with what the job is. I think we keep punting on this issue."

In response to Sheehy's comments, Klein acknowledged that the ICOC is still deciding upon a permanent CIRM head because it wants to be sure the right person is picked for the job. "I think [Sheehy] has a legitimate position. We certainly need someone with strong managerial credentials as well as scientific credentials," Klein said. "We're in a stage of trying to get down to exactly what is the profile for our final candidate."

Murphy, who plans to move with his wife back to Boston where his children and grandchildren live at the end of his term as CIRM president, said that he looks forward to the temporary appointment. "I look at it as a real challenge," he said, "and one that I will enjoy."

Bob Grant
mail@the-scientist.com

Editor's note (posted August 10): Click here for an update to this story.

Links within this article:

Salk Institute of Biological Sciences
http://www.salk.edu/

A. McCook, "California stem cell ball rolling, sort of,' The Scientist, September 2005.
http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/22768

E. Silverman, "Legislating stem cells," The Scientist, March 2005.
http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/15348/

Burnham Institute for Medical Research
http://www.burnham.org/default.asp

Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital
http://mni.mcgill.ca/

A. McCook, "Another stem cell court victory," The Scientist, February 2007.
http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/52909/

C. Hall, "State stem cell program head suddenly resigns," San Francisco Chronicle, April 2007.
http://www.sfgate.com

Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/