The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM; San Francisco) has appointed C. Randal Mills (right) as president and CEO, succeeding Alan Trounson, who is stepping down after six years. A member of CIRM's grant review board for the past five years, Mills was most recently president and CEO of Osiris Therapeutics. Prior to that he served in several executive leadership roles with RTI Biologics and was a founding member of that company's predecessor, the University of Florida Tissue Bank.

“To say we are delighted to have Randy take over as president is an understatement,” says CIRM chairman Jonathan Thomas. “We were looking for someone with the leadership skills and personality to manage a very complex organization, someone who will be a strong voice and a visible champion for all that we do. In Randy we have found that person. He is a well-respected scientist whose experience and expertise will ensure we will continue to be a world leader in stem cell research.”

DuPont (Wilmington, DE) has named ten researchers to its 2014 Class of Young Professors. They are: Jiun-Tai Chen, department of applied chemistry, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan; Guangbin Dong, department of chemistry and biochemistry, University of Texas at Austin; Randy Ewoldt, department of mechanical science & engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Micah Green, department of chemical engineering, Texas Tech University; Farren Isaacs, department of molecular, cellular & developmental biology & systems biology, Yale University; Jeremiah Johnson, department of chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Ravi Maruthachalam, school of biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research; Pamela Peralta-Yahya, school of chemistry and biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology; Feng Qin, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences; and Leslie Shor, department of chemical and biomolecular engineering, University of Connecticut. The DuPont Young Professor program is designed to help promising untenured research faculty who work in areas of interest to DuPont begin their research careers. The company awards each winner a three-year, $600,000 grant to support their work in advancing basic science to meet global challenges in food, energy and protection.

David (Dai) Chaplin has been promoted from CSO to president and CEO of OXiGENE (S. San Francisco, CA, USA), replacing Peter Langecker. Chaplin is currently a member of OXiGENE's board of directors. He previously served as vice president of oncology for Aventis (now Sanofi).

MYOS (Cedar Knolls, NJ, USA) has announced the appointment of Joseph C. DosSantos as CFO. He joins MYOS from Actavis, where he served as executive director, finance operations.

Meditope Biosciences (Pasadena, CA, USA) has announced the appointment of C. Dan Dumitru as vice president of translational research. He is currently a member of the department of chemical physiology at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego. Previously, he served as director of physiology at aTyr Pharma and as a senior research fellow at Merck, where he led basic biology and translational activities to support multiple Merck BioVentures initiatives.

Kaspar Evertz has been named executive vice president, commercial, of Genomatica (San Diego). He has 24 years of major chemical industry experience, previously serving as vice president of licensing at LyondellBasell. Most recently, he was executive vice president and managing director of industrial projects at Ferrostaal.

Nektar Therapeutics (San Francisco) has appointed Ivan Gergel to serve as senior vice president, drug development and chief medical officer. He brings over 25 years of pharmaceutical leadership and drug development experience to the company. From 2008 to 2014, Gergel served as executive vice president, R&D, and CSO of Endo Pharmaceuticals.

Michael Grau has joined Proteros Biostructures (Munich) as CFO, succeeding Arnd Christ. In addition, Peter Reinemer, who has served as senior vice president business development & operations, has been promoted to COO. Grau joins Proteros from Correvio, where he served as group CFO and chief compliance officer.

Promethera Bio-sciences (Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium) has announced the appointment of Frank Hazevoets (right) as CFO. Hazevoets has over 25 years of international business experience, including six years as CFO at Tigenix.

Symphogen (Copenhagen) has appointed Mads Laustsen to the newly created position of chief manufacturing officer. Laustsen was one of the founders of CMC Biologics and served as the company's CEO for 10 years, until he was named to the board of directors.

AbbVie (N. Chicago, IL., USA) has named Michael Severino its new executive vice president, R&D, and CSO. He joins the company from Amgen, where he most recently served as senior vice president and chief medical officer.

Forum Pharmaceuticals (Watertown, MA, USA) has named 20-year industry veteran Todd Shegog (right) senior vice president and CFO. Shegog was formerly senior vice president, finance and CFO at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, now Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company.

Ergomed (Guildford, UK) has announced the appointment of Rolf Stahel to its board as nonexecutive chairman. Stahel brings over 30 years' experience in the global pharma industry, having led Shire Pharmaceuticals Group as CEO from 1994 to 2003. He has been nonexecutive chairman of Newron Pharmaceuticals, Cosmo Pharmaceuticals, PowderMed and EUSA Pharma and is currently nonexecutive chairman of Connexios Life Sciences and Midatech.