MEDICINE

A first degree in English, even from Yale University, isn't the main qualification that springs to mind for a top post at a medical school. But neuroscientist Zach Hall — the new senior associate dean for research at Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California — has never been afraid to try something new.

It wasn't long before Hall added a PhD from Harvard University in biochemistry to his initial English degree. Since then he has worked in academia, industry and government (including a period as director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke), written a textbook and been a founding member of the journal Neuron. His latest brainchild, EnVivo, was created in what he calls “a very interesting year” to launch a biotech company.

Finding that each sector operates in different ways with different objectives, he says that “recognizing and developing talented people is key in all of these institutions”.

Hall has big plans at Keck, aiming to expand the research base by recruiting 135 faculty members over the next eight years.

DRUG DISCOVERY

Claes Wilhelmsson

Retirement lasted just four months for Claes Wilhelmsson. The former executive director and head of R&D at AstraZeneca took up a new post last month as chairman of Gyros, an Uppsala-based company that is developing microfluidics technology to create laboratory tests on compact discs.

Wilhelmsson began his career in 1969 at the Sahlgrenska Hospital in Gothenburg, then joined Astra in 1985 as medical director for cardiovascular diseases.

He was tempted to work at Gyros by its technology, which could speed up drug discovery — as well as by the opportunity to stay active in science and business while enjoying the benefits of semi-retirement. There's ample opportunity for other pharmaceutical managers willing to make a similar switch, he says. “There's a huge pool of start-up biotech companies in Europe. Some of them need big pharma experience for their board membership.”

INTEGRATIVE GENOMICS

David Botstein

Gene-mapping pioneer David Botstein will leave Stanford University for Princeton in New Jersey next July, to replace Shirley Tilghman as director of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics. Botstein led efforts to map and sequence the yeast genome, advised the Human Genome Project and pioneered the use of microarrays to analyse cancer-gene expression. He will move into new lab space housing 12–15 research groups specializing in post-genomic science.

Botstein taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for 20 years, then served as vice-president of San Francisco biotech company Genentech before joining Stanford.

“The emergence of the data from the Human Genome Project completely changes the way biology can and will be done,” he says. “The question of what kind of preparation young people should have in order to enter into this exciting new world requires serious thought.”

He is moving to follow his interest in combining teaching and research. At MIT he developed a series of undergraduate courses he called “project labs”, which focus on research questions that can be answered with the most up-to-date techniques. He plans to create similar courses at Princeton.

AGROCHEMICALS

Heinrich Gugger

Heinrich Gugger, the new president and chief executive of Paradigm Genetics in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, knows a thing or two about restructuring. He led a merger between Novartis Crop Protection and Zeneca Agrochemicals to form Syngenta Crop Protection. He joined Paradigm when it was cutting staff from 280 to 200. “Now we are managing a turnaround,” Gugger says.

Gugger, who started his career at the University of Bern in Switzerland, joined Paradigm to become more involved as a bridge between science and business. After the merger that formed Syngenta, the balance tilted towards sales and marketing. “It took away some of the stuff I was fond of,” says Gugger.

GENOME SCIENCES

Robert Waterston

Robert Waterston, who played a key role in mapping and sequencing the human genome, is to leave Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, for the University of Washington in Seattle in January. He will chair the university's department of genome sciences. On top of his contributions to the Human Genome Project, Waterston has set widely followed new standards for managing research centres in emerging fields.

Waterston led the sequencing of the first animal genome, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. His laboratory constructed the genetic map that the Human Genome Project used as a data scaffold, and also contributed about 20% of the project's sequence data. Waterston has been a proponent of making sequence data readily available over the Internet.

Transitions

Greg Fahlman, executive director of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, will leave that position in January to become director general of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, Canada.

Donna Dean has been named the first deputy director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering in Bethesday, Maryland, which opened this year.

John Mitchell will replace Paul Mason who is retiring next month as chief scientist of the UK Met Office in Bracknell, Berkshire. Mitchell, currently head of modelling climate change at the Hadley Centre, has worked for the Met Office for 29 years.

Tom Tuschl is moving to Rockefeller University from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany.

This month Brian Dynlacht left Harvard University to head the genomics programme at New York University.

Last month Richard Armer, former section head of medicinal chemistry at Glasgow-based Organon Laboratories, joined Ardana Bioscience in Edinburgh as head of chemistry.

Jean-Jacques Bienaimé has been appointed chief executive and president of Palo Alto-based Genencor International. He succeeds Thomas Mitchell, who will continue as chairman of the board.

Wayne Gombotz has been named vice-president, process sciences and pharmaceutical development, at Corixa, a Seattle-based biotech firm. Previously he was a a senior director at Immunex, another Seattle-based company.