Stell Cell Appointment

California’s $3 billion stem cell research program appointed an interim president, Richard A. Murphy, while it continued a longer-than-expected search for a permanent chief. Mr. Murphy recently retired as president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego. The previous stem cell program president, Zach Hall, announced his retirement in December and left at the end of April. The search for his successor has apparently been slowed by salary issues and doubts about how much authority a president would have, according to the California Stem Cell Report, a blog that monitors the program, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.