STEM CELL LEADER WILL RETIRE SOONER THAN PLANNED
Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Zach Hall, president of California's stem cell institue, announced he
will retire April 30, two months earlier than scheduled, due to
prostate cancer and impending surgery.

The 69-year-old neurobiologist has apparently known about his illness
for several weeks.

Hall will undergo surgery in early May and require several weeks'
convalescence.

The veteran adminintrator at the National Institutes of Health (and 2
California medical schools) was chosen in 2004 to serve only
temporarily as the institute's 1st president.

He announced in December that he would retire in June and move to
Wyoming with his wife, a recently retired musician, and pursue hiking,
skiing, reading and writing. He recently returned from a 3-week trip
to Nepal.