UC San Diego announced the appointment of professor Lawrence S.B. Goldstein to the new position of director of the UC San Diego Stem Cell Program.

“Dr. Goldstein will lead our cross-campus program in stem cell research, one of the most promising fields of research in medical science today,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox in a Sept. 21 memo.

She went on to say that Goldstein was “instrumental” in helping the school procure a $1.2 million grant from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine recently.

Goldstein’s responsibilities in the new position will be to coordinate efforts across the campus to attract and recruit talent for work in the school’s Stem Cell Program.

Goldstein’s appointment comes on the heels of UC San Diego being recognized by the Milken Institute — an independent economic think tank — as a leading “biotech hotbed.”

The Milken study, “Mind to Market: A Global Analysis of University Biotechnology Transfer and Commercialization,” identified which universities worldwide performed most efficiently and effectively during three stages of biotech development.

UC San Diego ranked sixth in the publications category and eighth in patent activity. The school came in second overall behind the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on technology transfer commercialization, which includes a measure of the number of new spinoff companies and patents issued.

— Andy Killion