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UC San Diego Medical School Names New Dean From Columbia University

UC San Diego has named a replacement for Ed Holmes, former vice chancellor for health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine.

University regents have appointed David Brenner, a gastroenterologist who is professor and chairman of the Department of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. Brenner, who spent time on UCSD’s medical school faculty in the late 1980s and early 1990s, is also the physician in chief of New York Presbyterian Hospital.

He assumes his new role in San Diego on Feb. 1. As chancellor, he will lead the medical school, the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, UCSD Medical Center and UCSD Medical Group. Brenner will oversee more than 900 health sciences faculty physicians, pharmacists and scientists, 7,500 staff members, and more than 600 medical and pharmacy students. In addition, he will oversee the health system that cares for 125,000 patients annually, the school said.

Brenner, who has been Columbia’s chairman since 2003, holds a degree from the Yale University School of Medicine and has completed research at the National Institutes of Health. Brenner’s research focused on diseases of the liver, including the genetics of liver disease. He served as editor of the journal Gastroenterology for five years.

Brenner came to San Diego in 1985 on a fellowship in gastroenterology, later joining the faculty at the School of Medicine. He also served as a physician at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, where he became a Pew scholar in the biomedical sciences and a clinical investigator.

Before heading to New York, he also worked for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition.

Holmes left UCSD several months ago to take a job in Singapore overseeing translational medicine at the National University of Singapore and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, or A*STAR. He is also a medical professor at the university there.

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Stem Cell Appeal Date Set:

The appeals court weighing the case against the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the matter Feb. 14 in San Francisco, CIRM announced recently.

The stem cell institute was sued by the People’s Advocate and the National Tax Limitation Foundation and California Family Bioethics Council, saying the institute was unconstitutional, but an Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the institute in April.

Voters approved Proposition 71 in 2004, which allocates $3 billion over 10 years in state funds for stem cell research.

The groups now appealing the case allege unconstitutionality because members of CIRM’s board, who are in charge of disseminating grants for embryonic research, are appointed, not elected.

A local member of the institute’s Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, Duane Roth, who is chief executive officer of Connect, said he’s optimistic the case will result in a victory for CIRM this year.

“The previous ruling was complete and well reasoned,” Roth said. “If upheld, the plaintiffs have the option to appeal to the California Supreme Court, and if they accept the case, we hope they will reach a decision by the end of the year.”

The agency has been able to move forward with some grants with help from private donors.

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Illumina Won’t Hold Up The Mayo:

Illumina Inc. and the Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic have signed an agreement to co-develop molecular diagnostic tests.

No financial terms were disclosed.

San Diego-based Illumina will contribute its VeraCode technology, while the Mayo Clinic brings experience in discovering and validating biomarkers. Illumina’s Veracode technology enhances the speed and accuracy of assays, according to Illumina.

The agreement, announced Jan. 9, involves the resulting clinical tests being used in Mayo’s clinical practice and medical labs, as well as Illumina’s rights to market and manufacture them worldwide.

Illumina began working with Mayo in early 2005 when Illumina installed one of its BeadLab systems at a Mayo lab.

The world’s market for molecular diagnostics is valued at more than $2 billion, according to Illumina.


Contact Katie Weeks with health care news at

kweeks@sdbj.com

or call her at (858) 277-6359.

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