• Zach Hall, PhD, will serve as interim president and senior science advisor of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (Emeryville, California) for one year while a formal search to find a permanent president for the institute is under way. Hall, an internationally known neuroscientist and scientific administrator, was most recently the director of the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute and senior associate dean at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine was established in 2004 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative. It will be responsible for disbursing $3 billion for stem cell research to California universities and research institutions over 10 or more years.

• Mary Plock has been named senior vice president of FischerHealth (Los Angeles), a communication firm serving the medical device and health services sectors. Plock previously served as a partner with the Polidais public affairs group, and before that she was vice president of public affairs at the Advanced Medical Technology Association. FischerHealth is a wholly owned subsidiary of Porter Novelli.

• Scott Levy has been appointed vice president for the Medical Device Resource Group (MDRG, Minneapolis, Minnesota), a coalition of providers that offer expertise in developing and marketing medical devices.

• Frank Lavelle has been named president of MedQuist (Mt. Laurel, New Jersey). Lavelle will report to Howard Hoffmann, who will continue to serve as CEO. Lavelle most recently was president, enterprise sales and marketing, Customer Solutions Group at Siemens Medical Solutions. Lavelle replaces Greg Sebasky who has been asked to return to Philips Medical Systems, where he formerly held a senior position. Sebasky will remain at MedQuist for a brief transitional period. MedQuist, a member of the Philips Group of Companies, is a provider of electronic medical transcription, health information and document management products and services.