ASCC board sacks Livesey

The CEO of the Australian Stem Cell Centre (ASCC), Professor Stephen Livesey, has been removed by the centre's board following its latest meeting.

In a statement issued just before 5pm yesterday afternoon, the ASCC announced the "departure" of its CEO, who was recruited as chief scientific officer in 2003 and appointed CEO in 2006.

"Over the past few months differences have arisen between the board of the ASCC and Professor Livesey as to the future direction of the ASCC," the statement said.

"The board formed the view that these differences could not be resolved."

The designated media spokesperson for the statement, Colin Parks, director of government affairs for public relations firm Gavin Anderson, said he was not authorised to say anything more apart from what appeared in the statement.

"The board has made a decision and the statement is all they want to say," Parks said.

He said the board did not consult the Federal or Victorian governments, which both fund the ASCC, about the decision. "The decision was a matter for the board, which it then advised to the governments. It's an independent board."

The board is chaired by endocrinologist Professor Vicki Sara, also chancellor of the University of Technology, Sydney, and members include former CEO Professor Hugh Niall; director of research at the Royal Brisbane Hospital Professor Lawrie Powell; and former Labor politician Dr Barry Jones.

It also includes former Liberal politician Brian Gibson, who was the former federal government's nomination to the board; lawyer Mark Richardson and stockbroker Brian Watson.

The board has appointed financial officer David Collins as acting CEO.

Less than two months ago Livesey was announcing new initiatives from the ASCC, including a memorandum of understanding with the US state of California on collaborative research, the importation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) from James Thomson's laboratory at the University of Wisconsin, and a new interactive website on stem cell research to educate high school students and teachers.

Further comment is being sought.