“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has tapped Susan Desmond-Hellmann, chancellor of the University of California, San Francisco, as the next chief executive of the giant charitable organization,” the New York Times reports (Ivory, 12/17). “She will take up the post from May 1, after the departure of the previous CEO Jeff Raikes, a former Microsoft Corp. executive who announced his plan to retire in September,” Reuters writes (12/17). “An oncologist by training, Desmond-Hellmann is a recognized leader on issues of higher education, public health, drug development, regulatory innovation and health policy,” according to a Gates Foundation press release (12/17). “Desmond-Hellmann joined UCSF in August 2009, after more than a decade leading drug development at Genentech, focused primarily in guiding cancer drugs through the discovery and approval processes,” the San Francisco Chronicle notes (Allday, 12/17).