Christopher Calhoun, chief executive officer and director of Cytori Therapeutics, is retiring from the company, effective immediately. Dr. Marc Hedrick will succeed Mr. Calhoun, in addition to his current responsibilities as president and director. Mr. Calhoun will remain a director on Cytori’s board for the transition period, and will then assume the position of managing director, where he will focus on Cytori’s international business development efforts until his retirement on July 1, 2014.
 
“We are extremely grateful to Chris for his efforts over the past 18 years to build Cytori into a world leader in adipose-derived cell therapy,” said Mr. David Rickey, chairman of the board of Cytori. “Mr. Calhoun founded the company in 1996 and had the strategic vision in 2002 to acquire StemSource, Inc., led by Dr. Hedrick, enabling the development of our core cell therapy technology. Dr. Hedrick has served as president since 2004 and has overseen R&D, sales and marketing groups.”
 
Dr. Hedrick is a former general, vascular and plastic surgeon with an MD from University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and an MBA from University of California, Los Angeles. He and his team at UCLA discovered stem and regenerative cells in human adipose tissue. “This is a tremendous opportunity to guide Cytori and to advance the strategic vision to become the premier cell therapy company,” said Dr. Hedrick. “I am committed to the Company, its shareholders and employees and look forward to the day that our important new therapies will benefit patients around the world and reward those who have put their trust in us.”