Update (December 13): The Senate voted to confirm Hahn as FDA commissioner yesterday (December 12), reports STAT.
On Friday (November 1), President Donald Trump announced his intent to appoint oncologist Stephen Hahn to the role of Food and Drug Administration commissioner. Hahn has worked for the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, for the past four years and became its chief medical executive in 2018, reports Science.
If appointed, Hahn would become the fourth agency head in seven months. Ned Sharpless, the previous director of the National Cancer Institute, has been the FDA’s acting commissioner since the spring, when Scott Gottleib, now of the American Enterprise Institute, stepped down as commissioner, according to the Associated Press. Physician Stephen Ostroff led the FDA from January to May 2017, when Gottleib’s tenure began.
Hahn has been associated with controversy in the past. MD Anderson was cited for safety violations last year ...
