Dr. Sara Brenner has been named acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Brenner replaces Dr. Robert Califf. The announcement was made quietly via an update made online to the FDA’s leadership bio page. As of Jan. 24 Brenner’s biography had not been added to the page. Brenner has… Continue Reading Food Safety Leaders, Government Agencies, FDA Commissioner, Marty Makary, Sara Brenner Food Safety News
Dr. Sara Brenner has been named acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Brenner replaces Dr. Robert Califf.
The announcement was made quietly via an update made online to the FDA’s leadership bio page. As of Jan. 24 Brenner’s biography had not been added to the page.
Brenner has been overseeing medical devices at the FDA. Her new acting post includes responsibility over the agency’s human foods program, which is responsible for 80 percent of the nation’s food supply. The vast majority of the FDA’s budget does not cover the foods program, rather it funds the medical side of the agency.
Brenner will lead the FDA until a permanent commissioner is installed. President Donald Trump has nominated Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary as FDA commissioner, but he has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. Confirmation hearings for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who, as Trump’s pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, would be Makary’s boss, are scheduled for Jan. 29 and Jan. 30.
Brenner has been working in the FDA’s medical devices branch, most recently as chief medical officer for in vitro diagnostics and associate director for medical affairs. Brenner has been at the agency since 2019. She helped coordinate diagnostic standards and policy as part of the COVID-19 response.
Brenner was a senior policy advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under the first Trump administration.
Former FDA Commissioner Califf stepped down on Jan. 20, Trump’s inauguration day.
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