Dr. Robert Califf has been appointed deputy commissioner of medical products and tobacco at the Food and Drug Administration.
Califf, vice chancellor of clinical and translational research at Duke University School of Medicine, will join the federal agency in February. He has taken a leave of absence from his posts at Duke, including his additional roles as a cardiology professor and director of the Duke Translational Medicine Institute.
In his new role, he will provide executive leadership to the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the Center for Devices and Radiologic Health, and the Center for Tobacco Products. He'll also oversee the Office of Special Medical Programs within the office of FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg, and will have influence over regulation in orphan drugs, personalized medicine and pediatric science, as well as the advisory committee system.
Califf was a member of the FDA's Cardiorenal Advisory panel, and sat on the FDA Science Board's Subcommittee on Science and Technology when it reviewed the agency in 2007. He is currently a member of the Policy Committee of the Institute of Medicine and a liaison to the Forum in Drug Discovery, Development and Translation.
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