Obama taps Hamburg as new FDA chief

As expected, President Barack Obama named former New York health commissioner Margaret Hamburg (photo) as the new head of the FDA. And he picked Baltimore health commissioner Joshua Sharfstein (photo) as her deputy. In making the announcement Saturday, Obama sharply criticized the FDA under the Bush administration for being lax when it comes to food safety. But he gave no indication of where he would like the agency to position itself on new drug approvals.

Hamburg is a bioterrorism expert. A graduate of Radcliffe College, she is senior scientist at the Nuclear Threat Initiative.

Developers anxious to glean some insight into the new leadership's approach to drug development may want to focus on their work in terms of public safety. Democrat Henry Waxman said in a statement yesterday that Hamburg and Sharfstein have "strong public health credentials and demonstrated management abilities. These appointments give me great hope for the future of the FDA."

- check out the report from the Washington Post
- the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has their resumes

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