The dust settles, the White House plans to nominate the next FDA director next week

The White House plans to nominate Dr Stephen M Hahn, a radiation oncologist, as the next FDA director, according to people familiar with the matter Dr Hahn is currently the chief medical executive of the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas Dr Stephen M Hahn (photo source: MD Anderson Cancer Center website) Dr Hahn, 59, is expected to be formally nominated next week and will replace Dr ned Sharpless, currently acting director of the FDA The White House must nominate the FDA director by November 1, because federal law requires agency officials in positions that require congressional approval to serve for a maximum of 210 days Dr Hahn's appointment is subject to congressional approval Dr Hahn received his M.D from Temple University in Philadelphia in 1984 Between 2005 and 2014, he served as head of the Department of radiation oncology at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of medicine He became head of the Department of radiation oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas in 2015 In 2018, he was appointed chief medical officer of MD Anderson Cancer Center, in charge of patient care At MD Anderson Cancer Center, he oversees more than 1000 clinical trials In the past and present colleagues' impression, Dr Hahn has a deep spirit of cooperation, interesting and exceptionally smart He is energetic and gets up at 4 o'clock every day for a vigorous fitness program called p90x Dr Theodore s Lawrence, director of the Department of radiation oncology at the University of Michigan, believes that Dr Hahn is charismatic, sociable and forward-looking in medicine and finance Another doctor who had worked with him said he took good care of his subordinates If the nomination is confirmed by the U.S Congress, Dr Hahn needs to solve a series of urgent problems after taking office One of them will be regulation of tobacco products and electronic cigarettes Electronic cigarettes have caused thousands of respiratory diseases Other core issues include the safety of medical devices, the approval of generic drugs, and the regulation of opioids During his tenure, Dr Scott Gottlieb, former FDA director, was praised for his efforts to modernize the FDA review mechanism, encourage and promote new drug development, and improve the accessibility of therapies Whether Dr Hahn can continue the innovation trend of FDA and promote more innovative therapies to come out at an early date will also be a concern of the industry Let's see! reference material: [1] Trump to Nominate Texas Doctor to Lead FDA Retrieved Oct 24, 2019, from https:// A kind of