Biden picks Califf to lead FDA again, asks for swift confirmation
President Joe Biden on Friday announced his intention to nominate cardiologist Robert Califf, MD, MACC, to lead the FDA for a second time.
Califf served as FDA commissioner during President Barack Obama’s final year in office, stepping down prior to Donald J. Trump’s swearing in as president on Jan. 20, 2017, per custom.
Janet Woodcock, MD, has been acting FDA commissioner since Biden took office in January, overseeing the agency during some key decisions, including the authorization of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses and the first full approval of a COVID-19 shot.
“She has done an incredible job leading the agency during what has been a busy and challenging time, and both she and the FDA career staff have worked hard and followed the science to ensure the American public can trust the decisions being made by the FDA,” Biden said in a statement.
Before being nominated by Obama, Califf had been the FDA’s deputy commissioner for medical products and tobacco in 2015. Prior to that, he served as vice chancellor for clinical and translational health at Duke University and founded the Duke Clinical Research Institute.
Califf is currently a professor of medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine and a practicing cardiologist in addition to being the head of clinical policy at Verily Life Sciences, formerly known as Google Life Sciences.
“Dr. Robert Califf is one of the most experienced clinical trialists in the country, and has the experience and expertise to lead the Food and Drug Administration during a critical time in our nation’s fight to put an end to the coronavirus pandemic,” Biden said in the statement. “As the FDA considers many consequential decisions around vaccine approvals and more, it is mission critical that we have a steady, independent hand to guide the FDA. I am confident Dr. Califf will ensure that the FDA continues its science and data drive decision-making.”
Califf was confirmed overwhelmingly by the Senate in 2016 in an 89-4 vote. In his statement, Biden noted the “strong bipartisan support” and urged the senate to “swiftly confirm” him again.
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, voted against Califf’s confirmation in 2016 and said he would do so again, citing Califf’s “significant ties to the pharmaceutical industry” and the country’s ongoing opioid epidemic.