Familiar names from the first Trump administration are being floated as a replacement for Marty Makary, MD, MPH, who resigned as FDA commissioner last week.
Kyle Diamantas, JD, the FDA's deputy commissioner for food, is now the agency's acting commissioner. Prior to his work at FDA, Diamantas, a graduate of the University of Florida Levin College of Law, spent his legal career working with political and industry stakeholders, according to his agency bio.
Diamantas' name has been tossed around as a potential contender to formally replace Makary, as have three physicians: Stephen Hahn, MD, Brett Giroir, MD, and Ned Sharpless, MD. The agency did not respond to MedPage Today's query about candidates to replace Makary.
Hahn is an oncologist and former FDA commissioner who held the job from December 2019 to January 2021, when he stepped down as part of the transition of power between administrations. In an interview with Bloomberg, he said he considered resigning after the January 6 capitol riot. He also got flak during the early COVID pandemic for granting hydroxychloroquine an emergency use authorization under pressure from the White House.
Before FDA, Hahn was the chief medical executive at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and he has published hundreds of peer-reviewed research articles, according to his FDA bio.
