President Trump selected Scott Gottlieb for commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at the Department of Health and Human Services, the White House announced Friday evening.
Gottlieb, currently a physician and resident fellow at conservative Washington, D.C.-based think tank, the American Enterprise Institute, has previous experience working as deputy commissioner for Medical and Scientific Affairs at the FDA.
The new nominee for commissioner graduated from Wesleyan University in 1994 and hold a Doctor of Medicine from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1999. He was given the Food and Drug Administration’s Special Recognition Award in 2007, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services Administration’s Citation in 2004, and the Visionary in Medicine Award by the Sarcoma Foundation of America in 2007.
Gottlieb will take over for Robert McKinnon Califf, who former President Barack Obama appointed to the position in 2015 and was confirmed in February 2016.
Trump announced earlier this week his intention to nominate six officials to his administration, including the Justice Department’s solicitor general seat.
“These dedicated men and women will help me and the rest of the Administration as we continue our work to make America great again. I am grateful for their willingness to serve and honored that they will be joining my team,” Trump said in a statement.
Trump promoted Noel J. Francisco, who has worked as principal deputy solicitor general since Jan. 23, to solicitor general. Francisco previously worked for Jones Day’s Government Relations Practice in Washington, D.C., and as associate counsel to former President George W. Bush from 2003 to 2005.
