Tracy Beth Høeg, MD, PhD, was named acting director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, effective Dec. 3.
Dr. Høeg previously served as senior adviser for clinical sciences in the agency’s Office of the Commissioner and the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, according to a Dec. 3 news release. Before joining the FDA, she was a visiting scholar at the Cambridge-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management and practiced physical and interventional spine and sports medicine. She has co-written 45 peer-reviewed publications, including in The New England Journal of Medicine, Pediatrics and Annals of Internal Medicine.
She succeeds Richard Pazdur, MD, who was appointed director of the CDER on Nov. 11 and announced his retirement three weeks later.
Separately, the FDA removed Theresa Michele, MD, as director of the Office of Nonprescription Drugs on Dec. 3, STAT reported. Dr. Michele told staff she would transition to a leadership role in the agency’s medical devices center, effective Dec. 5.
Karen Murry, MD, was named the new director of the over-the-counter drugs office.
