FDA fills four senior roles, including top officials for drugs, vaccines
and tobacco
[September 09, 2026]
By MATTHEW PERRONE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The administration of President Donald Trump filled
four senior positions at the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday,
promoting several officials who had been serving in acting roles to
permanently fill the spots, including the agency’s top leaders for drugs
and vaccines.
The announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services, which
oversees the FDA, gives the agency some stability following months of
controversy and upheaval that led to a series of high-profile departures
earlier this year.
The announcement names permanent directors for three of the agency’s six
centers: drugs, vaccines and biologics and tobacco products. All three
areas have seen major policy shifts under the Trump administration and
attracted scrutiny from consumer groups, physicians and Democrats in
Congress.
Dr. Michael Davis was named to lead the agency’s Center for Drug
Evaluation and Research, the agency’s largest center responsible for the
safety and effectiveness of prescription and over-the-counter drugs.
He'd been serving in an acting role since the departure of Dr. Tracy
Beth Hoeg, who said she was fired from the job in May. Hoeg’s brief time
at the agency mainly focused on scrutinizing antidepressants, COVID
shots and other drugs used in children.
Davis had previously worked as a leader in the FDA's psychiatric drug
division before briefly leaving government to work at a nonprofit
pursuing the development of psychedelic drugs. He returned to the FDA as
a deputy director last year.
As the FDA’s top drug regulator, Davis will be in a position to oversee
the review of a series of upcoming psychedelic drugs being studied for
psychiatric conditions, including psilocybin, MDMA and LSD. Both Trump
and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy have emphasized the need to speed
up reviews of psychedelics.
HHS also named Karim Mikhail to take over as director of FDA's vaccines
center on a permanent basis. Mikhail, a pharmacist and longtime
pharmaceutical executive, joined the FDA last spring and stepped into
the vaccines spot after the resignation of Dr. Vinay Prasad.
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Prasad stepped down in March following numerous controversies
surrounding vaccines, gene therapies and biotech drugs. It was his
second time leaving the role in less than a year, following complaints
from biotech executives and patient groups over the handling of new
drugs targeting rare diseases.
Prasad was also an outspoken critic of the agency’s approach to COVID-19
vaccines. Working with former Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, Prasad
developed stringent new requirements for the development of updated
COVID-19 shots. Among other steps, the policy requires vaccine-makers to
conduct new, lengthy studies before tweaked vaccines can be approved for
healthy adults and children.
Makary resigned from the agency in May after months of complaints from
health industry executives, anti-abortion activists and tobacco
companies. The frustration with him came to a head over the agency’s
lack of movement on flavored e-cigarettes, which are a priority for
large and small vaping companies.
Since his departure, the agency has cleared a series of new products,
including new varieties of nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes.
The agency announced that Bret Koplow, an attorney and career FDA
official, would become director of the Center for Tobacco Products. He’d
been serving in an acting role since the ouster of the previous director
early in the Trump administration.
A fourth official, Jared Seehafer, will serve in a newly created
position overseeing artificial intelligence and technology, according to
the government announcement.
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