BioCentury
ARTICLE | Politics, Policy & Law

Success without succession?

Why Duke's Califf does not have to succeed Hamburg to shape FDA policy

February 2, 2015 8:00 AM UTC

Robert Califf's appointment as FDA's deputy commissioner for medical products and tobacco set the Washington rumor mill into motion, with much of the gossip centering on the possibility that he will succeed Margaret Hamburg as commissioner. Whether he is given the top position or not, it is likely that Califf will play a major role in shaping the agency over the next two years.

The rumors were propelled in part by the fact that Califf has been on the short lists of commissioner candidates drawn up by both Republican and Democratic administrations. He was interviewed for the job at the White House in 2001, and was considered for the position again in 2008 and 2009. ...