Margaret Hamburg to resign from FDA's top post

WASHINGTON — Food and Drug Commissioner Margaret Hamburg will resign from her post in March. Stephen Ostroff, the FDA’s chief scientist and a former official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will take over in the top post until President Obama names a successor for Hamburg, The Washington Post reported Thursday. 

 

“As you can imagine, the decision was not easy,” Hamburg said in a statement. “While there is still work ahead (and there will always be), I know that I am leaving the agency well-positioned to fulfill its responsibilities to the American public with great success.”

 

Hamburg, 59, is among the longest-serving commissioners at the agency. A Harvard Medical School graduate, she previously worked as New York City’s health commissioner, as well as at the National Institutes of Health, The Washington Post reported.