American College of Radiology says it’s available as a resource to new FDA, NIH leaders
The American College of Radiology said it’s available as a resource to newly confirmed leaders in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other federal agencies crucial to medical imaging.
The U.S. Senate on March 25 confirmed President Donald Trump’s appointments to lead the FDA (in a 56-44 vote) and National Institutes of Health (53-47).
New NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, a Stanford Medicine physician-scientist and health economist, will oversee a $47 billion enterprise, ACR noted in a news update. This will include clinical trials, drug development, and grants for research. Meanwhile, new FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH—a British-American surgeon and Johns Hopkins professor—will supervise safety of radiological and imaging devices, along with the food supply, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
“ACR intends to serve as a resource for all new leadership within the administration and will continue to advocate for federal funding for radiology research and encourage imaging as a priority to the healthcare leaders,” the college said in a news update published March 27.
Michael Kratsios, a business executive and investor, will serve as the 13th director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. In the role, he’ll advise the White House on science and technology, working with federal agencies to implement policy effectively, ACR noted.
Imaging device lobbying group AdvaMed also highlighted Makary’s confirmation in a news update published March 26. The medical technology association—which represents Bayer, Canon, GE HealthCare, Philips, Siemens Healthineers and others—believes the “renowned surgeon” “understands the importance of improving patient access to transformative medtech.”
“Dr. Makary has made clear he is committed to building a stronger, more transparent, and ‘smarter FDA that works for all Americans,’” AdvaMed CEO Scott Whitaker said in a statement. “That has long been AdvaMed’s top goal for the patients our companies serve, and we look forward to working with him to achieve exactly that.”
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.