After nearly six years of service, Margaret Hamburg, MD, will step down from her role as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), effective at the end of March.
One of the longest serving FDA commissioners in modern times, Dr. Hamburg pushed to speed up the drug approval process and proposed measures to improve nutrition, like limiting trans-fats in foods and posting calorie counts on restaurant menus.
During Dr. Hamburg’s tenure, Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011, which is intended to increase the number of inspections for the production, sale and import of fruits and vegetables, and provided FDA with a stronger set of tools to enforce Good Manufacturing Practices within the dietary supplement industry.
Dr. Stephen Ostroff, FDA’s chief scientist, will fill Dr. Hamburg’s post temporarily.