Public health expert selected for FDA post

Dr. Margaret Hamburg, chosen on Saturday to be the new commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, has an extensive resume in public health. President Barack Obama also announced that Hamburg’s chief deputy at FDA will be Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, the health commissioner of Baltimore.

MARGARET ANN ‘PEGGY’ HAMBURG

Age: 53

Experience: Senior scientist at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, beginning in 2001; assistant secretary, Health and Human Services Department, 1997-2001; commissioner of health, New York City, 1991-97; assistant director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, 1989-90; worked in the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 1986-88.

Education: Graduate of Radcliffe College; M.D., Harvard Medical School, 1983.

Family: Married to Peter Fitzhugh Brown; two teenage children. Her father, Dr. David Hamburg, head of the Institute of Medicine and major figure in public health. She serves on the board of the Sidwell Friends School, where the president’s daughters, Malia and Sasha, are students.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

“Peggy has a deep commitment to the public health and, while she appreciates the vital role of industry, will surely focus on what is best for the public.”

—- Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine

“I think Dr. Hamburg will become the commissioner of food, since she’s a safety and security person, and then Dr. Sharfstein would slide into the FDA, which would become the Federal Drug Administration.”

—- Peter Pitts, who believes the selections of Hamburg and Sharfstein suggest that the president wants to split the agency

“She took care of me like a newborn. She’s the kind of person you figure can do almost anything.”

—- Former New York Mayor David Dinkins, who said Hamburg forced him to take a tuberculosis test after he spoke at a disaster scene with someone who later tested positive for the disease

“There are few jobs in the federal government that are as tough or important as FDA commissioner. Dr. Hamburg would first have to help the FDA get the budget and authority it needs so it can visit food processors every year, instead of once every 10 years, and can inspect their records and impose meaningful penalties on violators.”

—- Jean Halloran, Consumers Union director of food policy initiatives