It is fair to say that far more individuals aside from the commissioner are instrumental as far as the drug review and approval process in the U.S., but Makary we expect will promote technology and innovation in a way that offers some reprieve for those that feared a department more aligned with different virtues.

President-elect Trump has picked Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins’s surgeon who has espoused contrarian views about the COVID-19 pandemic, to lead the Federal Drug Administration. Makary is a surgical oncologist at Johns Hopkins University and an author.

Outgoing FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, MD, has fought against medical misinformation, and pushed for improvements in food safety and inspections. He recently said that under a Trump administration, FDA's ability to hire and retain skilled employees could be in jeopardy, given Kennedy's hostility to civil servants.