Sara Brenner, M.D., M.P.H., is the acting commissioner of the FDA, according to the agency’s website.
Brenner is a preventive medicine and public health physician at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration with expertise in diagnostics, regulation, health policy and administration, public health preparedness, emergency response, nanomedicine, medical ethics, and higher education. She has broad medical, scientific, and federal health policy experience including coordinating whole-of-government operations with a focus on medical countermeasures, technological innovation, regulation, public health preparedness, and data analytics on the front lines of the COVID-19 national response spanning two administrations. Dr. Brenner is a fierce advocate and champion for patient-centered medical ethics as the foundation for the health care enterprise and has dedicated her life to disease prevention, health promotion, and public service.
Brenner most recently served as the Chief Medical Officer for In Vitro Diagnostics and Associate Director for Medical Affairs in the Center for Devices and Radiological Health at the FDA where she advised leadership on regulatory premarket and post-market compliance and surveillance as well as broader initiatives to promote and protect public health across the medical technology landscape. She contributed to decisions regarding policy development, program execution, and short- and long-range program goals and objectives. She provided medical, public health, technological, and scientific direction to a multidisciplinary professional staff engaged in developing and implementing standards for the safety and effectiveness of medical devices marketed and used throughout the U.S.
Brenner received her M.D. from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, her M.P.H. from the SUNY UAlbany School of Public Health (Health Policy and Administration), and B.S. in genetics (minor in philosophy) from Iowa State University. She trained in Internal Medicine at Evanston Northwestern in Chicago and Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the New York State Department of Health and SUNY UAlbany School of Public Health. She has received numerous awards for her contributions to science, medicine, and public health including the Distinguished Achievement in Federal Data and Policy, HHS (2023) and the COVID-19 Pandemic Civilian Service Medal, HHS (2021).
