Sara Brenner, M.D., M.P.H. has been appointed Acting Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who will lead the agency until the Senate confirms President Trump’s nomination for Commissioner, Marty Makary, M.D. Her expertise lies in diagnostics, regulation, health policy and administration, public health preparedness, emergency response, nanomedicine, medical ethics, and higher education.
Dr. Brenner assumed the interim role as former FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D., stepped down at the close of the Biden Administration.
A preventive medicine and public health physician, Dr. 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 FDA, where she advised leadership on regulatory premarket and post-market compliance and surveillance, as well as on broader initiatives to promote and protect public health across the medical technology landscape. Additionally, between February 2020 and May 2023, Dr. Brenner supported the National COVID-19 Response at multiple levels, focused on diagnostics, data, and technology across the interagency response, including serving as the Diagnostic Data Lead on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Data Strategy and Execution Workgroup.
Prior to joining FDA, Dr. Brenner served as a Senior Policy Advisor in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy with a portfolio in biomedical science, technology, and human health. From within the Executive Office of the President (EOP), she worked with U.S. departments and agencies, the Office of Management and Budget, the National Security Council, the Domestic Policy Council, and other White House departments to develop national policy relevant to health care, medical technology, biomedical science, innovative early-stage research, and workforce training and education.
Before her time in federal government, Dr. Brenner was a tenured faculty member at the State University of New York (SUNY) Polytechnic Institute’s Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, holding the roles of Associate Professor of Nanobioscience, Assistant Vice President for NanoHealth Initiatives, and Director of the M.D./Ph.D. Program in Nanomedicine.
Dr. Brenner received an M.D. from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, an M.P.H. from the SUNY University of Albany (UAlbany) School of Public Health, and a B.S. in genetics 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. Awards she has received for her work include the 2023 Distinguished Achievement in Federal Data and Policy from HHS, and the 2021 COVID-19 Pandemic Civilian Service Medal from HHS.
