Overton expected to be next FDA commissioner

President Trump is expected to nominate Dr. Heidi Overton to head the Food and Drug Administration, according to a source close to the story.

Overton is currently Deputy Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. Previously she was chief policy officer and vice chair for the Center for a Healthy America at the conservative think tank America First Policy Institute. She will succeed acting chief Kyle Diamantas who was appoint to the post on an interim basis following Marty Makary’s resignation.

Recently, Overton served as a White House Fellow in 2019-2020 in both the Office of American Innovation and the Domestic Policy Council. She is board-certified in public health and general preventive medicine. 

Overton does not have any experience with food policy or the food industry.

Previously, Overton was a general surgery resident at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a physician advocate for price and quality transparency in healthcare through Restoring Medicine. 

During medical school, Overton was appointed by Governor Susana Martinez to serve on the University of New Mexico Board of Regents, which included fiduciary and full-voting responsibilities for all business and clinical operations of the university and health system. 

Overton graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Health, Medicine, and Human Values from University of New Mexico’s Combined BA/MD Program, received her medical degree from the UNM School of Medicine, and obtained her Ph.D. in Clinical Investigation from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The news of Overton’s impending nomination was first reported by Bloomberg News.

Coral Beach

Managing Editor Coral Beach is a print journalist with more than 35 years experience as a reporter and editor for daily newspapers, trade publications and freelance clients including the Kansas City Star and Independence Examiner.

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