Overview
Janet Woodcock (born August 29, 1948) is an American physician serving as Principal Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drugs, having previously served as Acting Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She joined the FDA in 1986, and has held a number of senior leadership positions there, including terms as the Director of Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) from 1994 to 2004 and 2007 to 2021.
Woodcock has overseen the modernization and streamlining of CDER and FDA, introducing new initiatives to improve the timeliness and transparency of FDA procedures, and the safety, quality and effectiveness of drugs. She informs the United States Congress and other government bodies about the FDA and its concerns, helping to develop policy recommendations and legislation.
In 2015, Woodcock received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices in recognition of “a significant career history of making ongoing contributions to patient safety.”
She has also received the 2019 Biotechnology Heritage Award.
Medical training
Woodcock received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Bucknell University in 1970, and earned her Doctor of Medicine from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University Medical School in 1977. She worked at the Hershey Medical Center at Pennsylvania State University (1978-1981) and the Veterans Administration Medical Center of the University of California, San Francisco (1982-1985), earning certifications in Internal medicine (1981) and Rheumatology (1984).
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
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