FDA Fills Four Senior Leadership Roles in Key Centers

HHS permanently filled four senior FDA positions Tuesday, including the agency's top leaders for drugs, vaccines, and tobacco products.

• Dr. Michael Davis was named permanent director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
• Karim Mikhail, a pharmacist and longtime pharmaceutical executive, takes the vaccines center permanently.
• Bret Koplow, a career FDA attorney, becomes permanent director of the Center for Tobacco Products.
• Jared Seehafer fills a newly created role overseeing artificial intelligence and technology.

Why it matters: All three centers with new permanent directors had seen major policy shifts and drew scrutiny from consumer groups, physicians, and members of Congress.

• Previous leaders of the drug, vaccine, and tobacco centers all departed under disputed circumstances in 2025.

How 5 sources split on this story

What’s next: Davis will oversee FDA reviews of psychedelic drugs including psilocybin, MDMA, and LSD for psychiatric conditions.

• Mikhail inherits a policy requiring new clinical studies before updated COVID-19 vaccines can be approved for healthy adults and children.
• Whether permanent leadership will resolve ongoing disputes between the FDA, the health industry, and patient groups over drug and vaccine approvals.
• How Davis's prior work on psychedelic drug development outside government will affect his oversight of those pending reviews.