Who’s Brett Giroir, anyway?
Dr. Stephen Hahn is officially President Trump’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration. And Dr. Ned Sharpless, the agency’s former acting commissioner, is back to his post atop the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Brett Giroir, a top deputy to health secretary Alex Azar, will run the FDA in the meantime. First things first: It’s pronounced “Jer-wah,” with a French-sounding J, per a Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman.
As an acting commissioner, Giroir won’t require Senate confirmation. And it’s a good thing for him, too, because his last go-round wasn’t easy. First, Giroir needed to divest from a raft of potential financial conflicts, including his consultancy, Health Science and Biosecurity Partners, and positions or financial holdings with groups like BioHouston, ViraCyte, Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, and Essa Pharma.
More controversially, though, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) delayed Giroir’s confirmation as assistant secretary for health in 2017, citing concerns about funding for family planning organizations. Giroir, indeed, played a pivotal role in reforming the Title X family planning grants that led to Planned Parenthood’s exit from the program this summer. Giroir was also central to a recent HHS directive that heavily restricted the use of human fetal tissue in federally funded research projects. In a statement, Murray said she was “alarmed” at Giroir’s FDA appointment, given his “track record of letting ideology drive decisions at the expense of women and families.”
Giroir, broadly, has plenty of relevant experience. He ran DARPA’s defense sciences office under George W. Bush, has a long trail of academic writings on topics including the HIV and opioid epidemics, and holds eight patents on biomedical inventions. It’s unclear how long he’ll serve in the role — Republican staff for the Senate HELP committee, which is responsible for confirming FDA commissioners, didn’t respond to questions about when they’d take up Hahn’s nomination.
As an acting commissioner, Giroir won’t require Senate confirmation. And it’s a good thing for him, too, because his last go-round wasn’t easy. First, Giroir needed to divest from a raft of potential financial conflicts, including his consultancy, Health Science and Biosecurity Partners, and positions or financial holdings with groups like BioHouston, ViraCyte, Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, and Essa Pharma.
More controversially, though, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) delayed Giroir’s confirmation as assistant secretary for health in 2017, citing concerns about funding for family planning organizations. Giroir, indeed, played a pivotal role in reforming the Title X family planning grants that led to Planned Parenthood’s exit from the program this summer. Giroir was also central to a recent HHS directive that heavily restricted the use of human fetal tissue in federally funded research projects. In a statement, Murray said she was “alarmed” at Giroir’s FDA appointment, given his “track record of letting ideology drive decisions at the expense of women and families.”
Giroir, broadly, has plenty of relevant experience. He ran DARPA’s defense sciences office under George W. Bush, has a long trail of academic writings on topics including the HIV and opioid epidemics, and holds eight patents on biomedical inventions. It’s unclear how long he’ll serve in the role — Republican staff for the Senate HELP committee, which is responsible for confirming FDA commissioners, didn’t respond to questions about when they’d take up Hahn’s nomination.
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