By Sean Mussenden
Media General News Service
Media General News Service
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WASHINGTON-The chief cancer researcher at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is slated to become acting head of the Food and Drug Administration later this month.
Dr. Frank Torti took leave in April from his position as chair of the medical school's cancer biology department and director of Wake's Comprehensive Cancer Center to become the FDA's chief scientist, the No. 2 position at the agency.
The current FDA director, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, will step down when President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in Jan. 20. Torti will become acting head of the agency, an FDA spokeswoman said Monday, and is expected to remain until Obama's choice to lead the agency is confirmed.
A spokesman for Obama's transition team declined to say Monday whether Torti was under consideration to become permanent head of the FDA in the next administration. Torti could not be reached for comment Monday.
"It is an honor and privilege to lead the dedicated staff of the FDA in their mission to protect and promote the health of the American people," he said in a statement.
Tom Daschle, Obama's choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, said at a Senate hearing last week that the incoming administration was "moving very expeditiously" to select a permanent head of the FDA and expected to nominate someone "within the next few weeks."
When Torti left Winston-Salem last year, his colleagues at the cancer center said they expected him to return after the Bush administration ended.
"He's capable of being an outstanding director" of the FDA, Dr. Jerry Garvin, who became interim director of the Wake cancer center in Torti's absence, said Monday. "But at this point we are still counting on him to return sometime this year."
Sean Mussenden can be reached at smussenden@mediageneral.com or 202-662-7668.
Dr. Frank Torti took leave in April from his position as chair of the medical school's cancer biology department and director of Wake's Comprehensive Cancer Center to become the FDA's chief scientist, the No. 2 position at the agency.
The current FDA director, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, will step down when President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in Jan. 20. Torti will become acting head of the agency, an FDA spokeswoman said Monday, and is expected to remain until Obama's choice to lead the agency is confirmed.
A spokesman for Obama's transition team declined to say Monday whether Torti was under consideration to become permanent head of the FDA in the next administration. Torti could not be reached for comment Monday.
"It is an honor and privilege to lead the dedicated staff of the FDA in their mission to protect and promote the health of the American people," he said in a statement.
Tom Daschle, Obama's choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, said at a Senate hearing last week that the incoming administration was "moving very expeditiously" to select a permanent head of the FDA and expected to nominate someone "within the next few weeks."
When Torti left Winston-Salem last year, his colleagues at the cancer center said they expected him to return after the Bush administration ended.
"He's capable of being an outstanding director" of the FDA, Dr. Jerry Garvin, who became interim director of the Wake cancer center in Torti's absence, said Monday. "But at this point we are still counting on him to return sometime this year."
Sean Mussenden can be reached at smussenden@mediageneral.com or 202-662-7668.