Dr. Amy Abernethy, principal deputy commissioner and acting chief information officer at the FDA, will be stepping down from her positions at the agency in mid-to-late April, according to a memo Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock sent out to agency staff this morning.
Abernethy came to the agency in early 2019 following a long line of executive and board positions at healthcare and health tech names like Flatiron Health and athenahealth, as well as a slew of academic roles such as the director of the Duke Center for Learning Health Care. With that background in cancer data and real-world evidence, she spent her time at the agency strengthening its internal data tools for regulatory decision-making, and reacting to the need for novel data and analysis approaches in light of COVID-19, Woodcock wrote.
“Throughout multiple Commissioner transitions and a historic pandemic, Amy’s focus on the FDA’s core technology operations has resulted in a remarkable modernization of the agency’s technology and data practices,” Woodcock wrote. “More than anything else, this modernization has been about the people behind technology at the FDA and how they can perform their work to best support our mission. This focus on FDA staff and on core operational excellence will ensure that Amy’s impact on the FDA remains long after she leaves the agency.”
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