FDA Launches Fellowship Program to Develop Pipeline of Scientists

The US Food and Drug Administration is launching a two-year fellowship program aimed at attracting scientists, engineers, and health professionals to the agency. The FDA Commissioner’s Fellowship Program will provide participants with advanced training in the scientific analysis involved in the safety and regulatory decisions unique to the agency’s mission.

Applicants are being considered for the first entering class of the program, which will begin in October 2008. The agency is seeking physicians, microbiologists, chemists, statisticians, pharmacists, biomedical engineers, nutritionists, veterinarians, and other science professionals. Applicants should have a doctoral degree in medicine or another scientific field; engineers must have at least a bachelor’s degree. Between 30 and 40 applicants will be accepted for the first entering class.

The program will include coursework and extensive hands-on experience in FDA regulatory science including regulatory review opportunities. More than 20 courses and seminars will be offered on topics including FDA law, ethics and decision making, biostatistics, clinical trial design, population science and epidemiology, risk assessment, international activities, budgeting and operations, leadership, and public policy. The courses will be taught at the agency's new, state-of-the-art campus at White Oak, MD, and at other facilities by senior FDA staff and faculty from universities in the region.