On May 12, 2021, more than 100 stakeholders joined Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA Board of Directors for their Annual Public Meeting. The discussion centered on how public-private partnerships help advance the mission of FDA. Board members joined FDA leaders to highlight the impact of cross-cutting collaborations – especially in the last year as we faced unprecedented public health challenges. 

Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock

One in-depth conversation featured an overview of the relationship between the FDA and the Foundation between board chair Ellen V. Sigal, PhD, and Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, MD, who recognized the foundation as ‘ideally positioned’ to support the FDA as they examine how they might become more agile in responding to future health crises.

Foundation CEO Susan C. Winckler, RPh, Esq., sat down with FDA Chief Scientist, Rear Admiral Denise Hinton to provide an overview of the Foundation’s programmatic work. RADM Hinton highlighted the value of this partnership saying the Foundation supports the FDA’s mission, helping to “modernize our scientific portfolio… through engagement with technical experts and leadership at the FDA, academia and consumers.”

Each panel discussion from the May 12th event featured a Foundation board member joined by an FDA official to explore the highlights of the past year’s work, and how the work may evolve in the future.

IMEDS

Adrian Hernandez, MD, MHS, IMEDS Committee Chair, Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA, sat down with Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, JD, MD, Director, Office of Medical Policy, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA, to discuss the IMEDS program, and how it leverages the FDA’s Sentinel Initiative as a national resource for broader public health and medical evidence generation.

COVID-19 Evidence Accelerator

Foundation CEO Susan C. Winckler, RPh, Esq., joined White House Presidential Innovation Fellow Gina Valo to review the development of the COVID-19 Evidence Accelerator, created in collaboration with Friends of Cancer Research, to explore how real-world data can address clinically relevant questions related to the treatment, diagnosis, and vaccines developed for COVID-19, as well as how the Accelerator might be used to address future health questions.

Vaccine Confidence

Board member Georges C. Benjamin, MD, along with Lorrie McNeill, Director, Office of Communication Outreach and Development, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA, discussed how the FDA and the Foundation worked together to explore vaccine confidence, its genesis, and what messages might be most effective in helping the vaccine hesitant make important health decisions.

Food & Nutrition

Board member Sally J. Greenberg, JD, was joined by Robin McKinnon, PhD, MPA, Senior Advisor for Nutrition Policy, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA, to look at Food and Nutrition, a relatively new program area for the Foundation. They discussed the development of the Nutrition Communications Network, and the coordinated outreach around the FDA’s New Nutrition Facts Label. Dr. McKinnon called the Foundation’s work ‘critical in helping to advance the work of the agency’ and added she was looking forward to continuing work with the Foundation.

Expanded Access

Board Secretary Kay Holcombe, MS, explored the Foundation’s work on Expanded Access with Lori Bickel, JD, Regulatory Counsel for the FDA. Bickel acknowledged the ‘long and fruitful’ partnership of the two groups and said the Foundation had been the FDA’s partner “every step of the way” as they worked to provide information about Expanded Access as well as make improvements to the application submission process through initiatives like eRequest.