FDA to Hire 2,200 Staffers as it Narrows Search for Commissioner, Names Produce Safety Director
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in the process of hiring and rehiring more than 2,000 staffers across the agency following the mass layoffs handed out by the Trump Administration last year, per top FDA officials.
Additionally, after the resignation of Marty Makary, M.D. in May, the agency has narrowed its search for a new Commissioner to three candidates.
FDA’s Human Foods Program (HFP) has also named its new Director of Produce Safety in the Office of Microbiological Food Safety (OMFS).
After Losing More Than 4,000 Staffers, FDA Focusing on Hiring, Retention
According to the most recent available data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), as of April 2026, FDA has lost 4,644 staffers (even accounting for new hires and transfers-in) since the Trump Administration took office due to the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE’s) Deferred Resignation Program, reductions in force (RIFs), early retirements, and resignations.
Now, the agency is actively working to augment its depleted workforce with new recruits and rehired former staffers.
At the 2026 BIO International Convention Town Hall on Tuesday, June 23 in San Diego, California, FDA’s Acting Chief of Staff and Deputy Commissioner Lowell Zeta, J.D. told attendees that the agency is looking to bring on 2,200 staffers, including some who were lost since the Administration change, with hiring already underway. “[The agency is] at about 600 [people] that are in onboarding clearance at … various levels, with a couple hundred already through the process,” Mr. Zeta said, as reported by BioSpace. “This is across the agency, so we feel like we’re making good progress.”
FDA’s Acting Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Director Michael Davis, M.D., Ph.D. added that hiring has picked up significantly at the agency over the last month. “I can’t remember the exact numbers, but [it’s] within the historical norms for bringing on new people, and I see that as a positive sign that hiring is moving forward,” he remarked.
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The agency is also committed to retaining the staffers it didn’t lose to the Trump Administration RIFs, with attrition also down to historical rates, per Dr. Davis.
FDA Narrows Search for New Commissioner
Speaking of new hires, according to multiple media sources, including Axios, FDA is considering three human medicine-focused candidates to replace former Commissioner Dr. Mary Makary after he departed in May, reportedly due to tensions with President Donald Trump and U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The candidates are:
- Heidi Overton, M.D., Ph.D., Deputy Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council
- Jeffery Vacirca, M.D., FACP, CEO of the Board of New York Cancer and Blood Specialists
- Stephen Ferrara, M.D., FSIR, FACR, former Chief Medical Officer for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and a current professor of radiology and working interventional radiologist.
The former Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, Kyle Diamantas, J.D. (who earned his post after the former HFP leader resigned in protest of the Trump Administration’s RIFs) was elevated to Acting Deputy Commissioner while the agency searches for a replacement for Dr. Makary. In the shuffle, Donald Prater, D.V.M. was named the new Acting Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods.
FDA Names Donna Garren as Produce Safety Leader
Effective June 29, Donna Garren, Ph.D. is the new Director of the Office of Produce Safety within FDA’s HFP’s OMFS.
Prior to FDA, Dr. Garren was the Executive Vice President, Science and Policy at the American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI), where her background in food safety, food science, nutrition, and regulatory affairs was instrumental in building strong, effective legislative and regulatory programs for the food and beverage industry, according to LinkedIn.
Prior to joining AFFI, Dr. Garren held the roles of President and General Manager for NSF Agriculture, NSF International; Vice President of Food Safety Programs for the Consumer Goods Forum, where she oversaw Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) activities in the Americas; Vice President of Health and Safety Regulatory Affairs for the National Restaurant Association; and other positions. She earned her doctorate degree in food science and technology from the University of Georgia.
FDA’s Director of OMFS, Conrad Choiniere, Ph.D., said, “[Dr. Garren’s] hands-on experience navigating the intersection of federal agencies, industry stakeholders, and international food safety frameworks, paired with her extensive network across all of these groups, will accelerate collaboration and advance our food safety and public health priorities. She is a proven consensus builder, well-positioned to support FDA's transparency and public engagement goals while driving results through partnership.”
