FDA’s mission to protect and promote the public health is more critical than ever.  We are positioned at a challenging moment in history and the demands of the 21^st century are unprecedented.  Together, we must prepare to meet those demands and usher science, public health, and FDA into a new era.

 

In that spirit, we have developed the following Strategic Priorities document, which outlines the goals and priority areas that will guide our agency through the next five years and beyond.  It’s no secret that FDA’s responsibilities have increased significantly over the past several years. To fulfill the mandates of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009, the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011, and to meet the continuing challenges of regulating in a global market, we must fully commit ourselves to the agency’s fundamental mission and to the scientific and public health principles that inform all of our decisions.

 

We must continue to build a stronger, more effective agency and, as this document outlines, do so in several specific ways.  We will strengthen our collaborations with other public health agencies and leverage the expertise and resources of our colleagues at the international, federal, state, and local levels to ensure effective solutions for the American people.  We will hold ourselves to the highest standards of transparency and accountability and give our partners and stakeholders insight into our processes and decision making.  And we will promote public participation by increasing opportunities for input and feedback, so that we can harness the best ideas from both inside and outside the agency.

 

I would like to emphasize one priority in particular: Advancing Regulatory Science and Innovation.  Science underlies everything we do at this agency and to serve the public health we must have the capacity to effectively oversee the translation of breakthrough discoveries in science into innovative, safe, and effective products and life-saving therapies for the people who need them most.

 

Finally, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the team who worked long and hard to prepare this document.  My time as Commissioner of Food and Drugs has taught me that FDA is filled with some of the most talented, creative, and dedicated public servants I have ever worked with.  My hope is that these guidelines will help us work together to promote and protect the public health.  That is what the American people demand — and that is what we must deliver.

 

 

Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D.