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# Woodcock Announces Cavazzoni as CDER Head
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/woodcock-announces-cavazzoni-as-cder-head/
- Published: 2021-04-12T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T16:54:27.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5149088

FDA acting commissioner **Janet Woodcock** has [announced](https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/center-drug-evaluation-and-research-cder/patrizia-cavazzoni?ref=fdaweb.com) that CDER deputy director for operations **Patrizia Cavazzoni** has been appointed to her former position as CDER director, a post that Cavazzoni has served in an acting capacity for the past year while Woodcock was on detail at Operation WarpSpeed.

Cavazzoni has more than 15 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, with expertise in global clinical development, clinical trials, product safety, and regulatory affairs. Previously at Pfizer, she was head of worldwide safety and led safety reporting and surveillance activities, risk management, and global labeling strategy and operations. Prior to Pfizer, Cavazzoni served as vice president and head of global pharmacovigilance and epidemiology at Sanofi-Aventis. She also held leadership roles at Eli-Lilly, where she directed safety surveillance and pharmacoepidemiology operations.

In a 4/12 Twitter post, Cavazzoni acknowledged Woodcock’s and HHS secretary Xavier Becerra’s confidence in selecting her to lead CDER. Becerra’s role in blessing Woodcock’s choice for CDER director may signal that the Biden Administration is close to selecting a permanent commissioner and deciding what role, if any, Woodcock will have at the agency. Technically speaking, she could remain as acting commissioner for almost the remainder of the year under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 ([see earlier story](https://www.fdaweb.com/no-movement-on-nominating-fda-commissioner/)), but many are reluctant to see that occur because FDA is such an important health agency andneeds a permanent head to lead it effectively.