According to a Dec. 17 article from BioPharmaDive, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf sent an email to agency staff reporting that Namandjé Bumpus, the Food and Drug Administration’s second-in-command, principal deputy commissioner, will depart the agency at the end of 2024.
The article said, “Bumpus has served as principal deputy commissioner since February 2024, when she succeeded longtime agency leader Janet Woodcock. Previously, Bumpus was the FDA’s chief scientist.”
Further, “In his email, Califf credited Bumpus with helping to plan and manage the FDA’s recent reorganization, which he described as the largest in the agency’s history. Bumpus also led efforts to modernize the FDA’s laboratories and expanded the role of the chief scientist’s office, Califf said, ‘Since Dr. Bumpus arrived at the FDA and assumed the role of Chief Scientist, she has made enormous contributions across the agency and had an extraordinary impact on the growth, effectiveness and overall success of the agency,’ Califf wrote in his email.”
Bumpus’s exit is another example of a high-ranking FDA official announcing their departure. In November, Doug Throckmorton, the deputy center director for regulatory programs, also announced his exit from the agency.
Previously, Bumpus was a professor and department chair at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Janette Wider | Editor-in-Chief
Janette Wider is Editor-in-Chief for Healthcare Purchasing News.
