Jacqueline
Corrigan-Curay,
J.D., M.D.
Leadership Role
Acting
Director - Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, J.D., M.D., is the Acting Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Center’s mission is to ensure that safe, effective, and high-quality drugs are available to the public. To achieve this, CDER regulates the medical products under its jurisdiction throughout their lifecycle, oversees the development of new and generic drugs, evaluates applications to determine whether drugs should be approved, monitors the safety of drugs after they are marketed, conducts research to advance regulatory science, and takes enforcement actions to protect the public from harmful products. When Dr. Corrigan-Curay isn’t acting, she is CDER’s Principal Deputy Center Director. She has held this position since July 2021.
Dr. Corrigan-Curay joined the FDA in October 2016 as CDER’s Director for the Office of Medical Policy (OMP). In that role, she led the development, coordination, and implementation of medical policy programs and strategic initiatives. She worked collaboratively with other CDER program areas, FDA centers, and stakeholders on enhancing policies to improve drug development and regulatory review processes.
Dr. Corrigan-Curay brings to the position a unique legal, scientific policy, and clinical background with expertise in risk and scientific assessment, and clinical trial design and oversight. Before joining CDER, she served as supervisory medical officer within the Immediate Office of the Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She also served in director of the Office of Biotechnology Activities (OBA), Office of Science Policy at NIH, where she was executive secretary of the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. She has held positions as an attending physician with the VA Medical Center, a policy analyst with the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and as a practicing attorney in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Corrigan-Curay earned her law degree from Harvard Law School, her medical degree from University of Maryland School of Medicine, and a bachelor’s degree in history of science from Harvard/Radcliffe College in Cambridge, MA. She completed her training in internal medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center, where she also served as a clinical assistant professor of medicine. Until recently she also practiced internal medicine part-time at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C.