Fast-breaking News from AABB PulsePoints The following has been reproduced from the September 26, 2005 AABB PulsePoints, an electronic news alert provided by the American Association of Blood Banks.

September 26, 2005
No. 712

President Bush Asks Andrew Von Eschenbach to Serve as Acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration

AABB PulsePoints

AABB has learned, via an article published in the The Washington Post on Sept. 24, 2005, that President George W. Bush has asked National Cancer Institute (NCI) Director Andrew C. von Eschenbach, MD, to serve as acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) effective immediately.Lester M. Crawford, PhD, DVM, who had been serving as commissioner of the agency for the past two months, announced his resignation on Friday, September 23.

According to a biography posted on the NCI Web site, von Eschenbach is a nationally recognized urologic surgeon. He earned a BS from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia in 1963 and his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1967.He completed residencies in general surgery and urology at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia and then was an instructor in urology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He also served as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy Medical Corps.

To view the biography about von Eschenbach that is currently posted on NCI’s Web site, visit: http://www.cancer.gov/directorscorner/about-the-director.