By Kamal Choudhury and Sneha S K
March 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s top operations official, Barclay Butler, will retire from federal service, and 30-year agency veteran Melanie Keller is set to take his place next month, according to an internal email seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
Butler, who has served for about a year as the FDA’s deputy commissioner for operations and chief operating officer, plans to retire in the coming months, the email said.
He will stay on as an adviser with the title of COO emeritus until he leaves.
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary told staff that Melanie Keller, Butler’s deputy, will take over his roles on April 6.
Keller has spent 30 years in senior positions across the Department of Health and Human Services. From 2010 to 2017, she served as executive officer at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, where she managed a $3 billion budget and led center operations.
The changes come as several top public health positions have also shifted.
Last month, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya was named acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The shakeup at the CDC follows months of turmoil under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic who has pushed aggressive changes across federal health agencies.
His moves have included the firing of former CDC Director Susan Monarez for resisting vaccine‑policy changes, and have triggered multiple senior resignations.
FDA’S NEW DEPUTY OPERATIONS CHIEF
Makary on Wednesday also named Melissa Shea as the FDA’s new principal deputy associate commissioner for operations and deputy chief operating officer, replacing Keller.
Shea has more than 24 years of experience in program management and business operations. Before joining the FDA, she held senior posts at the Defense Health Agency, where she oversaw a contracting portfolio of more than $5.3 billion. She also managed the $26 billion TRICARE military health insurance program.
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury and Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
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