FDA Names Vilker Director of Office of Testing and Research

National Institute of Standards and Technology biotechnology chief Vincent L. Vilker, PhD, has been appointed director of FDA's Office of Testing and Research (OTR), according to a July 13 statement from FDA Office of Pharmaceutical Sciences Director Helen Winkle:

It is my pleasure to announce that Vincent L. Vilker, Ph.D., has been appointed as the Director, Office of Testing and Research (OTR), within the Office of Pharmaceutical Science.

Dr. Vilker joins us from the National Institute of Standards where he was Chief of the Biotechnology Division.

Prior to that, he served on the faculty of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles.

His expertise in chemical engineering and biotechnology make him the ideal person to assume responsibility of this Office.

Dr. Vilker received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. also in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Since its establishment in 1995, OTR has grown into a very viable part of the Center. I think we can all be proud of how the staff has met numerous scientific challenges in enhancing its science base over the past years to support the Center's regulatory policies and decision making processes. I personally appreciate Dr. Vilker's agreeing to accept the position and we all look forward to working closely with him on related research and testing activities in the coming months.