Melinda Plaisier is FDA's new Top Cop

By: Jim Dickinson

Prior to her Central Region appointment, Plaisier spent over 13 years in the Office of the Commissioner, where she served as the associate commissioner for legislation. She has also served as the associate commissioner for international programs, where she focused on negotiating international agreements and working with developing nations.

“Going forward, Melinda will play a critical role in helping FDA adapt to the continuing program-based specialization within FDA’s regulated industries and in implementing FDA’s expanded authority in recent groundbreaking legislation in many important areas,” commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in an email to employees. “I am confident that Melinda will help position FDA as a public health regulatory agency fully prepared to deal with the many challenges of an increasingly complex global regulatory environment.”

Plaisier joined FDA in 1995, after serving as a Congressional staffer for more than a decade, and then spent more than 13 years in the Office of the Commissioner where, among other roles, she served as the associate commissioner for legislation, providing executive leadership in directing and managing the Agency’s congressional relations and legislative activities, and the associate commissioner for international programs, where she focused on negotiating international agreements and working with developing nations.

Plaisier holds a Master of Social Work in Health Care Delivery Systems/Program Planning and Management from Indiana. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and classical civilizations from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN.