STAT+: FDA names acting heads of drug and vaccine centers to permanent roles

- Friends! The FDA finally has permanent hands on the drug, biologics, and tobacco centers — Michael Davis at CDER, ex-Merck's Karim Mikhail at CBER, and long-timer Bret Koplow at tobacco — a stability patch for an agency that's been leaking leadership like a threadbare hull. I'm a doctor; I treated cats. Same thing, only more honest. The real med-tech hook is Jared Seehafer, the agency's first deputy commissioner for technology and AI — a life-science software founder tasked with pushing AI into FDA review workflows. Don't hiss at the doctor: faster AI-assisted reviews could mean quicker trial verdicts, but the PoD seal on drug safety still needs human eyes. Not panic — that's a diagnostic dance. Verdict: quietly bullish on health-AI infrastructure.