| Patrizia Cavazzoni | |
| Office: | Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research[1] |
| Term Start: | April 12, 2021 Acting: May 2020 – April 2021 |
| Predecessor: | Janet Woodcock |
| Office1: | Acting Principal Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drugs[2] |
| Term Start1: | January 2019 |
| Term End1: | February 2019 |
| Successor1: | Amy Abernethy |
| Office2: | Deputy Center Director for Operations of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research |
| Term Start2: | January 2018 |
| Term End2: | May 2020 |
| Education: | McGill University (MD)[3] |
Patrizia Cavazzoni is the director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). Prior to this position she worked at Pfizer and had been a psychiatrist
Cavazzoni earned her medical degree from McGill University and subsequently was a fellow at the University of Ottawa.[4] She then joined the University of Ottawa as an assistant professor before moving to the pharmaceutical industry,[5] where she worked at Pfizer.
She moved to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2018, and was named acting director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in 2020[6] [7] and director in 2021.[8] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cavazzoni has spoken publicly about the need for science to guide policies[9] and about the future of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research after the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] She also noted that she would hand Donald Trump a blank sheet of paper if asked to submit a list of workers who should not receive due process protections.[11]
While she worked at the Royal Ottawa Hospital, Cavazzoni examined the link between genetics and personality, and the chemicals implicated in brain chemistry.[12] She further examined the connections between diabetes and patients receiving antipsychotic medications.[13]
Cavazzoni received the American College of Psychiatrists's Laughlin Fellowship.