CHICAGO — The American Medical Association (AMA) presented Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), with the AMA Award for Outstanding Government Service.
Since 2016, Dr. Marks has led the FDA’s efforts to regulate and assure the safety and effectiveness of the nation’s biological products, including vaccines, allergenic products, blood and blood products, and cellular, tissue, and gene therapies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Marks and his team have played an instrumental role in ensuring that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. Under Dr. Marks’ leadership, COVID-19 vaccines have undergone a rigorous evidence-based and transparent process.
“Dr. Marks has worked tirelessly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to make sure the COVID-19 vaccine development process was transparent, based on rigorous review of scientific data and free from political interference. Despite this enormous responsibility, Dr. Marks took the time to regularly speak with and present data to physicians and the medical community to ensure we had the information and data we needed to feel confident in recommending the COVID-19 vaccines to our patients,” said AMA Board Chair Bobby Mukkamala, M.D. “We are grateful for Dr. Marks’ leadership before and during the pandemic. It’s safe to say that his efforts have helped save many thousands of lives.”
During his more than 25-year career, Dr. Marks has held numerous positions in academic medicine caring for patients, training future physicians and leading research in hematology and oncology at both Harvard Medical School and Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Marks also spent several years working on the clinical development of hematology and oncology products to help treat people with blood cancers and serious life-threatening blood disorders. Immediately prior to joining the FDA, Dr. Marks led the Adult Leukemia Service and served as Chief Clinical Officer of Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale University. Dr. Marks joined the FDA in 2012 as Deputy Center Director for CBER and became Center Director in January 2016.
Dr. Marks received both his graduate degree in cell and molecular biology and his medical degree from New York University. He completed his Internal Medicine residency and Hematology/Medical Oncology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Marks is board certified in internal medicine, hematology and medical oncology.
Dr. Marks’ acceptance speech can be viewed here.
Media Contact:
About the American Medical Association
The American Medical Association is the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care. The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.
