FDA Embarks on Major Hiring Initiative for its Public Health Mission

Agency will fill more than 1,300 positions within the next several months

Biologists, chemists, medical officers, mathematical statisticians and investigators are among the experts in demand as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration begins a multi-year hiring initiative.

The FDA is hiring hundreds of individuals with science and medical backgrounds to help meet the agency's responsibilities to assure the safety and/or efficacy of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, food, cosmetics and products that emit radiation.

"It takes a large pool of talented people for the FDA to protect and promote the public health," said John Dyer, FDA's Deputy Commissioner for Operations and Chief Operating Officer. "Each month there is a delay in bringing critical staff on board impairs the agency's ability to fulfill this mission."