Richard
Pazdur
MD
Leadership Role
Director - Oncology Center of Excellence
Acting
Director, Office of Oncologic Diseases - CDER Offices and Divisions
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Richard Pazdur, M.D., is the director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE), established in 2017 to leverage the combined skills of FDA’s regulatory scientists and reviewers with expertise in drugs, biologics, and devices to expedite the development of novel cancer products. In this role, Dr. Pazdur is responsible for leading the effort to develop and execute an integrated regulatory approach to enhance the cross-center coordination of oncology product clinical review.
Dr. Pazdur joined the FDA in 1999 as director of the Division of Oncology Drug Products, in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. In 2005, he led the consolidation of divisions that reviewed drugs and therapeutic biologics for cancer and hematologic diseases into the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products (OHOP). In 2019, OHOP was reorganized to become the Office of Oncologic Diseases (OOD). Dr. Pazdur serves as acting director of OOD.
Prior to joining the FDA, Dr. Pazdur was professor of medicine at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. From 1988 to 1999, he held administrative positions of assistant vice president for academic affairs, associate director of clinical trials administration (Division of Medicine) and director of educational programs (Division of Medicine). From 1982 to 1988, he served on the faculty of Wayne State University, in Detroit, Michigan.
Dr. Pazdur received his bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois), his M.D. from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine (Maywood, Illinois), and completed clinical training at Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center (Chicago, Illinois) and the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics.
Dr. Pazdur has published more than 800 articles, book chapters, and abstracts, and two medical oncology textbooks. In 2015, Fortune magazine recognized him one of the 50 World’s Greatest Leaders. In 2016, he was named to Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center’s “The One Hundred” list. In 2017, Bloomberg honored him as one of The Bloomberg 50. In 2019, he was named one of OncLive’s Giants of Cancer Care. In 2020, he received the Simon M. Shubitz Cancer Prize and Lectureship from the University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation.
He is the recipient of many other professional awards, including: the American Society of Clinical Oncology Service Recognition Award (2009) and Public Service Award (2013); the American Association for Cancer Research Distinguished Public Service Award (2015); the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship Public Service Leadership Award (2015); the LUNGevity Foundation Face of Hope Award (2015); the Gary Neil Prize for Innovation in Drug Development from the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (2018); the National Organization for Rare Disorders Rare Impact Award (2018); the Reagan-Udall Foundation Leadership Award (2018); the Harvey W. Wiley Award from the FDA Alumni Association (2019); the University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation, Simon M. Shubitz Cancer Prize and Lectureship (2020); and the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society, Patient-Centered Health Award (2021).