Explore Life at CDRH

CDRH offers an array of career opportunities, and we value the expertise that our employees possess. Because of these highly skilled individuals, the FDA can successfully protect and promote public health.

As a prospective employee, you may be wondering what it’s like to work at CDRH. Our high-performing, diverse workforce will tell you in their own words.

RDML Sean Boyd, USPHS

Director, Office of Regulatory Programs (ORP), Office of Product Evaluation and Quality (OPEQ)
Q: When did you join CDRH?

A: I joined CDRH in 1999 as a medical device and electronic product compliance reviewer, after starting my career with FDA in the Winchester Engineering and Analytical Center outside of Boston, MA in 1994.
Q: What are you most proud of in terms of your work at CDRH?

A: I am most proud of having played a part in developing our current OPEQ structure, where we evaluate devices and electronic products across the total product lifecycle. This framework allows us to knit information together across product design and development, premarket evaluation, ensuring quality and compliance of products and manufacturing practices through assessment of product performance in the real world. Over my career I’ve seen many innovative products come to market that have benefitted patients across the globe, while also taking steps to correct or remove products that present safety risks to the public. We’ve done this in partnership with our stakeholders, and through the dedicated work of amazing individuals who are invested in our mission to protect and promote the public health.
Q: How would you describe CDRH in one word?

A: Finding a single word is tough… I’d offer “integrity.” Integrity of our people who are committed to doing what’s right for our customers. And, Integrity of our programs that are accountable for the same, while providing transparency of the information we have and decisions we make to the public.

Christopher Ferreira

Team Lead for the Hip Arthroplasty Devices Team, Office of Product Evaluation and Quality’s (OPEQ) Office of Orthopedic Devices (OHT6)
Q: What do you do at CDRH?

A: I am a biomedical engineer. My role is to lead the team in the review of scientific data contained in premarket and postmarket submissions for orthopedic medical devices to ensure their safety and effectiveness. I serve as a source of information and guidance on medical device-related issues and projects related to technologies regulated in my team.
Q: What do you like most about working at CDRH?

A: A career at CDRH allows me to work at the intersection of novel technology and the law, and it allows me to show up each day trying to do the best I can for our U.S. patients. The day-to-day work is thought-provoking and brings me intellectual fulfilment. I consider myself to be a lifelong learner and am grateful for all the opportunities available to me. There are also many great people within my team, division, office, and across the center who make my day enjoyable, too.
Q: What skills have you found vital to your job?

A: Vital skills include:
- Flexibility
- Having a positive attitude
- "Soft skills" like communication and empathy
- Ability to summarize, speak, and write concisely
- Input gathering and consensus building

Amina Gilyard

Assistant Director Employee Engagement and Organization Development, Office of Management (OM)
Q: What do you do at CDRH?

A: I oversee the development and strategic direction of programs and initiatives associated with Engage@CDRH; a program designed to address four key areas: employee voice, inclusion, professional development, and wellness.
Q: What is a typical day like?

A: Working with CDRH Colleagues, including Senior Leadership to further expand the impact of our various Engage@CDRH programs, such as the Recognizing Employee Achievements and Contributions Honoring Service to CDRH Program (REACH). The REACH Program helps CDRH create a workplace where all employees feel valued by ensuring appreciation and recognition is meaningful, acceptable, equitable, and inclusive. It’s important to me to talk with individual CDRH members about their engagement ideas and challenges, and assist with implementing our 2022-2025 strategic priorities.
Q: What brought you to CDRH?

A: After obtaining my doctorate in Human and Organizational Learning from the George Washington University, I wanted to find a position that was more aligned with my specialization in Organization Development. It took some time, but eventually I had the opportunity to interview for the brand new CDRH Employee Engagement Program Manager role in 2020.

CAPT Martin Hamilton, USPHS

Senior Regulatory Safety in the Office of Product Evaluation and Quality’s (OPEQ) Office of Clinical Evidence and Analysis (OCEA) and a Commissioned Corps Officer with a nurse practitioner background.
Q: What is a typical day like?

A: I wear a variety of hats, so in addition to my bioresearch monitoring job, I’m also CDRH’s ClinicalTrials.gov representative and Institutional Review Board (IRB) liaison. A typical day may include issuing various clinical trial inspection assignments, reviewing establishment inspection reports, drafting, post-inspection correspondence, triaging Investigation Device Exemptions for surveillance inspections, conducting regulatory and research education, assisting CDRH researchers in getting their research proposals through the Office of Chief Scientist and/or FDA IRB review and approval, and tracking and reporting CDRH ClinicalTrials.Gov enforcement progress.
Q: What brought you to CDRH?

A: The challenge of doing something new that has global public health impact.
Q: What advice do you have for someone new to CDRH?
A: Take advantage of the opportunities to learn something new; be a continuous learner. The FDA family consists of individuals from all disciplines, and I opine is the smartest and most capable workforce in the federal government.

Jessica Wilkerson

Senior Cyber Policy Advisor and the Medical Device Cybersecurity Team Lead, Office of Strategic Partnerships and Technology Innovation (OST) Division of Medical Device Cybersecurity
Q: What do you do at CDRH?

A: I work within a team focused on ensuring that medical devices are resilient against cyber threats through proactive policy development, vulnerability and incident response, and collaboration with other federal agencies and the private sector.
Q: What is most interesting about cybersecurity to you?

A: Cybersecurity is a complex discipline that involves a large mixture of different challenges, skills, people, and actions. It isn’t enough to understand or be good at technology — you also have to understand and be good at working with the people who keep those technologies running. You have to understand the possibilities and limitations of trying to address what may seem like, on the surface, problems with easy solutions. And you have to do all of these things while working in discipline where the rules are constantly changing. Cybersecurity is never boring.
Q: What skills have you found vital to your job?

A: Patience, adaptability, and most of all — humility. Cybersecurity is a fast-moving target, both in trying to address ongoing issues and in trying to stay ahead of it. We don’t always get things right, and we don’t always know the answers. I’ve found that accepting that the goal isn’t to be perfect, but to do better every time, is key to getting the best results possible.

LCDR Lauren Woodard, USPHS

Team Lead of the Neurodegenerative Devices Team in the Office of Product Evaluation and Quality (OPEQ), Office of Neurological and Physical Medicine Devices, Office of Product Evaluation and Quality (OHT5)
Q: What do you do in CDRH?

A: My role is to lead the team in the review of scientific data contained in premarket and postmarket submissions for medical devices to ensure their safety and effectiveness. I serve as a source of information and guidance on medical device-related issues related to devices under the team’s purview. I also help plan, coordinate and evaluate the program activities of the team and act in the Assistant Director’s stead when needed.
Q: What skills have you found vital for your job?

A: I began my career at the FDA in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) in 2015 and transferred to CDRH in 2020. Scientific reasoning and critical thinking skills are key for success in both CDER and CDRH. Even though my background is in synthetic organic chemistry and is not related to engineering or medical devices, the scientific reasoning and critical thinking skills that I obtained during graduate school and honed further during my post-doctorate studies and my time in CDER enabled me to take the leap from CDER to CDRH, since the end goal is the same in both centers: Safety and Effectiveness.
Q: How would you describe CDRH in one word?

A: Collaborative!