Andrew
Zacher
J.D.
Leadership Role
Acting
Chief of Staff - Office of the Commissioner
Andrew Zacher, J.D. is the Acting Chief of Staff of the FDA, overseeing the daily management of the agency and leading agency activities on major initiatives. In this role, he provides strategic direction to senior leadership to advance the FDA’s policy priorities and works closely with the leadership of all FDA product centers and field operations to support their implementation of agency policies. He also serves as the Commissioner’s direct liaison to other executive agencies and organizations and engages across government on critical public health initiatives. Zacher also plays a key role in legislative engagement, communications and stakeholder outreach.
Prior to assuming the role of Acting Chief of Staff, Zacher was the Deputy Chief of Staff. In that capacity, he provided direct support to the Commissioner and Chief of Staff on wide-ranging legal, policy, management, and operations initiatives across FDA programs, served as a representative of the Chief of Staff in meetings and engagements, discussing matters of a mutual interest with top-level government officials, and assisted in OC immediate office staff and operations management.
Zacher first joined the FDA in early 2015 as the Associate Chief Counsel in the Office of the Chief Counsel. He subsequently worked in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research as a Senior Regulatory Counsel, and in the Office of Policy, Legislation, and International Affairs as a Senior Policy Advisor.
From 2021 to 2023, Zacher was the FDA’s detailee to the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee as a Health Policy Advisor.
Prior to working at the FDA, Zacher served as an attorney at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and worked as a Legislative Fellow in the New York State Senate.
He received his J.D. from Albany Law School, M.S. in Bioethics from Mount Sinai School of Medicine/Union Graduate College, and a dual B.S. major in Management and Science, and Technology and Society from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.