health policy,
rare diseases,
health education
Cheri Banks is a Health Regulatory Specialist on the Science Policy team at the Federation of American Scientists. Cheri’s educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Master’s in Public Health with a focus on prevention science. Before her current position with FAS, Cheri worked for Syneos Health/GSW, providing advertising services to pharmaceutical companies. However, much of her career has been dedicated to public health research and communication.
During her time with The Public Good Projects (PGP), Cheri successfully managed programs that aimed to increase confidence in science, promote vaccine uptake, and reduce vaccine hesitancy. Prior to PGP, Cheri held positions with The Forum for Collaborative Research where she worked to advance research that focused on accelerating therapeutic development for rare diseases and transplantation-associated virus infections (TAVI). She also served as a staff member with the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine where she contributed to congressionally mandated studies that informed policy.
These recommendations can catapult the Advisory Committee structure into one that continues providing the government with the best advice.
Improving public awareness of FDA Advisory Committees would improve public trust and deter misinformation related to the approval of medical products.
The absence of consistent voting privileges for patient representatives on Advisory Committees hinders representatives from providing an voice on behalf of the community they represent.
Internal disagreements present a growing concern about FDA leadership overruling the expert opinions of scientific staff and proceeding with official approvals, thus undermining staff expertise, decreasing agency morale, and potentially diminishing public trust.
AdComm members note a lack of transparency in recruitment methods, insufficient training, and limited understanding of regulatory procedures.
Public meetings led by FDA Advisory Committees are instrumental in facilitating transparent deliberation between the FDA, the advisory body, and the American public.