CVM Director Dunham to leave agency for new opportunity in academia
Bernadette Dunham, DVM, Ph.D., director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, announced today that she will leave the agency in April to participate in a One Health collaborative effort between the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University and the FDA.
Dr. Dunham joined the FDA in 2002 and has served as CVM's center director since 2008. Dr. Dunham earned her degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and a Ph.D. in cardiovascular physiology from Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. After completing her post-doctoral residency program in the Department of Pathology at the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, she was the Director of Laboratory Animal Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Pharmacology at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, N.Y.
From academia, Dr. Dunham's career brought her to Washington, D.C., where she was Assistant Director for the American Veterinary Medical Association's (AVMA) Governmental Relations Division in Washington, D.C. In that position, which she held from 1995 to 2002, she participated in the formation and execution of AVMA policies, objectives and programs, with emphasis on Federal legislation and regulatory issues.
The FDA is grateful to Dr. Dunham for her 13 years of service and leadership and wishes her continued success as she returns to her academic roots. Her strong academic career and extensive government service provide an outstanding foundation for her new path, focusing on developing future leaders in animal health and the One Health approach to public health.
Tracey Forfa, J.D., who has served as CVM deputy director since 2008, will fulfill the role of acting center director while the agency conducts a nationwide search for a new leader of CVM. Ms. Forfa began her FDA career in 1993 on the Regulations and Policy Staff at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. She served as an Associate Ombudsman in the Office of the Chief Mediator and Ombudsman, FDA from 1996 to 2002. Ms. Forfa earned her J.D. at University of Baltimore School of Law and served as an appellate law clerk, working for judges on both the Court of Appeals and Court of Special Appeals in Maryland prior to coming to FDA.
