What to know about Dr. Heidi Overton, Trump's pick to lead the FDA

Dr. Heidi Overton speaks during a Aug. 10 press conference during which President Trump signed an executive order about the childhood vaccination schedule. Jacquelyn Martin/AP hide caption

President Trump posted on Truth Social that he is nominating Dr. Heidi Overton to be the next FDA commissioner.

Overton would fill a vacancy left by Dr. Marty Makary, who resigned in May after leading the agency for 13 months.

Overton trained as a surgeon. Her current role is deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy at the White House.

Dr. Joshua Sharfstein , who was the principal deputy commissioner at the FDA during the Obama administration, says that moving from the White House to the FDA could be eye-opening.

"In any administration, there are White House advisers who are walking around saying, 'Why can't FDA just do this? What FDA should really do is that,'" he says. "And then you get to the FDA and you realize there's actually another side of the story."

He says that side includes hearing from career scientists with deep expertise in analyzing the safety of medications, for example.

In Sharfstein's opinion, leading the FDA might be the hardest health job in government. It has a staff of around 18,000 people , and is responsible for regulating food, drugs, and medical devices — as well as tobacco, cosmetics, supplements and other products.