AIDS advocate, former FDA commissioner named dean of USCF School of Medicine

David Kessler, MD, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and current chairman of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, has been named the new dean of the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. He will begin the job on September 1. Kessler, 52, is currently serving as dean of the Yale University School of Medicine, a post he's held since 1997. As FDA chief from 1990 to 1997, Kessler focused on improving the speed at which the agency evaluated anti-HIV medications, thus helping new drugs get to the market more quickly. He has been honored for his work at the FDA by the American Foundation for AIDS Research, which presented him the Sheldon W. Andelson Public Policy Achievement Award. The UCSF School of Medicine is one of the world's leading AIDS research and treatment centers.