FWS/FDA Personnel Change

The below message is from Tom Bell who currently works with FDA-CVM but will be assuming a new position with USFWS at their headquarter’s office next month.

All,

It is certainly with mixed emotions that I tell you of my future plans.

I would like to inform you that I have accepted a position with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Arlington, VA. I will be acting as the Headquarter’s liaison to their national Fish Health Centers and possibly some interaction with their national Fish Technology Centers. I have agreed to begin work there starting 10 May.

I have enjoyed my tenure at CVM and feel that I have accomplished a few things, in spite of the perceived lack of progress (by many, including myself) on fish drug approvals. However, I believe that my move to USFWS will be more consistent with the ultimate direction my family and I would like my career, and our lives, to take.

I have not made this decision without serious thoughts, and concerns, on how my move might impact others, in particular those in the aquaculture industry. I have attempted, during my tenure at CVM, to act as a facilitator, interpreter, advocate, or any other similar descriptor. I understood my position to have two, and at times contradictory, roles. First, and foremost in my mind, I believed that my role was to work for the aquaculture community when occupying my office in Rockville. Second, and no less important, I believe that I was working for CVM when interacting with the aquaculture community. I leave with some sense of success in these areas, and only hope that there are others who share that feeling.

Getting back to the topic of fish drug approvals, or perceived lack thereof. If we were to be shortsighted enough to assess our progress based solely on actual drug approvals, we would (as many have) conclude that our combined progress has been abysmal, at best. However, that is not at all a reflection of reality. There has been a tremendous amount, and coordination, of real work towards drug approvals for fish within the past 5 to 10 years. And for the most part, the credit for this lies with the aquaculture industry itself (the contributors of which are too numerous to list). The hardest, and key, part in understanding this is to put it in the proper perspective.

Pharmaceutical firms have been estimated to spend upwards of $10 million and 10 years to bring a single drug from the R&D bench to a final U.S. approval, and that may be for a single disease in a single species. The current stacks (at CVM) of pending reviews of legitimate data packages for aquaculture drugs (in most cases from other than pharmaceutical firms) is, in my mind, a strong argument for how successful the entire aquaculture drug approval process is, and hopefully will continue to be. The aquaculture industry has a lot to be proud of, but should not for a moment think that it need not continue to participate in this process. I am confident that CVM is committed to following through with its part of the process, please continue yours.

I am not sure what my new phone number, email, etc. will be starting 9 May, but I can always be reached at the following email address: LLEBT@MSN.COM.

I hope to be able to continue to interact with many of you in the future.

Only this time, I hope that the color of my hat will not be as evident.

Regards.

Tom