Former Top FDA Policy Official and Senate Veteran Anna Abram Joins Akin Gump

Ms. Abram brings more than 15 years of experience in Washington developing and advancing health policy

(Washington, D.C.) – Anna Abram, former Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Legislation, and International Affairs at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has joined Akin Gump as a senior advisor in its public law and policy practice.

As the top policy official at FDA, Ms. Abram played a leading role overseeing the development and implementation of key policy and legislative initiatives, working closely with other senior FDA officials and all committees of jurisdiction in both the House and Senate to protect and promote public health. She led significant high-profile initiatives and engagements related to a wide range of policy matters, including drug competition, drug compounding, agricultural biotechnology, food policy, medical countermeasures and tobacco policy. In addition, she strengthened the FDA’s international role through the establishment of the Office of Global Policy and Strategy.

Ms. Abram previously served for eight years on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee in various roles, with her Capitol Hill tenure culminating as Health Policy Director and Senior Advisor to Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), the Ranking Member of the HELP Committee. Prior to that, she served in the White House as an Associate Director at the Domestic Policy Council under President George W. Bush, where she coordinated the development and implementation of a range of health care policy issues, including food, drug and public health policy.

“Anna is an outstanding addition to our nationally recognized health policy team,” said G. Hunter Bates, co-head of Akin Gump’s public law and policy practice. “With drug pricing at the top of the agenda, and user fee authorizations for prescription drugs and medical devices on the horizon, health policy will remain at the forefront of legislative focus. Having served in key roles in both the executive and legislative branches, working at the HELP Committee and with the Finance Committee, Anna brings a wealth of background and a depth of experience in these and other health policy issues that our clients will find greatly valuable. I am thrilled that she is joining us.”

Added Ms. Abram, “It has been an honor to protect and promote public health on behalf of the American people. I am grateful for my tenure in public service and proud to have developed and advanced health policy at the highest levels of government. I am excited for this opportunity to join Akin Gump, which has an unsurpassed platform in Washington, a top-tier health policy practice and an outstanding reputation on both sides of the political aisle. I look forward to collaborating with this impressive team and putting my skills and experience to work on behalf of the firm’s clients.”

Ms. Abram received her B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Abram’s arrival at Akin Gump follows that of senior policy advisor Matthew Hittle, a former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services senior advisor, who joined the firm last December, and of Dr. Mario Ramirez, a consultant to the firm who is a former White House Fellow and Acting Director of the Office of Pandemic and Emerging Threats at the Department of Health and Human Services, who began working with the firm earlier this year. Mr. Hittle and Dr. Ramirez co-host the firm’s new OnAir: Health Care podcast, which focuses on the complexities of—and relationships between—medical science, health care policy and “bare-knuckle Washington politics.” (Click here to learn more.)

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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