Dr Margaret Hamburg

Dr. Hamburg is an internationally recognized leader in public health and medicine. As Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Medicine, she serves as senior advisor on international matters and liaison with other Academies of Medicine around the world. She is also the Chairman of the Board/Past-President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest scientific membership organization.

Dr. Hamburg is a former Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where she was known for advancing regulatory science, modernizing regulatory pathways, and globalization of the agency. Before this, she was founding vice president and senior scientist at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a foundation dedicated to reducing nuclear, chemical and biological threats. Other positions have included Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (HHS), Health Commissioner for New York City, and Assistant Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIH).

Dr. Hamburg currently sits on a number of Boards, including the Commonwealth Fund, the Simons Foundation, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, the Urban Institute, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, The Nature Conservancy, and the American Museum of Natural History. She serves in various advisory roles, including the Harvard University Global Advisory Council and the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Gates Foundation, and the World Dementia Council. She is widely published and has received numerous awards and honorary degrees.

Dr. Hamburg is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School.

Declaration of interests

Dr. Margaret Hamburg has declared investments in a number of nonspecific and diverse investment funds, the composition of which she does not monitor or control. Dr. Hamburg is also on the board of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.