[Dr. David Gortler](https://principia-scientific.com/how-the-fda-has-failed-its-public-health-mission/) is a [Scholar](https://eppc.org/authors-scholars/) at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington DC where his non-partisan work focuses on FDA oversight and accountability. His is the only “think tank” position of its kind overseeing the FDA’s 18,000+ regulatory and scientific employees and its [$6.5 billion dollar budget, $3.6 billion of which was discretionary spending (as of 2022)](https://www.fda.gov/news-events/congressional-testimony/presidents-fy2022-budget-request-fda-06102021). Overall, the FDA regulates more than $2.4 trillion worth of consumer goods, about 25% of consumer expenditures in the United States. This includes $466 billion in food sales, $275 billion in drugs, $60 billion in cosmetics and $18 billion in vitamin and dietary supplements. Much of these expenditures are for goods imported into the United States; the FDA is responsible for monitoring imports, but only [rarely does its own independent quality control](https://www.usnews.com/news/healthcare-of-tomorrow/articles/2018-06-07/commentary-lower-drug-prices-for-americans-is-a-great-idea-but-lets-not-forget-about-quality) in the form of laboratory testing of imported Chinese and Indian pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Gortler is trained as a pharmacologist, pharmacist and is a [Yale University](https://medicine.yale.edu/news/yale-medicine-magazine/article/yales-senior-advisor-to-the-fda-commissioner/)-trained bench research scientist in molecular biology with a subspecialty in the field of lipid metabolism. He was later hired as professor of pharmacology and biotechnology at the Yale University School of Medicine's Department of Pharmacology from 2004-2008, where he also served at Yale’s Center for Bioethics. He was hired as an FDA Medical Officer from 2007-2011 and later as an Associate Professor of Pharmacology at Georgetown University from 2010-2014, and was later appointed to serve on the FDA’s Senior Executive Leadership Team as [senior advisor to the FDA Commissioner](https://ballotpedia.org/David_Gortler).

He also conceptualized and founded the world’s first “analytical pharmacy” which tested overseas-made drugs from India and China for purity and quality control and served as the editor-in-chief and on the editorial board of multiple specialty journals covering FDA findings and investigational medicine. He is also an advocate for reducing or eliminating of [FDA-mandated cruel animal testing](https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidgortler/2022/01/11/moral-progress-denied-new-ooc-technology-could-have-allowed-the-fda-to-abandon-its-cruel-animal-testing-requirements/) in favor of state-of-the-art OOC "animal free" testing.

 

 

   Education  - Doctor of Pharmacy / Clinical Pharmacology, University of Arizona
- Clinical practice residency, Columbia University
- Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Vascular Medicine Research and Molecular Biology, Department of Vascular Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine

 

 

   Expertise  - Drug Pricing
- FDA Pharmaceutical Supply Chain / Manufacturing / Quality Control
- Medical and Healthcare Economics
- FDA Oversight and Accountability
- Drug Safety
- Pharmaceutical Adverse Event Epidemiology