Jane Ellen Henney (born 1947) is an American

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

who was the first woman to serve as commissioner of the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

. Appointed by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

, she served at the FDA from 1999 to 2001.

Education and career

Jane Henney was born in Woodburn, Indiana. She received her undergraduate training at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, an MD degree from

Indiana University School of Medicine The Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) is a major, multi-campus medical school located throughout the US state, U.S. state of Indiana and is both the Medical school, undergraduate and Graduate medical education, graduate medical school o ...

and did postgraduate work at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. Trained as a medical

oncologist Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''� ...

, she joined the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

in 1976, working in the Cancer Therapy and Evaluation Program. Prior to her appointment as commissioner, Henney had worked at the FDA from 1992 to 1994 as deputy commissioner for operations under then-commissioner David Aaron Kessler, and then at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

, where she was vice president of the health sciences center. After leaving the FDA she joined the board of directors of the pharmaceutical company

AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () (AZ) is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, UK. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includi ...

. A significant and far reaching decision by the FDA under her tenure, was the ban on supplements and natural products that contain

lovastatin Lovastatin, sold under the brand name Mevacor among others, is a statin medication, to treat high blood cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Its use is recommended together with lifestyle changes. It is taken by mouth. ...

, effectively handing exclusivity of cholesterol lowering compounds to pharmaceutical companies.

benefited directly from this decision this removed a cheap, natural product, from competing with their own statin

rosuvastatin Rosuvastatin, sold under the brand name Crestor among others, is a statin medication, used to prevent cardiovascular disease in those at high risk and treat dyslipidemia, abnormal lipids. It is recommended to be used with dietary changes, exer ...

. She was named senior vice president and provost for health affairs at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

in 2003. In 2012, she was appointed to the Board of Directors of Cubist Pharmaceuticals.

References

* Charles Marwick, "Jane E. Henney, MD, Is New FDA Commissioner", JAMA. 1998;280:1731-1732.

External links

National library of Medicine about Jane Ellen Henney

Jane E. Henney
at the F.D.A. website * Living people 1947 births American oncologists American women oncologists Manchester University (Indiana) alumni Indiana University School of Medicine alumni University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center alumni University of New Mexico faculty University of Cincinnati faculty 20th-century American women physicians 20th-century American physicians Commissioners of the Food and Drug Administration Clinton administration personnel Members of the National Academy of Medicine 21st-century American women physicians 21st-century American physicians {{US-gov-bio-stub