FDA

Can Heidi Overton fix the FDA?

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Heidi Overton, a soft-spoken physician once described as “bound by her faith,” will answer questions later today in front of the Senate committee that holds the key to her eventual confirmation. She’s likely to be asked about her views on abortion, vaccines, and how to rebuild an agency that DOGE decimated.

Politicians, industry leaders, and public health groups are split on Overton. She is relatively unknown to the pharmaceutical industry and lacks managerial experience. But she has been a key health policy adviser during President Trump’s second term.

It’s been a meteoric rise for Overton, who once told a journalist that her dream was to become a doctor then return to her small hometown of Gallup, New Mexico, off Route 66.

STAT’s Margaret Manto has the scoop on Overton’s prepared remarks and her past, including the former Trump administration official who brought her into the president’s sphere. Read more. 

RESEARCH

White House shelves controversial NIH executive order

Thousands of researchers collectively unclenched their jaws yesterday after the White House backed off a planned executive order that would have given a commission of political appointees veto power over grant awards.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the Appropriations Committee chair, confirmed that the administration appeared to have reversed course. The drama started during a White House meeting last week in which the Office of Management and Budget director sought to assert more control over science funding — the latest in a series of attempts.

Read more from Chelsea Cirruzzo and Anil Oza.

HEALTH TECH

Radiologists rush to embrace AI

Oprah said it best: “You get a scan! You get a scan! You get a scan!”

Americans are getting more medical imaging, and radiologists’ ranks aren’t growing fast enough. It has led the field to full-throatedly embrace AI tools to keep up, perhaps more than any other medical specialty, writes STAT’s Katie Palmer.

Everyone is getting in on the AI feeding frenzy — Silicon Valley, private equity-backed practices, outpatient and teleradiology groups. Startups have aggressively developed and acquired their own tech, deploying it in-house, and marketing their “AI-native” capabilities to radiologist employees and hospital customers.

There’s huge potential for a product that can reduce the administrative and workflow problems that eat up radiologists’ time. But it’s not a given that the strategy will pay off — for patients or their businesses. Katie has the full readout.