History of Marty Makary in Timeline

Martin Adel Makary is a British-American surgeon, professor, author, and medical commentator, currently serving as the 27th commissioner of food and drugs since 2025. Previously, he practiced surgical oncology and gastrointestinal laparoscopic surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he also held the Mark Ravitch Chair in Gastrointestinal Surgery and served as chief of Islet Transplant Surgery. He completed his surgical residency at Georgetown University and specialized at Johns Hopkins under John Cameron, eventually joining the faculty. He is now Professor Emeritus at Johns Hopkins.

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Full Timeline

2008: Donated to Obama's Campaign

In 2008, Martin Makary donated to Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

2013: Named One of the Most Influential People in Healthcare

In 2013, Martin Makary was named one of the most influential people in healthcare by HealthLeader magazine.

2018: Published 'The Price We Pay'

In 2018, Martin Makary published his book "The Price We Pay", which argues that business leaders can lower their healthcare costs and explores the grass-roots movement to restore medicine to its original mission.

2018: Elected to the National Academy of Medicine

In 2018, Martin Makary was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.

February 2020: COVID-19 Threat

In February 2020, Martin Makary stated on television that the United States needed to take the threat of COVID-19 seriously and that people should stop all non-essential travel.

May 2020: Advocated for Universal Masking

In May 2020, Martin Makary advocated for universal masking in an effort to enable businesses and schools to re-open to minimize economic and educational damage across the United States.

November 2020: Critical of FDA Vaccine Approval Pace

In November 2020, Martin Makary was critical of the pace at which the FDA was approving the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer.

2020: Named Editor-in-Chief of MedPage Today

In 2020, Martin Makary was named the Editor-in-Chief of MedPage Today.

February 2021: Predicted COVID-19 Would Be Mostly Gone by April

In a February 2021 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Martin Makary predicted that COVID-19 in the United States would be mostly gone by April 2021, primarily as a result of naturally acquired immunity.

February 2021: Advocated for Prioritizing Single Vaccine Doses

In early February 2021, Martin Makary advocated for prioritizing getting as many vaccinated with single doses versus holding vaccines back for second doses.

December 2021: Argued Against Vaccine Boosters

In December 2021, Martin Makary appeared on a podcast to argue against vaccine boosters, referring to himself as an "unboosted male" and saying that the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant was "nature's vaccine".

2024: Published 'Blind Spots'

In 2024, Martin Makary published his book "Blind Spots", which urges readers to think critically about today's medical consensuses.

March 6, 2025: Appeared Before Senate Committee

On March 6, 2025, Martin Makary appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Heath, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP).

March 2025: Confirmed as FDA Commissioner

In March 2025, Martin Makary was confirmed by the United States Senate as the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

March 25, 2025: Confirmed as FDA Commissioner

On March 25, 2025, Martin Makary was confirmed to the position of FDA commissioner by a U.S. Senate vote of 56 to 44.

May 20, 2025: Limited COVID-19 Vaccines

On May 20, 2025, FDA commissioner Martin Makary and CBER director Vinay Prasad published an article in The New England Journal of Medicine announcing that the FDA would limit COVID-19 vaccines to people over 65 or at high risk of serious illness.

July 14, 2025: Discussed FDA Efforts to Ban Food Dyes

On July 14, 2025, Martin Makary appeared on Fox News discussing FDA's efforts to ban some food dyes, during which he stated that the FDA is shifting towards using anecdotal evidence as data when regulating food products.