Martin Makary has spent years advocating to lower the cost of medical treatment and reduce unnecessary procedures and medical errors. Through his books and as a cable news commentator, he emerged as a prominent voice on U.S. health care practices.

Now, as the newly confirmed commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Makary has the chance to lead the federal agency responsible for the safety, efficacy and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products and medical devices. The FDA also monitors food and cosmetic safety, and regulates the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of tobacco products.

Makary specializes in surgical oncology and is chief of islet transplant surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He also holds an appointment at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and directs the Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Medicine and Public Policy Research Group.

The author of more than 300 scientific journal articles and dozens of newspaper opinion pieces, Makary has been critical of traditional approaches to many of the problems that plague the U.S. health system.

“Medical science is about transparency and civil discourse. Great ideas and truths have always emerged from a healthy debate within the scientific community,” he told Minnesota Public Radio last year. “What we’ve seen in the modern era is a small group of people making the decisions for everybody, many times with a paternalist and hierarchical philosophy.”

Makary is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and previously served in a leadership role for the World Health Organization’s patient safety program.

Makary, who earned his M.D. at Thomas Jefferson University and his M.P.H. at Harvard University, completed subspecialty surgery training under Johns Hopkins surgeon John Cameron in surgical oncology and gastrointestinal surgery. He is the Mark Ravitch Chair in Gastrointestinal Surgery at the medical school and was the youngest at Johns Hopkins to receive an endowed chair.