(CNN) — The US Food and Drug Administration has named Dr. Vinay Prasad, a hematologist oncologist, to lead its Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the division that oversees vaccines and biologic medicines.

Prasad, a professor at the University of California San Francisco, became a harsh critic of the government’s response and its vaccine policies during the Covid-19 pandemic. He replaces Dr. Peter Marks, who helped lead the division for 13 years and shaped the Operation Warp Speed effort to rapidly develop Covid-19 vaccines and treatments.

Marks resigned from the agency in March with a letter criticizing US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stance on vaccine safety.

“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Marks wrote.

Prasad has vocally criticized the Warp Speed effort, and Marks’ leadership, on his blog and the social media platform X, where he was often praised by now-FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary for criticizing school shutdowns, mask policies and booster recommendations for the Covid-19 shot.

In an email to FDA staff obtained by CNN, Makary wrote that Prasad has a “long and distinguished history in medicine” and cites his extensive oncology research.

Prasad’s appointment to lead the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research comes as the FDA says it will impose new requirements for future vaccines to undergo placebo studies.

Public health officials are also weighing a reversal on Covid-19 vaccine recommendations for children. Prasad has vocally questioned authorizing those shots for children, because they are at lower risk of severe infection than older people and those with weakened immune systems.

The-CNN-Wire
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