By Timothy S. Donahue

Top Takeaways:

• New appointments: The FDA named four voting members to its Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, including longtime THR advocate Skip Murray.
• Two vacancies: The agency is seeking nominations for additional scientific and health care experts, with a Dec. 14 deadline for first consideration.
• Industry representation: The FDA also appointed Eric Ray Walker as an alternate non-voting member representing tobacco growers.

The FDA is adding new voices to its tobacco advisory panel and seeking a few more.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced four voting members of its Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) on Oct. 14 and opened nominations for two additional positions on the panel that advises the agency on tobacco-related scientific and regulatory matters.

The new voting members are Holger Behrsing; Kim “Skip” Murray; Margaret Nolan; and Andrew A. Strasser. The FDA also announced the selection of Eric Ray Walker as an alternate non-voting member representing tobacco growers’ interests.

According to the agency, the new members bring expertise spanning preventive medicine, chronic diseases, tobacco cessation and harm reduction, toxicology, cell biology, and health communication.

Murray, a longtime tobacco harm reduction (THR) advocate and former vape shop owner, has spent years encouraging regulators and public health officials to consider the experiences of adult smokers who have switched to alternative nicotine products.

Murray was selected as TPSAC’s voting representative for the general public, a position distinct from the committee’s non-voting seats representing tobacco industry interests.

She has participated in numerous tobacco and nicotine industry discussions, including the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF), where she has advocated greater attention to smokers who face barriers to quitting.

“I think people that have a life like my background are invisible to the people who have more influence in the world,” Murray said in an interview ahead of a past GTNF conference. Now she has a voting seat at the table where scientific recommendations that help shape federal tobacco policy are made.

Murray, who smoked for nearly five decades before switching to vaping, has also advocated individualized cessation support and greater consumer participation in tobacco policy discussions. “It’s important to get to know the person and find a way to meet them where they’re at,” she said in the interview.

Her appointment adds a consumer perspective to a committee whose recommendations can influence FDA evaluations of tobacco products, including applications seeking modified-risk tobacco product authorization (MRTP).

The FDA is also seeking nominations for two additional voting positions. Eligible candidates include physicians, dentists, scientists, and health care professionals with expertise in oncology, pulmonology, cardiology, toxicology, pharmacology, addiction, engineering, or other relevant specialties.

Individuals may self-nominate or be nominated by interested organizations or other individuals. Applications may be submitted electronically via the FDA’s advisory committee nomination portal or by mail.

Nominations received by Dec. 14 will receive first consideration, while later submissions may be considered for future vacancies. Selected members may serve terms of up to four years. Almost all nonfederal committee members serve as special government employees.

TPSAC consists of 12 members, including its chair, and provides independent scientific and technical advice to the FDA Commissioner on tobacco regulation. Its recommendations are advisory, and TPSAC does not authorize products or set FDA policy.