The Institute of Medicine has tapped Dr. Margaret Hamburg, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to serve as its next foreign secretary. Hamburg stepped down from the FDA last month after nearly six years at the agency, the longest term served since Dr. David Kessler, who served in the presidential administrations of both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Dr. Stephen Ostroff has been named acting commissioner at the FDA. In her new, part-time role as the IOM’s foreign secretary, Hamburg will serve as a senior adviser on international matters to the IOM president and council, as well as a liaison to other countries’ academies of medicine and science. A part of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute provides independent advice to policymakers, health professionals, businesses and the public.