All posts tagged: taps

US FDA Taps Szarama as Acting Head of Vaccine Unit

US FDA Taps Szarama as Acting Head of Vaccine Unit

Published by Sam Flores

May 1 (Reuters) – The U.S. Food ⁠and ⁠Drug Administration has named ⁠Katherine Szarama as the acting director of its vaccines ​and biologics unit, a Health and Human Services official told Reuters on Friday, replacing ‌Vinay Prasad, whose turbulent ‌tenure came to an end this week. The appointment comes days after FDA ⁠Commissioner ⁠Marty Makary said no decision had been reached on Prasad’s permanent ​successor and that he expected an announcement “in the coming weeks.” Szarama will lead the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), which regulates vaccines, gene therapies and the blood ​supply. Prasad left the agency after a term marked by controversy, including ⁠several high-profile ⁠decisions on rare disease ⁠drugs ​and vaccines. The news was first reported by Politico. Before joining the agency, Prasad, an ​oncologist, was known for ⁠his vocal criticism of U.S. drug and vaccine policies, especially concerning COVID-19 mandates. His time at CBER was marked by repeated clashes, most notably the FDA’s rejection of a Huntington’s disease gene therapy from Dutch drug developer UniQure. The ⁠U.S. drug regulator called …

Judd Foundation Taps Alexandra Cunningham Cameron as Director of Design

Judd Foundation Taps Alexandra Cunningham Cameron as Director of Design

Published by Jenni Sidey

The Judd Foundation has named Alexandra Cunningham Cameron as director of design, a newly created role. She will begin in the position on April 27. As director of design, Cameron will oversee the nonprofit foundation’s Donald Judd Furniture LLC, a company established to fabricate Donald Judd’s furniture designs to his original specifications. Currently, Judd Furniture produces more than 70 designs, which are available for custom order. According to a press release, Cameron will guide Judd Furniture’s “product development, operations, and strategic growth,” while also leading “design initiatives that situate Judd’s work within cultural and design conversations with a focus on Judd’s writings and papers.”  Related Articles Cameron is currently a curator of contemporary design at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. At the museum, where she is also its first Hintz Secretarial Scholar, she has organized exhibitions like 2020’s “Willi Smith: Street Couture” on the Black American fashion designer, as well as “Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial” (2024–25), which took over the entire museum and featured artists like CFGNY, Hugh Hayden, Joiri Minaya, …

Paraguay President Taps Oscar Lovera as Economy Minister

Paraguay President Taps Oscar Lovera as Economy Minister

Published by Sam Flores

ASUNCION, April 8 (Reuters) – ⁠Paraguay’s ⁠President Santiago ⁠Pena on Wednesday appointed ​Oscar Lovera as the South ‌American nation’s new economy ‌and finance ⁠minister, ⁠the government said in a statement. Lovera, who ​previously served as head of the vice ministry of ​financial administration, replaces Carlos Fernandez, who ⁠resigned ⁠last week at ⁠the ​president’s request.  The president’s office said the ​leadership change ⁠is part of a “new stage” intended to consolidate economic growth and ⁠improve state efficiency. Under Fernandez, Paraguay’s economy grew steadily ⁠and inflation remained under control. The country also earned investment-grade ratings from Moody’s and S&P Global during his tenure. Critics, however, argue that persistent institutional weaknesses ⁠have prevented these macroeconomic gains from reaching ordinary citizens. (Reporting by Daniela Desantis; Writing ​by Natalia Siniawski; Editing ​by Sarah Morland) Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters. Source link

SEC taps Gibson Dunn attorney to be new enforcement director

SEC taps Gibson Dunn attorney to be new enforcement director

Published by Sam Flores

The seal of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S. Andrew Kelly | Reuters The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has tapped David Woodcock, a Gibson Dunn lawyer and former agency official, to be its next enforcement director after the regulator’s top cop abruptly quit last month. Woodcock, a partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Dallas, Texas, will join the SEC to lead the more than 1,000-person division beginning May 4, the SEC said in a statement. He will replace Margaret Ryan, who resigned just six months into the job after clashing with the agency’s leaders over the direction of the enforcement program, Reuters previously reported. Reuters was first to report Woodcock’s appointment. Woodcock is a longtime securities lawyer who led the SEC’s Fort Worth, Texas, regional office from 2011 to 2015, where he helped create a task force aimed at rooting out accounting and financial reporting misconduct, the SEC said. Woodcock is well-known to SEC staff both in his work at the SEC and …

Frieze Taps Art Basel Veteran Frank Lasry as Chief Operating Officer

Frieze Taps Art Basel Veteran Frank Lasry as Chief Operating Officer

Published by José Betancourt

Frieze announced today that it has named Frank Lasry as its new chief operating officer, beginning in June. Lasry will report directly to Frieze CEO Simon Fox. With more than two decades of managing blue-chip art world companies, Lasry will bring to Frieze a mix of auction house, art fair, and gallery experience. He was most recently the chief operating officer of Perrotin, managing the logistics and operations across the gallery’s nine locations across the world. Prior to Perrotin, he worked at Art Basel from 2018 to 2023, rising to the role of managing director. During his tenure, he helped launch Art Basel Paris, which hosted its first edition in 2022. Related Articles Lasry cut his art-world teeth in the auction role, holding senior positions at various Christie’s offices before becoming the house’s COO in London. He then went on to serve in the same role for rival Phillips, running its Europe and Asia operations. “Frieze is a unique brand with a mission to expand the reach and understanding of contemporary art, and I could …

Sofia Coppola taps the whimsy of ’90s Marc Jacobs

Sofia Coppola taps the whimsy of ’90s Marc Jacobs

Published by Sam Flores

Slumped into folding chairs inside his New York studio, renowned designer Marc Jacobs and his brand’s creative director, Joseph Carter, ponder the mood of Jacobs’ Spring 2024 ready-to-wear collection. Jacobs and Carter had spent days stacking wigs onto more wigs, playing with cartoonishly large shapes from head to toe, trying to see what beauty and accessories might look best with the collections’ oversized garments. Behind the camera, Jacobs’ friend and occasional creative collaborator, Sofia Coppola, asks whether they’re favoring a serious look, or something more eccentric — in line with Jacobs’ reputation. “We’re leaning towards entertainment,” Jacobs says, before a wry smile creeps onto his face. “And joy.” Fusing couture-level spectacle with crowd-pleasing performance has long been Jacobs’ M.O. Since his early days designing for Perry Ellis, fresh off a winning showcase at the Parsons School of Design’s end-of-term fashion show, Jacobs has relished throwing a wrench in the system. In the early ’90s, a distinct penchant for mischief and a grittily glamorous New York edge quickly earned Jacobs the moniker of fashion’s bad boy. …

DoorDash taps millions of couriers to train artificial intelligence

DoorDash taps millions of couriers to train artificial intelligence

Published by Sam Flores

DoorDash Inc. is paying delivery couriers in some markets to submit video clips and complete other digital tasks to help improve artificial intelligence and robotics models, following competitors that have found creative new uses for gig workers in the AI boom. The delivery company has launched a new app called Tasks for those efforts, listing paid opportunities for activities such as recording an unscripted conversation in Spanish, or filming themselves completing various household chores like loading a dishwasher, handwashing dishes or folding clothes. The original audio and video footage that workers submit will be used to evaluate in-house AI models as well as those used by partners in the retail, insurance, hospitality and technology sectors, a DoorDash spokesperson told Bloomberg News. DoorDash is tapping its 8-million-strong contractor workforce in the U.S. to meet an insatiable demand for unique datasets that are sought after by companies needing to train specialized AI models. Uber Technologies Inc. and Instacart have made similar moves in the past year, following in the footsteps of upstarts like Scale AI Inc. in …

MLB and CFTC strike integrity pact as league taps Polymarket for prediction markets

MLB and CFTC strike integrity pact as league taps Polymarket for prediction markets

Published by skeptic

Major League Baseball (MLB) has teamed up with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in a new effort to keep a close watch on the booming world of sports prediction markets, according to a release from the federal agency. The arrangement is a formal memorandum of understanding that sets up how the league and the CFTC will work together. The two sides plan to monitor trading activity, exchange information, and look for any signs of manipulation tied to baseball-related event contracts. The CFTC says the goal is to “protect the integrity and resilience of prediction markets” while guarding against “fraud, manipulation, and other abuses.” Today the @CFTC and @MLB made history by signing the first-ever MOU between a sports league and federal agency. We’ve committed to work together to protect the integrity and resilience of prediction markets relating to professional baseball. Through this partnership, the… pic.twitter.com/SNfym65t0N — Mike Selig (@ChairmanSelig) March 19, 2026 Commissioner Rob Manfred described the agreement as a necessary step as these markets grow in popularity. “The new agreements that we …

Microsoft taps Anthropic for Copilot Cowork in push for AI agents

Microsoft taps Anthropic for Copilot Cowork in push for AI agents

Published by Sam Flores

(Corrects to say Claude Cowork, not Cloud Cowork, in paragraph 5) By Aditya Soni March 9 : Microsoft is adding Anthropic’s AI technology to its Copilot service to tap growing demand for autonomous agents, weeks after the startup’s new tools sparked a selloff in software stocks. The company on Monday unveiled Copilot Cowork, a tool based on Anthropic’s viral Claude Cowork offering, which has captivated Silicon Valley with its ability to handle complex tasks such as creating apps, building spreadsheets and organizing large volumes of data with limited human oversight. Microsoft is betting that its long-standing ties with enterprise customers and its focus on security and data controls will help it win business from companies interested in AI agents but wary of deploying them without safeguards. “We work only in a cloud environment and we work only on behalf of the user. So you know exactly what information it (Copilot Cowork) has access to,” Jared Spataro, who leads Microsoft’s AI-at-Work efforts, told Reuters. Claude Cowork only works locally on the device and most companies feel …

Pope Leo XIV taps career Vatican diplomat Archbishop Caccia as representative to the US

Pope Leo XIV taps career Vatican diplomat Archbishop Caccia as representative to the US

Published by Sam Flores

VATICAN CITY (RNS) – Pope Leo XIV appointed Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, the Holy See’s representative at the United Nations, the new papal nuncio to the United States, the Vatican announced Saturday (March 7). He will replace Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who occupied the role for the past decade at a moment of polarization within the church. “This is an extremely heavy and important appointment, because right now you really don’t know what will happen in the United States,” said Massimo Faggioli, who teaches ecclesiology at the Loyola Institute at Trinity College in Dublin. “Having a trusted man there is particularly important.” With his tenure at the U.N.’s New York headquarters, Caccia brings six years of experience living in the United States, and as importantly a keen understanding of the workings of multilateral organizations like the U.N., which have been increasingly shunned by the Trump administration. Caccia has been among a small cohort of Vatican diplomats who have been shaping the Holy See’s position in the global chessboard for decades. “Sending to Washington someone who comes …