Industry Advisory Board

Carlos Peña, PhD, MS, is Chief Regulatory Officer and Chief Quality Officer, leading the newly-established Offices of Regulatory Services and Office of Quality Services at the Jacobs Institute. Carlos served 20+ years as a public servant in federal government. Before joining the JI, Carlos served as the Director of the Office of Neurological and Physical Medicine Devices at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), based in the Washington, DC area. He was responsible for providing leadership in the development of safe and effective neurological and physical medicine devices to support the FDA’s mission. Carlos oversaw several cross-functional teams and was the lead contact for the agency’s neuro-device strategic plans and implementation efforts. Before his FDA Director role, Carlos served as Assistant Director of Emerging Technologies in the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of President Obama for two years (2012-2014). Prior to the White House, Carlos started out as a Lead Reviewer, Team Leader, and Acting Branch Chief for CDRH, before moving into the role of Science Policy Analyst and, finally, the Director of Emerging Technology Programs in the FDA Commissioner’s Office. Carlos holds a PhD in Neuroscience from Case Western Reserve University and a Masters in Comparative Physiology from the University of Connecticut.