Maryland scholars on Monday alternately described President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — Dr. Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins researcher, surgeon and author — as a “courageous leader” and a “reasonable choice,” who nevertheless espouses some “worrisome” views.

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday nominated Dr. Marty Makary, a pancreatic surgeon at Johns Hopkins University, as commissioner of the FDA.

The nominee, a surgeon at Johns Hopkins, has criticized the use of pesticides on food and the industry turning against “natural fat.”

A prolific medical research and author, Martin Makary criticized the FDA and CDC for their decision-making during the pandemic, although he describes himself as pro-vaccine.

STAT reporters reached out to key figures in biotech, pharma, and medical devices to find out what they think about President-elect Trump’s pick of Johns Hopkins pancreatic surgeon Martin “Marty” Makary as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

President-elect Donald Trump has selected Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins surgeon who criticized the Biden administration’s Covid response, to lead the FDA. “FDA has lost the trust of Americans, and has lost sight of its primary goal as a regulator,” Trump said in a statement late Friday, adding Makary would “course-correct” the agency if confirmed.