When Marty Makary officially became Food and Drug Administration commissioner Tuesday night, he inherited the explosive matter of mifepristone access — an issue that hung over and complicated his confirmation process.

Marty Makary, at FDA, and Jay Bhattacharya, at NIH, are assuming leadership of agencies pummeled by workforce cuts and sagging morale.

Makary, a prominent voice on U.S. health care practices throughout his career, spent 22 years at Hopkins Medicine