Henry I. Miller
Research Fellow

Expertise: Biotechnology; genetic engineering; bioterrorism; government regulation of science and technology, especially pharmaceutical development and biotechnology; regulatory reform

Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D., is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, where his research focuses on public policy toward science and technology. It encompasses a number of areas, including pharmaceutical development, the new biotechnology, models for regulatory reform, and the emergence of new viral diseases.

Miller joined the Food and Drug Administration in 1979 and served in a number of posts. He was the medical reviewer for the first genetically engineered drugs evaluated by the FDA and was instrumental in the rapid licensing of human insulin and human growth hormone. Thereafter, he was a special assistant to the FDA commissioner, with responsibility for biotechnology issues, and from 1989 to 1993 was the founding director of the FDA's Office of Biotechnology. During his government service, Miller participated frequently on various expert and policy panels as a representative of the FDA or the U.S. government. While a government official, Miller was the recipient of numerous awards and citations.

Since coming to the Hoover Institution, Dr. Miller has become well known not only for contributions to scholarly journals but also for articles and books that make science, medicine and technology more accessible to nonexperts. His work has been published widely and in many languages. Monographs include Policy Controversy in Biotechnology: An Insider's View (Austin, Tex: R.G. Landes, 1997), Biotechnology Regulation: The Unacceptable Costs of Excessive Regulation (London: Social Affairs Unit, 1997), To America's Health: A Model for Reform of the Food and Drug Administration (Hoover Institution Press, 2000), and The Frankenfood Myth: How Protest and Politics Threaten the Biotech Revolution (Praeger Publishers, 2004). Barron's selected The Frankenfood Myth… as one of the 25 Best Books of 2004. In addition, Dr. Miller has published extensively in a broad spectrum of publications worldwide, including The Lancet, Journal of the American Medical Association, Science, the Nature family of journals, Chronicle of Higher Education, Forbes, National Review, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Financial Times. He is a regulator commentator on the nationally syndicated John Batchelor radio program and appears frequently on TV.

Miller was short-listed in 2006 by the editors of Nature Biotechnology as one of the personalities who had made the "most significant contributions" to biotechnology during the previous 10 years. Miller serves on numerous editorial boards and is an adjunct scholar at several thinktanks.