President Donald Trump's pick to replace Tom Price as Health and Human Services secretary is Alex Azar, the president announced on Twitter Monday.
Here are five things you need to know about Alex Azar.
1. Azar worked for pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly for nearly a decade and became the president of its U.S. division in 2011, according to The Hill.
He left the company earlier this year to start his own healthcare consulting firm, Seraphim Strategies, according to his LinkedIn profile.
2. Azar served as a deputy counsel at HHS from 2001 to 2005, under President George W. Bush's administration, The Hill noted.
According to the report, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he worked alongside then-Secretary Tommy Thompson to declare the first public health service emergency.
Azar’s LinkedIn profile further notes that, from 2005 to 2007, he took up the role of deputy secretary at the HHS, serving as the No. 2 official and chief operating officer for the department.
3. Azar graduated from Yale, according to The Associated Press, and served as a clerk to the Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia during the early 1990s.
The AP noted that he spent the bulk of his formative years in Maryland and earned his bachelor’s degree in government and economics at Dartmouth.
4. Azar also sat as a board member at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a leading biotech trade association, and was treasurer of the Healthcare Leadership Council, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Indianapolis Airport Authority, according to his LinkedIn profile
5. If approved, Azar’s nomination will put him in the seat of Trump’s first HHS chief, Tom Price, CNBC reported.
Price resigned in September after he came under fire amid controversy surrounding the use of private charter jets.
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