Jeffrey L. Gren of the U.S. Department of Commerce to Speak at Interchange
Jeffrey L. Gren. Director, Office of Health and Consumer Goods, U. S. Department of Commerce, will speak at The Partnership for Safe Medicines Interchange October 8th and the National Press Club.
Jeffrey L. Gren has been Director of the Office of Health and Consumer Goods (OHCG) within the U.S. Department of Commerce since August 2004. OHCG’s mission is to help U.S. health and consumer goods firms to compete in world markets by fostering export opportunities, providing support for trade negotiations, performing industry analysis, working with foreign governments to reduce regulatory and other trade barriers, and developing industry-led joint government/industry initiatives. Prior to being OHCG Director, Mr. Gren has been Director of the Office of Microelectronics, Medical Equipment and Instrumentation (OMMI) from 1991 to 2004 - also within the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Said Mr. Gren, "I am passionate about developing global activities to stop the spread of counterfeit medicines, and I am looking forward to participating in the Partnership for Safe Medicines Interchange conference on October 8. Counterfeit medicines has become a very sensitive topic globally and definitions and semantics are important. By focusing on public health, public awareness, education, detection technologies and enforcement we can build global support and make an impact."
As Director of OHCG and OMMI, Mr. Gren has lead numerous trade and policy missions to promote U.S. health and microelectronic products; developed programs to promote U.S. health industry products in major global markets; organized global anti-counterfeit medical product activities, and served in a leadership role in the U.S.-China Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Subgroup. Mr. Gren works with major health industry associations and USFDA to improve the global regulatory environment for the U.S. medical industry, and in this capacity he represents the Department of Commerce on the Medical Devices Global Harmonization Task Force (GHTF). Mr. Gren has also organized and developed numerous health regulatory training programs for regulators and firms from countries with developing regulatory systems, such as China, Russia, Ukraine, Asia and Latin America.
Prior to working as the Office Director for OHCG and OMMI, Mr. Gren was Senior Policy Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Basic Industries, also within the U.S. Department of Commerce. In this position Mr. Gren coordinated a variety of activities related to the metals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, wood products, domestic construction and energy industries. From 1976 through 1990, Mr. Gren was Deputy Director of the U. S. Department of Commerce Trade Adjustment Technical Assistance Program. This program helps firms and industries injured by foreign trade.
