Rebecca K. Wood

Practice Areas

Becky Wood is global co-leader of the firm’s Food, Drug and Medical Device practice, serves on Sidley’s Global Life Sciences Leadership Council, and leads Sidley’s Washington, D.C. Healthcare and Food, Drug and Medical Device group.

Becky previously served as Chief Counsel (general counsel role) to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under former Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. At FDA, she worked on virtually every significant initiative addressed by the Commissioner and agency leadership, including efforts to streamline the drug and device development approval process and to modernize the agency’s regulatory framework.

Becky focuses her practice on providing counsel on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious FDA regulatory, compliance, and litigation issues to clients and investors in the life sciences industry, including: FDA supervisory reviews, appeals, hearings, and engagement strategy; gene therapy, cell therapy, and regenerative medicine; medtech and digital health; impact litigation involving FDA-regulated products; federal preemption; and First Amendment/Free Speech issues relating to promotional speech and commercial complaints.