Verily Gig for Former FDA No. 2 Offers Path to Better Research

Amy Abernethy could see the clinical research system needed a major overhaul but that the federal government ultimately wouldn’t drive those changes.

The Food and Drug Administration’s No. 2 official left the agency in April to do just that. She’s slated to join Verily—Alphabet Inc.'s life sciences subsidiary—July 6 as its president of clinical research business, where she hopes to improve study designs and broaden the pool of people who are eligible to participate.

“The federal government has a role in moving the conversation forward,” Abernethy said in an interview. “But I think at the end of the day, ...