In 1972, Abbott was part of the FDA Planning, Evaluation & Financial Management Staff. He had the difficult job of transitioning the Division of Biologics Standards (DBS) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the FDA. There were issues of being scientists vs. being regulators, and many of the NIH biologics staff thought of themselves as bench scientists first. Many did not want to leave the NIH, and there were not very many administrative positions in DBS when it was still with the NIH. Biologics at the FDA went through several administrative/organizational changes in the 1980s, including the combining of the roles of drug and biologics regulation together into one organization, and then separating them apart again into the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) and the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). When drugs and biologics were combined, there were two of every position administration-wise, and Abbott had the difficult job of deciding who would be in charge. Everyone was upset. Abbott was the head of the Office of Management for the National Center of Drugs and Biologics in the mid-1980s. The Office of Management included the Divisions of Planning and Evaluation, Administrative Management, and Drug Information Resources. Ultimately, drugs and biologics were separated again in 1988, and biologics have remained in CBER ever since.