FDA food safety director steps down

Washington, D.C - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced May 3 that Dr. Stephen Sundlof is stepping down from his position leading the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) to return to academia.

After 16 years with the FDA, including 14 years as the director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine, Sundlof has accepted a two-year assignment with Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine.

Starting May 10, Sundlof will be working on a new training and development program in regulatory science in conjunction with the University of Minnesota and Ohio State University. He will be designing a curriculum for certification and master degrees drawing from key faculty across the universities and from FDA subject matter experts. The programs will be designed especially for government employees and will offer a blend of science, policy, leadership, and nontechnical skills necessary to be successful in today's complex regulatory environment.

Sundlof began his career in 1980 on the faculty of the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine. His research interests in drug residues in livestock eventually led to interactions with the FDA, first as a member, and later as the chair of the FDA's Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee. In 1994, FDA Commissioner David Kessler named him the CVM director.

Michael Landa, deputy director for Regulatory Affairs at CFSAN since 2004, will serve as acting director with the help of acting deputy directors, Roberta Wagner and Donald Kraemer. Landa began his FDA career in 1978 as assistant chief counsel for enforcement, medical devices and veterinary medicine. Wagner, who joined the FDA in 1987 as a laboratory analyst, has served as director of the CFSAN's Office of Compliance since 2008. And Kraemer, who started as a consumer safety Officer in 1977, has been the deputy director of CFSAN's Office of Food Safety since 2007.