On Monday, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner of Foods and Veterinary Medicine, Michael Taylor, informed agency staff that Linda Tollefson will be retiring from her position as Associate Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine on March 1. Tollefson started at FDA in 1984 as an epidemiologist with Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), eventually becoming the Chief of the Epidemiology Branch. Since then, she has held leadership positions in the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), served as Assistant Commissioner for Science, and led FDA’s Europe Office, before joining the Office of Foods and Veterinary Medicine (OFVM). “Dr. Tollefson has been a tremendous resource to our Program, providing seasoned advice to me, working closely with our Centers, and taking on some of our most complex policy, scientific, and management issues,” Taylor wrote in an email to CFSAN, CVM and OFVM staff. “She has also provided critical leadership in implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) as the co-chair of the FSMA Operations Team (FOT) Steering Committee and on major international issues.” Taylor also said that when Tollefson steps down, Erik Mettler, current director of the Office of Resource Planning and Strategic Management, will become Acting Associate Commissioner and Roberta Wagner, CFSAN’s Deputy Director for Regulatory Affairs, will take over as co-chair of the FOT Steering Committee.
