President Obama has announced his intent to nominate Dr. Elisabeth Hagen to the new post of Under Secretary for Food Safety at USDA, working under Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack. The move is part of the Obama administration’s focus on strengthening food safety across the board
Dr. Hagen is keenly aware of E. coli O157:H7 contamination problems in beef because she is a former top executive at USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the agency responsible for keeping America’s meat supply safe.
Here’s the background on Dr. Hagen:
- She is currently the USDA’s Chief Medical Officer, serving as an advisor to USDA mission areas on a wide range of human health issues. As a senior executive at FSIS, she played a key role in developing and executing the agency’s scientific and public health agendas.
- She has been instrumental in building relationships and fostering coordination with food safety and public health partners at the federal, state, and local level.
- Before joining the federal government in 2006, Hagen taught and practiced medicine in both the private and academic sectors, most recently in Washington, DC.
- She holds an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and a B.S. from Saint Joseph’s University. Dr. Hagen completed her specialty medical training at the University of Texas Southwestern and the University of Pennsylvania, and is board certified in infectious disease.
- She is married and lives with her husband and two young children in Northern Virginia.
