The Food and Drug Administration this week announced a change in leadership at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). Starting in January, Susan Mayne, chair of the Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, will take over as CFSAN director, providing leadership on major food safety and nutrition initiatives. She will replace Michael Landa, who has led CFSAN since 2010.

"Susan Mayne is a distinguished scientist who has devoted her career to improving nutrition and public health,” said Joe Levitt, a former CFSAN director and now partner at Hogan Lovells US LLP, IDFA’s outside legal counsel. “This background will position her extremely well to face today's challenges as she moves into the CFSAN director's position."

Levitt added, "I also want to acknowledge the strong leadership that Mike Landa has provided in strengthening CFSAN programs, including his own focus on nutrition issues and the solid foundation he leaves for his successor.

Scientific Underpinnings of Policy

Mayne is an internationally recognized public health leader, with training in nutrition, toxicology and epidemiology. According to FDA, she understands the relationship between science and the agency’s public health mission, and will enhance the scientific underpinnings of policy.

In addition to chairing the department, Mayne is the C.-E.A. Winslow professor of Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health and associate director of the Yale Cancer Center. She has conducted extensive research into the complex role of food, nutrition and obesity, and other health behaviors as determinants of chronic disease risk. She is the author or coauthor of more than 200 scientific publications.

In recent years, Mayne has addressed the use of biomarkers in nutrition research, dose-response relationships for nutrients in disease and the healthfulness of foods being marketed to children. She also worked closely with government agencies on developing practical applications of research.

Mayne recently completed two consecutive terms on the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences and a five-year term on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

For more information, contact Cary Frye, IDFA vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs, at cfrye@idfa.org.