The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) yesterday announced changes to the agency’s leadership team.
Dr. Denise Eblen
Dr. Denise Eblen, currently FSIS’ Assistant Administrator for the Office of Public Health Science, has been named agency Administrator. As Assistant Administrator for the Office of Public Health Science since 2018, Dr. Eblen has led the agency’s scientific analysis, including oversight of FSIS laboratories and testing of regulatory samples, risk assessment, and outbreak investigation and response. In addition to her work with FSIS, Dr. Eblen has held roles with USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service.
Dr. Eblen holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Nutrition from the University of Ulster at Coleraine in Northern Ireland, a Master of Science Degree in Food Science from Queen’s University, Belfast, in Northern Ireland, and a Ph.D. in Food Safety Microbiology from the University of Ulster at Jordanstown, Northern Ireland.
Paul Kiecker will take on the role of Assistant Administrator in the Office of Investigation, Enforcement, and Audit, where he will apply his deep experience with the agency and his leadership capabilities to head FSIS’s investigation, enforcement, and audit functions. Mr. Kiecker has served FSIS for more than thirty years, beginning as a food inspector in 1988 and most recently serving as Administrator.
