Namandjé N. Bumpus, Ph.D., current Chief Scientist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will become the next FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner when Janet Woodcock, M.D. retires in early 2024. One of Dr. Bumpus' main priorities is to assist in the proposed reorganization of a unified Human Foods Program, including creating a new model for the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA).

Officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently held a conversation to explain to stakeholders how the agency handles foodborne illness outbreaks and other adverse food safety events, as well as how FDA plans to improve its processes. FDA also released a supplementary video illustrating its processes.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we talk with Kimberly (Kim) Livsey about the interworking of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) investigations of and responses to food safety incidents and foodborne illness outbreaks through the Incident Command System and Incident Management Teams (IMTs). Kim is a Senior Emergency Response Coordinator in FDA's Office of Regulatory Affairs' Office of Human and Animal Food Operations who has led a number of IMTs, including for a recent, high-profile foodborne illness outbreak.