Dr. Elisabeth A. Hagen

Dr. Hagen was sworn-in as Under Secretary for Food Safety on Friday, August 20, 2010. In this position, she oversees the policies and programs of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), USDA's public health regulatory agency that ensures the nation's commercial meat, poultry, and egg products are safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged. She also chairs the U.S. Codex Steering Committee, which provides guidance to U.S. delegations to the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

Since joining federal government in 2006, Dr. Hagen has advanced a science-based, public health agenda at USDA. She directed mission-critical outbreak and consumer complaint investigations, oversaw agency risk assessments and regulatory testing programs, and led key policy development efforts for emerging public health issues as a senior executive in the FSIS Office of Public Health Science, most recently as Deputy Assistant Administrator. Prior to her appointment as Under Secretary, she served as USDA's Chief Medical Officer, advising FSIS and other USDA mission areas on a range of human health issues, such as food safety, nutrition, and zoonotic diseases.

Dr. Hagen has also been actively involved in interagency efforts to better protect the public from foodborne illnesses, including the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) Steering Committee, which guides the work of the nation's premier foodborne illness monitoring system. She was also a member of the Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR), a national collaborative effort to detect, investigate, control, and prevent foodborne disease outbreaks.

Before joining public service, Dr. Hagen taught and practiced medicine in both the private and academic sectors. In addition to several hospital and university appointments, her experience includes research and publications in infectious diseases and providing medical care to underserved populations.

Dr. Hagen holds an M.D. from Harvard Medical School and a B.S. from Saint Joseph's University. She completed specialty medical training at the University of Texas Southwestern and the University of Pennsylvania, and is board certified in infectious diseases.