Dr. Donald A. Prater, D.V.M., is the Acting Deputy Commissioner for Food. As the Acting Deputy Commissioner for Food, Dr. Prater leads the agency’s Human Foods Program, overseeing all FDA nutrition and food safety activities. In this role, Dr. Prater exercises authority over all Human Food Program entities and operations, including resource allocation, risk-prioritization strategy and decision making, policy initiatives, and major response activities involving human foods. Dr. Prater also oversees food resources in the agency’s Office of Inspections and Investigations.
Prior to this role, he served as the agency’s Principal Deputy Associate Commissioner for Food since 2024 and was previously Acting Director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, a role he took on in 2023. He adeptly helped lead the Center during a time of transition, prioritizing nutrition and the safety of the food supply, dietary supplements, and cosmetics while helping to re-envision the organization.
Previously he had been the Associate Commissioner for Imported Food Safety in Office of Food Policy and Response, providing direction to and management of imported food safety programs. In addition, he served as a senior scientific advisor and technical expert on matters related to human and animal food safety and the implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. Earlier in his FDA tenure, Dr. Prater was Director of the FDA’s Europe Office in Brussels, Belgium and the Department of Health and Human Services Country Representative to the European Union.
Dr. Prater received a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (government and corporate track) in 1996. Following a three-year residency in anatomic pathology, he joined the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) in 1999 as a Veterinary Medical Officer. There he served in several roles including leader of the Aquaculture Drugs Team, CVM Pathologist, and Director of the Division of Scientific Support.