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Food Policy and Public Trust: A Clinician’s Role in Advancing Food Safety
Food safety is more than a regulatory issue — it’s a foundational public health concern that directly affects patient outcomes, health equity, and trust in our institutions. As federal policies evolve and new challenges emerge, clinicians have a powerful role to play in shaping safer, more transparent food systems.
Join us for a timely conversation with two leading experts in food safety and regulation: Dr. Susan Mayne, former Director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) and currently Professor (Adjunct), Yale School of Public Health, and Dr. Darin Detwiler, nationally recognized food safety advisor, educator, and policy advocate. Together, they’ll unpack the FDA’s current regulatory landscape, explore how foodborne risks intersect with clinical care, and highlight opportunities for clinician advocacy in the broader food policy space.
Speaker: Dr. Susan Mayne, PhD
Dr. Susan Mayne is Professor (Adjunct) at the Yale School of Public Health and Former Director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) at FDA. During her tenure as Director from 2015-2023 during the Obama, first Trump, and Biden administrations, FDA advanced landmark nutrition and food safety policies, including implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
Prior to joining the FDA in 2015, she spent nearly three decades at the Yale School of Public Health, where she held an endowed chair as the C.-E.A. Winslow Professor of Epidemiology. Her career there included two leadership positions: Chair of the Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Associate Director for Population Sciences at the Yale Cancer Center. She conducted extensive research on food, nutrition, and chronic disease, and is author/coauthor of nearly 250 scientific publications with her work being cited more than 17,000 times. She served on several NASEM committees including Dietary Reference Intakes committees, and she completed two terms on the U.S. Food and Nutrition Board. She is the recipient of numerous national awards including most recently the Conrad A. Elvehjem Award for public service in nutrition from the American Society for Nutrition (2024).
Dr. Mayne received a B.A. in chemistry from the University of Colorado. She earned a Ph.D. in nutritional sciences, with minors in biochemistry and toxicology, from Cornell University.
Speaker: Dr. Darin Detwiler, LP.D., M.A.Ed.
Dr. Darin Detwiler is a Professor, Author, Advocate, and a globally recognized authority on food safety, regulatory policy, and corporate social responsibility, with more than 30 years of experience shaping the dialogue on consumer protection and industry accountability.
Dr. Detwiler received the 2018 Distinguished Service Award and the 2022 Ewen C.D. Todd Control of Foodborne Illness Award from IAFP. He is a global authority on food safety and policy, known for his books, media presence, and decades of work advising U.S. federal agencies and international organizations.
In addition to being a professor of food policy and global economics of food and agriculture, Dr. Detwiler is a trusted advisor to both industry and government. He has served two terms on the USDA’s National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection, the Conference for Food Protection, the FDA Foods Coalition, NEHA, and more.
His insights regularly inform food safety policy at the highest levels. He is a frequent keynote speaker at global food industry events, contributing expertise on emerging regulatory trends, food fraud, supply chain integrity, and consumer trust.