News reports say veterinarian Donald Prater, FDA’s deputy commissioner for human foods, will become acting commissioner of the FDA’s food division.
The move to elevate Prater to an acting position comes after Kyle Diamantas was named acting top official at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Diamantas was appointed to the FDA’s acting top position following the resignation of Director Marty Makary earlier this week.
McCurry’s resignation comes after two major problems arose with the Trump administration. One involves failing to push for drug restrictions on abortion, and the other involves failing to approve fruit-flavored vaping products.
Prater’s selection to temporarily lead the food division of FDA operations has not been publicly announced as the White House first completes the paperwork to formalize Diamantas’ new position, according to Bloomberg Business.
Prater previously served as the FDA’s principal deputy commissioner for food, starting in 2024. He served as Acting Director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in 2023.
Other previous roles include Commissioner for Imported Food Safety in the FDA’s Office of Food Policy and Response. He also served as a senior scientific advisor and technical expert on issues related to human and animal food safety and enforcement of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.
Early in her tenure at the FDA, Prater was Director of the FDA’s European Office in Brussels, Belgium, and Country Representative for the European Union’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Prater received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Virginia-Maryland Community College of Veterinary Medicine in 1996. After serving as a three-year anatomic pathology resident, he joined the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) in 1999 as director of veterinary medicine. There he held several roles, including leader of the aquaculture medicine team, CVM pathologist, and director of the scientific support department.
According to LinkedIn, Prater has worked at the FDA for more than 26 years.
