David T. Ingram
David T. Ingram
Consumer Safety Officer
Fresh Produce Branch, Division of Produce Safety
Dr. Dave Ingram joined FDA/CFSAN in 2013 as a Consumer Safety Officer with the Division of Produce Safety in the Office of Food Safety. Previous experience includes over 14 years of service as a Food Safety Microbiologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) in Beltsville, Maryland, where he integrated his experiences in clinical, food, and environmental microbiology to further research in critical pre-and post-harvest food safety issues. Pre-harvest areas of interest include the potential for human pathogens to contaminate produce, especially leafy greens, as well as understanding how irrigation water quality management and the application of various standards for treating and handling soil amendments may help to reduce the prevalence and persistence of on-farm foodborne pathogens. Dr. Ingram has investigated how virulence factor regulation and expression may influence the growth and persistence of foodborne pathogens in farm environments, as well as during postharvest processing and packaging of lettuce and other leafy greens. Dr. Ingram’s research has been instrumental in the development of the United States Composting Council (USCC) testing standards for human pathogens in compost and his work on the fate of human microbial pathogens during the production of compost and agricultural teas was used to develop compost tea Good Agricultural Practices (GAPS) adopted by the National Organics Standards Board (NOSB). Dr. Ingram is pleased with his transition to the FDA, where he serves in many capacities in continuance of his commitment to promoting public health by enhancing the safety of our nation’s food supply – mainly through the development of feasible, science-based regulations designed to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness associated with produce. He received his B.S. in Biology from Dickinson College, and both M.S. (Microbiology) and Ph.D. (Food Science) degrees from the University of Maryland at College Park.