Tom Sidebottom

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Tom Sidebottom recently joined the private sector as a regulatory consultant. He has over a 32-year federal career with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. At the FDA, he was the Director of the San Francisco Laboratory for 11 years. There Tom managed a diverse group of scientists responsible for protecting public health. Their core focus was to provide analytical expertise and problem-solving approaches to emerging public health issues in chemistry and microbiological testing. He also played a critical role in leading the design and construction of a new federal laboratory, which opened in September 2019. He has a strong international and global perspective having supported communications with the EU, UK, Canada, Pacific Island states, and provincial-national regulatory authorities from India and China. 

Tom earned his B.S. degree in Entomology from the University of Maryland and has extensive knowledge and experience with FD&C Act regulatory testing and compliance inspections on a broad range of regulated products manufactured and imported into the United States. He is currently a member of several industry associations; Pacific Southwest AOAC, International Association of Food Protection - California affiliate (CalFP), Western Association of Food & Drug Officials (WAFDO), Customs Brokers Freight Forwarders Association of Northern California (CBFANC), and recently was a keynote speaker for the 29th International Conference of the Functional Foods Center held on April 29-30, 2021. (https://www.functionalfoodscenter.net/conference-preliminary-program_ffc29.html)