Susan Carlson
Dr. Carlson is currently serving as a Supervisory Consumer Safety Officer within
the Office of Food Additive Safety, Division of Biotechnology and GRAS Notice
Review of FDA. She has served in the Federal Government since 1997, beginning
with her Post-Doctoral appointment with the USDA Agricultural Research Service
(USDA-ARS) in Gainesville, Florida. A native Iowan, she is a graduate of Grinnell
College (B.A., Biology) and Indiana University (Ph.D., Biology, Plant Science major).
Dr. Carlson’s past research interests included her dissertation study of carbonic
anhydrase in the unicellular green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and her postdoctoral work on sucrose synthase and invertase in developing endosperm from
Zea mays. In addition to her post-doctoral appointment with USDA-ARS, her
federal appointments have included two positions at FDA and one at the USDAOffice of Inspector General. While at FDA, Dr. Carlson has been involved in the
evaluation of Bioengineered Foods and Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)
Notifications, and most recently, various compliance efforts, including agency
efforts questioning the use of caffeine in alcoholic beverages.