As acting deputy commissioner, Dr. Prater is charged with overseeing all Human Food Program entities and operations. This includes resource allocation, risk-prioritization strategy and decision making, policy initiatives and major response activities involving human foods. He also oversees food resources in the agency’s Office of Inspections and Investigations.
Dr. Prater holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and joined the agency in 1999, where he has held multiple roles across his 27-year career.
Most recently, Dr. Prater served as the agency’s principal deputy associate commissioner for food since 2024 and as acting director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) since 2023, where he played a central role in the center’s consolidation into a unified Human Foods Program.
This internal leadership shuffle follows the resignation of FDA Commissioner Marty Makary after 13-months of running the agency. Most reports attribute his resignation to several disputes, including disagreements over approving fruit-flavored e-cigarettes, criticism from pharmaceutical companies over delayed or inconsistent drug reviews and backlash from anti-abortion groups over the FDA’s handling of abortion-pill policies.
“Marty, you took on entrenched interests, challenged the status quo, and never lost sight of the American people we serve,” Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy posted on X last week. “You pushed forward critical reforms and helped advance our mission to Make America Healthy Again. I’m grateful for your courage and your friendship. Wishing you the very best in your next chapter.”
The secretary also extended his thanks to Kyle Diamantas for stepping in as acting commissioner, noting that his leadership has already delivered remarkable wins on the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) food agenda.
“We have an outstanding team at FDA, and the work continues without pause,” he posted. “The search for a new Commissioner is already underway, and we will move forward with urgency.”
