Ellen Morrison FDA

Ms. Morrison is the Assistant Commissioner for Operations in the Office of Regulatory Affairs at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) where she leads a team serving as the focal point for coordination and management of ORA’s field activities, including the approval and issuance of assignments from headquarters and centers. The Office of Operations provides direction to field scientific resources, field import operations, and serves as the contact point to the U.S. Customs Service and other federal agencies involved in import activities.

Ms. Morrison received her B.A. in Biology from Regis College and she completed graduate work in Environmental Health at New York University; is a graduate of programs in Crisis Management and National Preparedness Leadership Initiative from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and also attained a graduate certificate in Terrorism Studies from the University of St. Andrews in 2013.

Ms. Morrison has worked in three FDA Districts and spent two years in a joint assignment at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. In 2002, FDA named Ms. Morrison the Director of Emergency Operations, Office of Crisis Management, where she directed and coordinated FDA’s emergency preparedness and response activities with other federal, state, local, and international agencies. In 2003, she became the first Director of the newly established Office of Crisis Management, where she advanced the priorities of the Commissioner through development and management emergencies, crisis management, and security policies and programs for FDA. Ms. Morrison returned to the Office of Regulatory Affairs in 2012 as the Acting Assistant Commissioner for Operations and a year later was named Assistant Commissioner.