Cara Welch, Ph.D., is the director of the Office of Dietary Supplement Programs (ODSP) in FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). She has been with FDA since 2014 in different roles working on regulatory, compliance and scientific matters for the agency’s regulation of dietary supplements. Welch also worked in the Office of the Commissioner as the acting special assistant to the deputy commissioner for policy, legislation and international Affairs, providing expertise on agency-level food policy issues. Prior to joining FDA, Welch was the SVP of scientific and regulatory affairs at the Natural Products Association (NPA). She earned her doctorate in medicinal chemistry from Rutgers University working with traditional medicinal African plants.