Dan Rice, DrPH in epidemiology, joined TAG in July 2025 as a Senior Advisor, bringing substantial experience leading and managing laboratory operations and foodborne illness outbreak investigations. Prior to joining TAG, Dan had led the FDA’s Office of Regulatory Testing and Surveillance (ORTS) since 2017. With its primary function being the regulatory and compliance testing of human and animal food and supporting foodborne illness outbreak investigations, ORTS is comprised of over 500 scientific professionals in 8 laboratories and a headquarters staff.

Dan was also a lab director for FDA for two years and the director of the New York State Food Laboratory for 11 years. In these positions, he developed and led comprehensive human and animal food safety laboratory programs and ensured accreditation to the internationally recognized ISO/IEC 17025:2017 quality standard. While in New York, he was instrumental in funding, designing and building a new state-of-the-art laboratory facility.

Dan is very interested in public health issues that involve the interface between the environment, animal health, and human health. He believes that the health of humans, animals and the environment are highly interconnected on a global scale and his professional focus and passion has centered on advancing initiatives that promote human and animal health using a One Health approach. He has chaired and participated in numerous human and animal food safety committees and workgroups internal to the FDA, cross-agency in the federal government and with public health associations including the Association of Public Health Laboratories and the Association of Food and Drug Officials.  

Dan began his career in food safety and public health at the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, where he coordinated and supervised research projects and associated personnel in a food animal diseases/food borne diseases epidemiological research unit. His primary focus of research was on the ecology and epidemiology of enterohemorrhagic E. coli and Salmonella enterica for which he contributed substantially to research on environmental reservoirs of these pathogens in food animal production facilities. 

Dan lives in Wisconsin and in his spare time he enjoys spending time with his wife, two daughters, 4 grandkids, woodworking and just about anything outdoors.