Cosmetics Regulatory Summit

Dr. Linda M. Katz is the Director of the Office of Cosmetics and Colors (OCAC), in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates cosmetics and certifies colors used in foods, cosmetics, drugs, and devices. 

Dr. Katz joined the FDA in 1989 in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) first as a primary medical officer, and later she served as Team Leader and Acting Director of the Pilot Drug Evaluation Staff which reviewed anti-rheumatic drugs, anesthetic agents and drugs of abuse.  Her subsequent appointments in CDER included: Deputy Director of the Division of Dermatologic and Dental Drug Products and Deputy Director of the Division of Over-the-Counter Drug Products.

In 2002, Dr. Katz joined CFSAN as Director for the Office of Cosmetics and Colors and additionally served 10 years as the Acting Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Katz received her MD from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, her MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and her BA, manga cum laude, in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. She did her internship and residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Rheumatology at the George Washington Medical Center.

She is a Fellow in the American College of Physicians and a Fellow in the American College of Rheumatology. In addition, Dr. Katz had maintained an academic appointment, as Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, at The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and taught and treated patients at Walter Reed Military Medical Center.