Dr. Suf Alkhaldi

Dr. Suf Alkhaldi, a distinguished scientist with the Food and Drug Administration, retired in 2023 to pursue a full-time career as a life coach.

With an extensive background in leadership including mentoring and life coaching at the FDA, Dr. Alkhaldi served as the Associate Director for the Safety Office for five years. In this capacity, he offered crucial support to 16 FDA laboratories across various safety fields, such as occupational health, chemical safety, and environmental protection. Additionally, Dr. Alkhaldi held positions as Senior Science Advisor and Project Management Supervisor for the FDA's Office of Chief Scientist. He actively participated in numerous working groups, including the Emerging Technology Working Group, the Genomic Working Group, and the US-FDA Cybersecurity Group, while also serving on the Steering Committee of the Centers of Excellence in Regulatory Science.

Beyond his work at the FDA, Dr. Alkhaldi's leadership skills were honed through FDA leadership and mentoring programs and his experience leading a group of 20-60 scientists and food analysts for eight years. He has been recognized with over 20 awards from the FDA for his contributions. As a skilled microbiologist, Dr. Alkhaldi developed methods for detecting pathogenic bacteria in food using molecular techniques. His extensive publication record includes 29 peer-reviewed articles, 14 reviewed papers and book chapters, 30 abstracts, 25 oral presentations, and 4 patents.

Throughout his 23-year tenure with the FDA, Dr. Alkhaldi mentored and coached numerous FDA scientists and analysts. He is a co-editor of The Bad Bug Book and contributes to a blog centered on future innovations and scientific hacks.