Full Name
Dr. Donna Lalli
Job Title
Deputy Administrator
Company
Biotechnology and Regulatory Services
Speaker Bio
Dr. Donna Lalli was appointed Deputy Administrator of Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) in July 2025. In this role, Dr. Lalli provides leadership and direction to ensure the safe development and introduction (importation, interstate movement, and field testing) of genetically engineered organisms.
Before this appointment, Dr. Lalli served as APHIS' Associate Administrator since 2023. In this role, she worked in partnership with Administrator Mike Watson to carry out the agency’s day-to-day operations, represent APHIS on department-level and cross-agency working groups, and oversee the activities of every APHIS program area and support unit on behalf of employees and stakeholders.
From January 2021 until joining the Office of the Administrator, Dr. Lalli served as the Associate Deputy Administrator for Wildlife Services, providing executive leadership to the agency’s National Feral Swine Damage Management Program, the National Rabies Management Program, and the Airport Wildlife Hazards Program.
For 10 months, Dr. Lalli served on a temporary assignment as Senior Policy Advisor in the Executive Office of the President, Office of Science and Technology Policy, after serving as the APHIS Science Advisor from 2017 to 2020. Dr. Lalli started her APHIS career with BRS as a biotechnologist and then as the program’s chief of staff. Before joining APHIS, Dr. Lalli worked for USDA’s Agricultural Research Service as a postdoctoral researcher at the Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, WV. Dr. Lalli has a Ph.D. in genetics and a bachelor of science in biochemistry from Clemson University.
Before this appointment, Dr. Lalli served as APHIS' Associate Administrator since 2023. In this role, she worked in partnership with Administrator Mike Watson to carry out the agency’s day-to-day operations, represent APHIS on department-level and cross-agency working groups, and oversee the activities of every APHIS program area and support unit on behalf of employees and stakeholders.
From January 2021 until joining the Office of the Administrator, Dr. Lalli served as the Associate Deputy Administrator for Wildlife Services, providing executive leadership to the agency’s National Feral Swine Damage Management Program, the National Rabies Management Program, and the Airport Wildlife Hazards Program.
For 10 months, Dr. Lalli served on a temporary assignment as Senior Policy Advisor in the Executive Office of the President, Office of Science and Technology Policy, after serving as the APHIS Science Advisor from 2017 to 2020. Dr. Lalli started her APHIS career with BRS as a biotechnologist and then as the program’s chief of staff. Before joining APHIS, Dr. Lalli worked for USDA’s Agricultural Research Service as a postdoctoral researcher at the Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, WV. Dr. Lalli has a Ph.D. in genetics and a bachelor of science in biochemistry from Clemson University.
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