Director, Division of Select Agents and Toxins

Samuel S. Edwin, Ph.D.

Samuel Edwin is the director of the Division of Select Agents and Toxins (DSAT) in the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  In this role, he oversees two regulatory programs - the Federal Select Agent Program and the Import Permit Program - to ensure that laboratory work with infectious biological agents and toxins is conducted as safely and securely as possible.

Dr. Edwin has worked in biomedical research for more than 30 years.  Prior to his appointment as DSAT director, from 2008 to 2016 he served as the responsible official and biological surety officer for the Select Agent Program at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick, MD.  In this role, he was responsible for ensuring all laboratory work with biological select agents and toxins complied with federal regulations.

Before turning to program administration, Dr. Edwin conducted biomedical research with a focus on maternal-fetal medicine.  He spent 12 years at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institute of Health (NIH) and another twelve years in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Utah Medical Center.

Dr. Edwin received his Ph.D. in physiology from Wayne State University School of Medicine, and his bachelor’s degree in zoology from Brigham Young University.  He has authored or co-authored more than 150 scientific publications in peer-reviewed national and international journals.