Dan Solis, MHA, Assistant Commissioner for Import Operations
Dan Solis is the Assistant Commissioner for Import Operations in the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA). He leads the Office of Import Operations (OIO) and oversees the FDA’s import operations, which includes five field regional divisions, covering the Northern Border, West Coast, Southwest Border, Southeast and Northeast regions.
The FDA’s import operation programs are responsible for 353 ports of entry across the U.S. and its territories, in addition to multiple modes of transportation including truck, air, mail, and sea cargo ships. Mr. Solis collaborates with the FDA’s federal partner government agencies to ensure safe and quality FDA-regulated products enter the U.S. market through our robust, targeted surveillance platforms. He brings more than 25 years of FDA experience to this role.
Most recently, Mr. Solis served as the acting Assistant Commissioner for Import Operations, where he oversaw ORA’s Import Operations Program nationally during the onset of the COVID-19 public health emergency. His leadership ensured medical products included in the U.S. COVID-19 relief effort were expeditiously reviewed and consumers could promptly access essential medical products, including vaccines, COVID-19 test kits, and personal protective equipment.
Previously, Mr. Solis served as ORA’s Program Division Director for the Division of West Coast Imports. In this role, he oversaw staff who performed import field investigations and compliance activities in Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California, Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands. Solis collaborated with local agencies in joint operations and educational outreach to protect the public health.
Mr. Solis has served in several other capacities at the FDA, including as a microbiologist in ORA’s Irvine, California, human and animal food laboratory, as a consumer safety officer position in the Division of Import Operations, as an import compliance officer in ORA’s Los Angeles district office, and as director of Import Operations in the FDA Los Angeles District Office.
Prior to the FDA, Mr. Solis worked in the bioresearch field focusing on medical device and drug application products.
Mr. Solis received a bachelor’s degree in Microbial Ecology from the University of California, Irvine, and earned a master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of La Verne in California.