Dr. David William Kennedy Acheson graduated from the University of London Medical School in 1980, and following training in internal medicine and infectious diseases in the United Kingdom, moved to the New England Medical Center and Tufts University in Boston in 1987. As an Associate Professor at Tufts University, he undertook basic molecular pathogenesis research on foodborne pathogens, especially Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. In 2001, Dr. Acheson moved his laboratory to the University of Maryland Medical School in Baltimore to continue research on foodborne pathogens.

In September 2002, Dr. Acheson became the Chief Medical Officer at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). In January 2004, he was named Director of CFSAN's Food Safety and Security Staff. In January 2005, the mission of the office was expanded and renamed the Office of Food Safety, Defense and Outreach; in January 2007 it was further expanded to become the Office of Food Defense, Communication and Emergency Response. In May 2007, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Andrew von Eschenbach, appointed Dr. Acheson the Assistant Commissioner for Food Protection to provide advice and counsel to the Commissioner on strategic and substantive food safety and food defense matters. In January 2008, Dr. von Eschenbach expanded Dr. Acheson's portfolio by naming him Associate Commissioner of Foods, which gives him an agency-wide leadership role for all food and feed issues, including health promotion and nutrition.

Dr. Acheson has published extensively and is internationally recognized both for his public health expertise in food safety and his research in infectious diseases. Additionally, Dr. Acheson is a fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians (London) and the Infectious Disease Society of America.

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