Rosario Quintanilla
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Communications and Project Management
Public Affairs Specialist
Rosario Quintanilla has served the U.S. Food and DrugAdministration for30+years as aPublic Affairs Specialist(PAS)for the FDA’sLos Angeles District service area. She has spearheaded and coordinated all communication with FDA’s diverse publics and strategized, implemented, and delivered programs covering public health messages, particularly to at risk populations.Leads internal and external communication programs, and manages media and key official interactions for the FDA’s local district, laboratory, and import operations.
Rosario received her BA degrees (Psychology and Ethnic Studies) from the University of Southern California. She commenced her career working for State funded health programs utilizing media as an outreach tool and then went into the non-profit sector before joining the federal government in 1988 at the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Was recruited by FDA and joined the Los Angeles District Office in 1990 as a public affairs specialist. Has focused on: conducting outreach and media work targeting the underserved and at-risk communities; collaborating with various health coalitions and task forces for joint programs; developing communication strategies for internal and external audiences; and delivered educational programs for diverse constituents including industry.
Has served details in the FDA’s Office of Media Affairs early in her career and volunteered for a number of National FDA committees. Rosario is a Spanish speaking bilingual and as such has servedFDA in numerous occasions on national campaigns utilizing the Spanish language media market. She served on the HIV/AIDS Health Fraud Task Force for FDA and presented a poster at the International HIV Conference in Geneva, Switzerland in 1998.She is a certified Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) trainer, has been Diversity Coordinator for the District, and has served in lead Public Affairs Branch roles as needed.
