Philadelphia Department of Public Health
Office of Food Protection
321 University Ave
2nd Floor
Philadelphia
PAUSA
19104
Biographical Sketch: Palak Raval-Nelson is the Chief of Food Production for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. In her role as Chief, Palak is responsible for the administration of all Office of Food Protection programs. She has been working for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health since 1996 and began her career as a Sanitarian.
Palak also serves as adjunct faculty at Drexel University’s School of Public Health and teaches Environmental and Occupational Health. She has presented many papers at NEHA, PPHA and APHA and has had several publications in the National Journal of Environmental Health. In 2008, she had her first book published: Breast Caner Politics: An Evaluation of the Current Funding Policies. She is also President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Central Atlantic States Association of Food and Drug Officials.
Palak has her BS in Biology from Temple University and her MPH from MCP Hahnemann University graduating with the distinguished Hiega Society Award and her Ph.D. in Environmental Health and Policy from Drexel University. She has also graduated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute (EPHLI) in 2007 and she is currently a mentor for them. She was recognized in 2006 by the Society of Women Environmental Professionals as an outstanding woman environmental professional for the Delaware Valley. Palak was nominated and received the AFDO Achievement award as a newly employed Sanitarian in the San Antonio, Texas, at the 1999 Conference.
When she is not working or attending school, she and her husband Daryl are busy raising their three children Shane, Shon and Shivani.