In this position, she oversees the policies and programs of the Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Murano has extensive public and private sector experience in the field of food safety as both a manager and educator. During the past six years, from 1995 until her recent swearing-in, Murano held several positions with Texas A&M University at College Station, Texas. Most recently, since 1997 she served as the director of the university's Center for Food Safety within the Institute of Food Science and Engineering. During this time, she also served on the university's Department of Animal Science Research Advisory Committee and the Food Safety Response Team of the Texas Agriculture Extension Service, and served from 1999-2001 as the Chair of the Food Safety State Initiative Committee of the Texas Agriculture Experiment Station. She held the position of the Center for Food Safety's associate director from 1995 to 1997. In 2000 she was appointed professor in the Department of Animal Science, after having been an associate professor in that same department from 1995-2000. In addition, in 2000 Murano was awarded the Sadie Hatfield Endowed Professorship in Agriculture.
Murano served as a professor-in-charge of research programs at the Linear Accelerator Facility at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa from 1992 to 1995. She was an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Preventive Medicine at that university since 1990.
Before joining USDA, from 2001 until her recent appointment, Murano served as a member of the USDA National Advisory Committee for Meat and Poultry Inspection. Since 1998 she also served on the National Alliance for Food Safety Operations Committee, which she chaired during 2000. She was a member of several professional organizations, which included the American Society for Microbiology, the Association of Meat Science, the Institute of Food Technologists, the Poultry Science Association, and the International Association of Food Protection.
A native of Havana, Cuba, Murano holds a B.S. degree in biological sciences from Florida International University in Miami. She also holds a M.S. degree in anaerobic microbiology and a Ph.D. in food science and technology, both from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, VA.