Members of the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals
The Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) provides independent advice on science and technical issues to assist EPA in implementing the Toxic Substances Control Act, as amended in 2016 by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. Members of the SACC are appointed by the Administrator of EPA from candidates identified through a public call for nominations. Members serve staggered terms of appointment, generally of three years.
Terms for eight of the 18 members expired in June 2024. In November 2023 EPA sought nominations from the public on potential replacements. EPA received 39 nominations. In January 2024, the Agency requested public comment on the 39 nominations received. These public comments were used to assist EPA in selecting 4 new appointees for a total of 20 SACC members.
The following list includes the current SACC members.
Chair
Dr. George Cobb
Baylor University
Affiliation: Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, Waco, Texas
Expertise: Environmental chemistry; analytical chemistry; and exposure assessment.
Education: Ph.D., Chemistry, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; B.S., Chemistry, College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina
Experience Summary: Dr. George Cobb is a professor of Environmental Science and Department Chairman at Baylor University. He has over 35 years of experience assessing fate and effects of chemicals in the environment. Dr. Cobb has published over 135 peer reviewed journal articles in this area of inquiry and has successfully assessed adverse effects that contaminants cause in organisms, both in environment and controlled laboratory studies. Successful field assessments have included normal-use pesticide applications, National Priorities List sites, and state and municipal air and water quality. Most recently, Dr. Cobb’s group has emphasized: nanomaterial alteration of amphibian development and of rice accumulation of metal toxicants; interactions of toxicants and light to induce stress; airborne steroid movement from concentrated animal feeding operations; transformation of explosives in mammals; and ultra-high-resolution Mass Spectrometry screening. Within the American Chemical Society, he has been named a Fellow, as well as serving as the immediate past Chairman of the Environmental Chemistry Division, and a member of the Committee for Environmental Improvement. Dr. Cobb is a Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Fellow and is also former President of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), North America. He currently serves as an Editor for the Journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Members
Dr. Udayan Apte
University of Kansas
Affiliation: Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas
Expertise: Chemical carcinogenesis; perfluorinated akyl acids; hepatotoxicity; drug induced liver injury; and nuclear receptor toxicology.
Education: PhD, Toxicology, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Monroe, Louisiana; Postdoctoral training, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Diplomat of the American Board of Toxicology
Experience Summary: Dr. Udayan Apte has 20 years of experience as a mechanistic toxicologist with a primary focus on the liver as a target organ and has been teaching toxicology to medical students and in the graduate school for 10 years. His research is focused on mechanisms of drug-induced liver injury and chemical carcinogenesis with an emphasis on the role of nuclear receptors, oncogenic signaling, stem cell biology, role of bile acids, and with recent studies on developmental hepatotoxicity of perfluorinated akyl acids and their derivatives. Dr. Apte has published over 70 original papers, 10 book chapters and has edited a book on mechanisms of liver regeneration. He has organized and given talks at several national symposiums including Society of Toxicology, American Society for Investigative Pathology, and American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. He is an associate editor for Scientific Reports and serves on the editorial boards of Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, GE Liver, and American Journal of Pathology. Dr. Apte has served on several grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (study sections) including R21, p01 study sections for National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Hepatobiliary Pathophysiology (HBPP). He has served as a reviewer for the American Cancer Society, Veterans for Foreign Wars grants panel and several international panels from Austria, The Netherlands and Hong Kong.
Dr. Marissa Baker
University of Washington
Affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Expertise: Environmental and occupational hygiene.
Education: PhD, Environmental & Occupational Hygiene, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; MS, Occupational and Environmental Exposure Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; BA, Biological Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
Experience Summary: Dr. Marissa Baker is trained in occupational hygiene, with a fundamental knowledge of occupations—including exposures prevalent in different occupations, how they are generally assessed in the workplace, and the feasibility of different controls. Her general area of research in environmental and occupational health is in exposure assessment of fumes and metals, and the use of biomarkers as a means of monitoring, evaluating, and diagnosing environmental health exposures and their related outcomes. Dr. Baker has expertise in the use of novel investigative techniques such as metabolomics for assessing both exposure and markers of disease outcomes (e.g., for manganese, phthalates, shift work) among worker populations, and extensive expertise in exposure modeling using both primary and secondary data sources. Dr. Baker was included (as Co-Investigator or Principal Investigator) on several federal grants assessing biomarkers of exposure and effects in occupational cohorts, where she has gained considerable expertise in collecting and analyzing biological, exposure, and questionnaire data, both in the laboratory and using statistical methods. Dr. Baker has served as a member of the American Industrial Hygiene Association Pacific Northwest Chapter, the Association for Women in Science Seattle Chapter, the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH), a working group member of IARC Monograph 118 “Welding, Welding Fumes, and Related Chemicals,” is a fellow of the consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate STEM Education, and as Chair of the ICOH Scientific Committee on Epidemiology in Occupational Health (EPICOH) Early Career Network. Dr. Baker also serves as the associate editor for Frontiers in Public Health (2018-present).
Dr. Christine Chaisson
The Lifeline Group
Affiliation: Director, Senior Scientist/Risk Assessor, The Lifeline Group
Expertise: Model design for aggregate and cumulative risk.
Education: PhD, Biochemistry, George Washington University, Washington, DC; BA, Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.
Experience Summary: For almost four decades, Dr. Christine Chaisson led the design of multiple assessment models addressing aggregate and cumulative risk concepts, exposure-based chemical prioritization, dietary and activity profiling for unique communities (including tribal and ethnically defined communities) and post-disaster chemical hazard profiling for communities. Her career began in risk assessment with the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances where she designed a probabilistic dietary exposure assessment model to aid pesticide regulatory decision-making. She was also the liaison to international regulatory agencies such as United States Agency for International Development and the World Health Organization. In 1985, Dr. Chaisson co-founded Technical Assessment Systems, which became a premier exposure/risk assessment consulting firm internationally. She co-founded The LifeLine Group in 2000, a not-for-profit organization developing publicly available state-of-the-art exposure and risk assessment models with applications to contemporary issues. Dr. Chaisson led research for Smithsonian curators at the Museum of the American Indian to assess potential exposures resulting from their work with artifacts made with toxic paints or stored in containers with very toxic pesticides. She served as a Councilor in the International Society of Exposure Assessment, a member of Society of Risk Assessment [past President of its DC chapter], the Toxicology Forum, The United Agribusiness League and the Institute of Food Technologists. She also served on the National Council for Arts and Sciences of the George Washington University (GWU) and the Dean's Advisory Board for the GWU Graduate School of Political Management. Dr. Chaisson serves as a member of the External Advisory Board of the Center for Indigenous Environmental Health Research at the Zuckerman College of Public Health/University of Arizona. She is an advisor to Food Quality magazine. She has published extensively in the fields of exposure and risk assessment. In 2011, Dr. Chaisson was the invited Co-Chair of the Milan International Society of Exposure Science/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry special conference on exposure science challenges presented by global legislative initiatives on consumer products and chemicals in trade. Career activity in additional organizations include Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, International Society of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, and the Institute of Food Technology. Dr. Chaisson mentored several doctoral students’ dissertation projects (including Boston University, Johns Hopkins University, University of California, University of Arizona). Currently Dr. Chaisson is a Director and Senior Scientist of The LifeLine Group, directing research including serving as Co-PI on projects funded by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Dr. Stephanie Eick
Emory University
Affiliation: Assistant Professor of Environmental Health and Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
Expertise: Epidemiology; Maternal and Child Health; Health Disparities; Reproductive Toxicology; Perinatal Health; Biostatistics; Environmental Health; Non-Chemical Stressors.
Education: PhD in Epidemiology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia; MPH in Epidemiology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; BS in Human Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
Experience Summary: Dr. Stephanie Eick is an assistant professor of Environmental Health and Epidemiology with nine years of experience of teaching and research on reproductive and environmental epidemiology and environmental health disparities. She was a postdoctoral fellow with the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at the University of California, San Francisco from 2019-2021. Dr. Eick is affiliated with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences P30 Health and Exposome Research Center: Understanding Lifetime Exposures (2021-Present). Her research focuses on the health effects of chemical and non-chemical stressors during pregnancy and underlying biological mechanisms, including oxidative stress, inflammation, and untargeted metabolomics, that link chemical and non-chemical stressors to adverse pregnancy and child health outcomes. Dr. Eick’s work has adapted multiple methods for assessing chemical exposure mixtures to incorporate non-chemical stressors. Her work primarily focuses on persistent organic pollutants (e.g., Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs)).
Dr. Arthur T. Fong
Apple, Inc.
Affiliation: Technical Leader for Smarter Chemistry (Environmental Technologies), Apple Inc., Cupertino, California
Expertise: Green and sustainable chemistry; chemical management–restricted substances; PFAS phaseout; toxicology; risk assessment and alternatives assessment; semiconductor/ electronics/nanomaterials environment, health, and safety (EHS); Occupational Health; Diversity and Inclusion (Apple Impact Accelerator); science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.
Education: PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology (Environmental Toxicology), University of California, Irvine; BS in Genetics, University of California, Davis.
Experience Summary: Dr. Arthur Fong is the Technical Leader for Smarter Chemistry on the Environmental Technologies Team at Apple (2014–present), driving chemistry innovation and rigorous controls to design products to be safe for anyone who assembles, uses, or recycles them — and to be better for the environment. He also manages the Apple Green Chemistry Advisory Board, an independent group of leading researchers and academics focused on integrating green chemistry into Apple’s products and supply chain. Dr. Fong established the biocompatibility program for electronics products at Apple and led the publication of the following white papers: A Protocol for Prioritizing Chemicals of Concern in the Electronics Industry, and Apple’s Commitment to Phasing out Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). Prior to joining Apple, Dr. Fong was Corporate Program Manager for Chemical Management at IBM. He served previously as Chair of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) nanotechnology EHS subcommittee, and as liaison of the ISMI (International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative) and (SRC) Semiconductor Research Corporation for industry-funded university-based research projects on toxicity and environmental fate of nanomaterials, and semiconductor workplace safety.
Dr. Mary Fox
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Affiliation: Assistant Professor and Co-Director, Risk Sciences and Public Policy Institute Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
Expertise: Human Health Risk Assessment: Applying epidemiological methods and data to understand combined exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors for cumulative risk assessment.
Education: PhD in Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; MPH in Environmental Studies, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York; BS in Biology, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York.
Experience Summary: Dr. Mary Fox is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management and the co-director of the Risk Sciences and Public Policy Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has 18 years of experience teaching as core faculty of the Risk Sciences certificate program leading courses in quantitative risk assessment methods and risk policy, management, and communication. Dr. Fox’s research is focused on human health risk assessment as a part of environmental policy making, particularly approaches to cumulative and chemical mixtures risk assessment. She has made key contributions to the development and application of cumulative risk methods to inform community environmental health and environmental justice and occupational health policies. She applies both qualitative and quantitative methods to characterize health risks and to improve communication tools and policies. Dr. Fox has expertise in risk assessment of air toxics, metal mixtures, PCBs, pesticides, phthalates, and volatile organic solvents. Prior to joining the faculty at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Fox worked at the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and she has served on four National Academies’ committees: Veterans and Agent Orange, Update 11 (2017-2018); Gulf War and Health, Volume 10: Update of Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War (2014-2016); Long-Term Health Consequences of Exposure to Burn Pits in Iraq and Afghanistan (2010-2011); and Phthalates and Cumulative Risk Assessment: The Tasks Ahead (2007-2008).
Dr. Robinan Gentry
Ramboll
Affiliation: Principal, Senior Toxicologist, Ramboll. Monroe, Louisiana
Expertise: Human health risk assessment, physiologically-based pharmacokinetics (PBPK), toxicology and pathology (including neurotoxicology, developmental and reproductive toxicology, environmental toxicology, and carcinogenesis), cancer hazard and risk assessment, aggregate exposure, exposure assessment, inhalation.
Education: PhD in Toxicology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands; MS in Pharmacology/Toxicology, University of Louisiana at Monroe (formerly Northeast Louisiana University); BS in Toxicology, University of Louisiana at Monroe (formerly Northeast Louisiana University).
Experience Summary: Dr. Robinan Gentry is a board-certified Toxicologist with over 35 years of experience in toxicological issues relevant to the determination of the potential safety or risk associated with exposure to chemicals in consumer products, pharmaceuticals or the environment. She is also currently the global director for the Science to Support Regulatory Activity Service Area of Ramboll. Over her career, she has been a principal investigator or contributing author for numerous safety and risk assessments for both government and industry. The purpose for a number of these assessments has been to incorporate innovative quantitative approaches in the determination of acceptable levels of exposure of humans to chemicals in the environment, pharmaceuticals, and consumer products. Her most recent risk evaluations/hazard assessments have involved the incorporation of multiple frameworks for systematic review of the available literature, including the evaluation of study quality. She is a published author in safety and risk assessment methods, including the development of physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models and their application into both the cancer and non-cancer safety and risk assessment processes.
Dr. Cynthia Graham
Independent Toxicology Consultant
Affiliation: Independent Toxicology Consultant, Denver, Colorado; Part time Consultant, Huntsman LLC, The Woodlands, Texas
Expertise: Respiratory and Dermal Sensitization; Occupational Health; Occupational Asthma; Immunotoxicology.
Education: PhD in Toxicology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; MS in Toxicology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; BS in Biology, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Experience Summary: Dr. Cynthia Graham is currently a toxicology consultant to a chemical manufacturer. She has 24 years of experience in industry: Huntsman LLC (2004-2016); Bayer Material Science (1999-2004); and as an Independent Consultant (2016-present).
Dr. Graham’s expertise in respiratory sensitization and occupational asthma has been most appropriately used in assessing the mechanism of diisocyanate sensitization and health effects. Dr. Graham has worked on American Chemistry Council's Panel on Aromatic Diisocyanates (2004-present), the Center for Polyurethanes Industries (2004-present), and as a contributing Member on the International Isocyanate Institute (2000-2021).
Dr. Wendy Heiger-Bernays
Boston University
Affiliation: Clinical Professor, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
Expertise: Environmental Toxicology, Human Health Risk Assessment, Environmental Exposure, Endocrine System Mixture Toxicology.
Education: PhD, Biochemistry, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska; BS, Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut.
Experience Summary: Dr. Heiger-Bernays is a Clinical Professor of Environmental Health with 25 years of research, teaching and practice focusing on methods to assess toxicity of environmental hazards and health risk to susceptible populations exposed to legacy and emerging contaminants. She has published on community-engaged exposure and risk assessments to regulated chemicals. Her recent work in toxicology includes assessment of thyroid active chemicals, evaluation of reference doses for chemicals with developmental effects derived from traditional methods compared with those derived from in vitro methods, and research on the mechanisms by which individual and mixtures of endocrine active chemicals effect molecular pathways involved in changes in lipid profiles in animal models and in cell culture. All of this work relies on the use of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ToxCast data, expanded to the National Toxicology Program’s Tox21 Toolbox.
Ms. Allison Jenkins, MPH
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Affiliation: Senior Toxicologist and Work Leader, Toxicology, Risk Assessment, and Research Division, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Austin, Texas
Expertise: Regulatory Toxicology; Human Health Risk Assessment; Toxicity Factor Development; Public Health; Groundwater Contamination; Water Quality; and Remediation.
Education: BS in Toxicology, The University of Louisiana at Monroe, Monroe, Louisiana; MPH in Environmental Health, The University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Experience Summary: Ms. Allison Jenkins is a regulatory toxicologist and risk assessor with more than 30 years of wide-ranging experience in all facets of regulatory toxicology. She is a senior toxicologist and work leader in the Toxicology, Risk Assessment, and Research Division of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Her major responsibilities are to evaluate air monitoring data, conduct toxicity assessments to develop acute and chronic inhalation toxicity factors; review selected remediation site risk projects with multiple media types (e.g., soil, water, sediment, and air) and human health risk assessments (e.g., state and federal Superfund); review air permit applications; address human health issues concerning drinking water; and respond to citizen concerns. Ms. Jenkins participated with other staff toxicologists in writing the TCEQ Guidelines for Developing Toxicity Factors. She developed chemical-specific Development Support Documents (technical documents that outline the hazard identification and dose-response procedures for development of their toxicity factors) and acute and chronic inhalation toxicity factors for acrolein and ammonia. In addition to working for the TCEQ, Ms. Jenkins worked for consulting firms in Virginia, Louisiana, and Texas and at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. Ms. Jenkins is a member of the Society of Toxicology and its Lone Star Regional Chapter.
Dr. Li Li
University of Nevada
Affiliation: Assistant Professor of Environmental Health at the University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada.
Expertise: Developing, evaluating, and applying computational models, including but not limited to environmental fate and transport models, exposure and toxicokinetic models, and substance flow analysis models, to assess the transport, transformation, and accumulation of chemicals in environments and humans.
Education: PhD in Environmental Science, Peking University, Beijing, China; BSc (summa cum laude) in Environmental Science, Nankai University, Tianjin, China.
Experience Summary: Dr. Li Li is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Health at the University of Nevada, Reno since 2019. After obtaining his PhD from Peking University in 2017, Dr. Li completed his postdoctoral research at the University of Toronto, Scarborough (Canada). He is currently an Associate Editor of the journal Eco-Environment & Health (since 2023), and a guest editor of special issues for journals Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts (2023) and Frontiers in Sustainability (2023). Dr. Li served as session chairs of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry annual meetings in 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023, and the International Society of Exposure Science annual meeting in 2023. He and collaborators develop computational models in support of tiered assessments of chemical fate, human exposure, and health risk to address environmental and health problems associated with chemical manufacturing and use.
Dr. Francheska Merced-Nieves
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Affiliation: Assistant Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
Expertise: Pediatric Environmental Health; Endocrine Disruptors; Mixtures Analyses; Neurotoxicology; Epidemiology.
Education: PhD in Neuroscience, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois ; BS in Biology, Universidad del Turabo, Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Experience Summary: Dr. Francheska Merced-Nieves is a dually trained neuroscientist and environmental epidemiologist. She serves as an assistant professor in the departments of Pediatrics & Environmental Medicine and Public Health at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is also a member of the Mount Sinai Institute for Exposomic Research and a Guest Editor in the Neurotoxicology and Teratology journal. Dr. Merced-Nieves’ primary research focus is to investigate the impacts of prenatal exposure to environmental factors (chemical and nonchemical) on children's cognitive and behavioral development.
Dr. Mary Ottinger
University of Houston
Affiliation: Professor Emeritus and Research Professor, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
Expertise: Endocrinology; Ecological Toxicology; Developmental Toxicology.
Education: PhD in Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, University of Maryland (UMD), College Park; MS in Ecology and Endocrinology, UMD, College Park; BS in Zoology, UMD, College Park.
Experience Summary: Dr. Mary Ann Ottinger is an emeritus professor and research professor in the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Houston. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health, studying developmental endocrine processes in non-human primates. Dr. Ottinger’s research interests focus on understanding fundamental neuroendocrine function over the lifespan and the impacts of endocrine disrupting chemicals over the life cycle. Dr. Ottinger’s research spans molecular endocrinology and neuroendocrinology to ecotoxicology, with emphasis on ecotoxicology and comparative field and lab studies to characterize adverse outcomes from exposure to environmental chemicals. Her research in endocrine function in non-human primates and comparative biology of aging provide insights into conserved biological processes across vertebrates. Dr. Ottinger is a Fellow of the Society for Study of Reproduction, Poultry Science Association; and the American Association for Advancement of Science. She is a recipient of the UMD Sigma Xi Research Award; the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Fellowship for study at Roslin Institute, Scotland, United Kingdom; and Gamma Sigma Delta (National Capitol Area Chapter) Research Award of Merit. Dr. Ottinger mentored over 50 graduate students and postdoctoral students during her tenure as professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she is Emeritus Professor.
Dr. Jennifer Przybyla
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Affiliation: Epidemiologist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Atlanta, Georgia
Expertise: Epidemiology; Risk Assessment; Environmental Health; Toxicology; Exposure Science.
Education: PhD Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon; MS, Natural Science; Concentration in Forensic Chemistry, Southeast Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri; MS, Analytical Chemistry, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia; BS/BA, Biology/Criminal Justice, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
Experience Summary: Dr. Jennifer Przybyla is an epidemiologist with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry with over ten years of experience in the environmental health field. Her research has focused on detection of chemicals at hazardous waste sites; health effects of exposure to chemical mixtures; and risk assessment of chemicals at Superfund sites. Currently she develops toxicological profiles and minimal risk levels used to inform communities living near hazardous waste sites of health risks from exposure to environmental chemicals. She has served as a panel member in the National Academies Standing Committee on Emerging Science for Environmental Health Decision Workshop "Integrating the Science of Aging and Environmental Health Research (2020) and as a subject matter expert in environmental epidemiology and risk assessment for a feasibility assessment for a cancer cluster investigation for the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Dr. David Reif
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Affiliation: Branch Chief and Senior Scientist of the Predictive Toxicology Branch (PTB) in the Division of Translational Toxicology (DTT), National institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Expertise: Bioinformatics; computational toxicology; statistics; genetics; data science for environmental health and toxicology.
Education: PhD, Human Genetics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; Postdoctoral training, Exposure Science and Computational Toxicology, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); MS, Applied Statistics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; BS, Biology (minor in Finance), College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.
Experience Summary: Dr. David Reif is Chief and Senior Scientist of the Predictive Toxicology Branch (PTB) in the Division of Translational Toxicology (DTT) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). In his role, Dr. Reif leverages expertise of the branch in data science, toxicogenomics, spatiotemporal exposures and toxicology, computational methods development, and new approach methods to advise predictive toxicology applications with partners across NIEHS, the interagency Tox21 Program, and the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods. Prior to joining NIEHS, Dr. Reif was a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and resident member of the Bioinformatics Research Center at North Carolina State University. He also previously served as Director of the Bioinformatics Consulting and Service Core; and Director of the Data Management and Analysis Core of the Superfund Research Center. Dr. Reif also served as Co-Director of the Integrated Health Sciences Facility Core of the Center for Human Health and the Environment. Prior to joining the faculty at NCSU, he was a Statistician (PI) with the U.S. EPA’s National Center for Computational Toxicology. The overarching research goal of the Reif Lab (www.reif-lab.org) was to understand the complex interactions between human health and the environment through the integrated analysis of high-dimensional data from diverse sources. Dr. Reif serves as Associate Editor for Environmental Health Perspectives and BioData Mining and was on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology and Frontiers in Toxicology. His efforts in research, teaching, and outreach have been recognized with several honors and selection to expert committees, including those for the National Academy of Sciences and the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer. Dr. Reif participates as Funding/Panel Reviewer: NIH study sections on Bioengineering Sciences and Technologies (BST), Systemic Injury by Environmental Exposure, Biomedical Computing and Health Informatics, Digestive, Kidney and Urological Systems (2012-present); U.S. EPA Science to Achieve Results and National Center for Environmental Research (2014-present); National Science Foundation Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (2015).
Dr. Rainbow Rubin
Breast Cancer Prevention Partners
Affiliation: Director of Science, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, Berkeley, California
Expertise: Research on understanding the environmental exposures that contribute to susceptibility and development of chronic disease during sensitive life stages; biology; environmental health; epidemiology; environmental exposure; nutrition and chronic disease prevention; science writing and translation.
Education: PhD in Nutritional Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California; MPH in Environmental Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California; BA in Biology, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio.
Experience Summary: Dr. Rainbow Rubin is an environmental health scientist, and her research focuses on the health impacts associated with early life toxic exposure in vulnerable groups. She has over twenty years of research experience and ten years of experience teaching environmental health in the undergraduate setting focusing on environmental exposure in vulnerable populations, health outcomes related to environmental exposures, and institutional and individual chronic disease prevention strategies. She is currently the Director of Science at Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (2022-present) where she translates scientific findings for public dissemination to support community-based participatory research, policy advocacy, and exposure research on chemicals of concern in breast cancer. Previously, she was the Director of the Health Science Program at St. Mary’s College of California (2014-2022) where she taught two upper division science courses including Environmental Health and Nutrition. Dr. Rubin was a Research Associate with the Office of Environmental Exposure and Hazard Assessment in the California Department of Public Health (2014) where she assessed the impact of perchlorate exposure on birth outcomes. Her training included a Fellowship in Reproductive and Environmental Health from the University of California, San Francisco from 2010-2011, where she worked with the EPA’s Office of Children’s Health on recommendations to incorporate women of childbearing age and pregnant women as sensitive populations within its risk assessment processes. Dr. Rubin was also a Post-doctoral Researcher at Stanford University Prevention Center in 2007 where she evaluated a chronic disease prevention project.
Dr. Marc Rumpler
State of Tennessee Department of Health
Affiliation: Director, Chemistry, Toxicology and Newborn Screening, Public Health Laboratory, State of Tennessee Department of Health, Nashville, Tennessee
Expertise: Environmental Toxicology, Human Health Assessment, Risk Assessment, Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Modeling, Chemical Exposure Monitoring, Environmental Exposure Monitoring, Clinical Diagnostics, Laboratory Methods, Clinical Chemistry, Molecular Diagnostics, Newborn Screening.
Education: PhD in Toxicology, University of Florida Gainsville, Florida; MS in Toxicology, University of Florida, Gainsville, Florida; BS, in Toxicology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts.
Experience Summary: Dr. Marc Rumpler is a clinical and environmental laboratory scientist and director. He has over twenty years of experience translating laboratory methods from research and development to clinical application. His previous research has included drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, chemical characterizations, and metabolomics using an array of analytical techniques. Presently Dr. Rumpler directs the Tennessee Public Health Laboratory's Environmental Health Program, which focuses in four key areas including aquatic toxicology, chemistry, biomonitoring, and newborn screening. His current research is focused on biomonitoring and public health surveillance of drugs and chemical compounds. Dr. Rumpler holds board certification each in toxicology, clinical chemistry, and molecular diagnostics from the American Board of Clinical Chemistry and the National Registry of Certified Chemists. He is a Fellow of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry and an active member of several professional trade organizations.
Dr. Jennifer Sahmel
Insight Exposure and Risk Sciences, Inc.
Affiliation: Managing Principal Scientist, Insight Exposure and Risk Sciences, Inc., Boulder, Colorado.
Expertise: Environmental health sciences; exposure assessment; risk assessment; dermal exposure assessment; industrial hygiene.
Education: BA in International Studies, College of William and Mary; MPH in Environmental Health Sciences and Industrial Hygiene, University of California at Berkeley; PhD in Environmental Health, University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
Experience Summary: Dr. Jennifer Sahmel is a Managing Principal Scientist at Insight Exposure and Risk Sciences with over 28 years of experience in human exposure and risk assessment and industrial hygiene. She is a Fellow of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Division of Environmental Health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and a Research Fellow of the Exposure Science and Sustainability Institute at the University of Minnesota. She is also a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) and Certified Safety Professional (CSP). Dr. Sahmel has previously worked for the U.S. EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), the Intermountain Region of the National Park Service, Comprehensive Health Services at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Cardno ChemRisk, FMC Corporation, and the Labor Occupational Health Program at the University of California. She has research experience and expertise in exposure and risk assessment practice and methodologies, exposure modeling, exposure reconstruction, dermal exposure assessment, Bayesian decision analysis, product stewardship, and health risk decision making. She is the current co-chair of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) facilitated National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Cross-Sector Council for Immune, Infectious, and Dermal Disease, and has been a member of the International Standards Organization (ISO) Technical Committee 146, Subcommittee 2, Workgroup 8, Air Quality – Workplace Atmospheres – Assessment of Contamination of Skin and Surfaces from Airborne Chemicals as well as the NIOSH Expert Workgroup on Skin Notations and Dermal Exposure Issues and the ANSI Committee for Respiratory Protection. Dr. Sahmel has published 30 peer-reviewed journal papers and 12 book chapters in the areas of exposure and risk assessment. She was a co-recipient of the 2022 Arthur C. Stern Distinguished Paper Award from the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA). She also has 42 invited conference presentations and 11 published conference abstracts and posters. Dr. Sahmel has received external funding for research performed on dermal exposure and risk assessment from the Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety. She is a past member of the national Board of Directors of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), the current Vice President of the AIHA’s Yuma Pacific Chapter, and a member of the AIHA’s Advisory Group for Total Worker Health.
Mr. Michael Wright, MS
United Steelworkers (Retired)
Affiliation: Former Director of Health, Safety and Environment, United Steelworkers, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Retired, 2021)
Expertise: Environmental Health Sciences; Industrial Hygiene; Occupational Safety; Chemical Process Safety Management; The Safe Workplace Handling of Highly Hazardous Chemicals; Hazard Communication; Public Health.
Education: MS in Environmental Health Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; BS in Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Experience Summary: Mr. Michael Wright is the former Director of Health, Safety and Environment for the United Steelworkers, a labor union representing more than 600,000 workers in steel, ferrous and non-ferrious metals, oil, chemicals, rubber and plastics, general manufacturing, mining, health care and other industries. He joined the union as an industrial hygienist in 1977 and became the Health, Safety and Environment director in 1984. Mr. Wright has investigated several hundred workplace accidents, many involving hazardous chemicals. For example, Mr. Wright was part of an international team that traveled to Bhopal, India, to investigate the 1983 release of methyl isocyanate, the worst such accident in history. The department he directed investigates many more industrial accidents. Mr. Wright is a former representative of the International Labor Organization (ILO) to the Internal Programme on Chemical Safety and was part of the international Coordinating Committee that oversaw the development of the hazard communication and labelling aspects of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (1994-2002). He was the chair of the Workers Group in the negotiations leading to the ILO Chemicals Convention (No.170, 1989-1990).