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 10 of the 19 members expired in 2026. EPA sought nominations from the public in January 2026 and requested public comments on nominations in April 2026 (Docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2025-3624). These public comments were used to assist EPA in selecting 11 new appointees for a total of 23 SACC members, including the appointment of a new chair.
The following list includes the current SACC members.
Chair
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.
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. Wade Barranco
Lyondell Chemical Company
Affiliation: Senior Toxicologist, Lyondell Chemical Company, Houston, Texas
Expertise: Human Health Risk Assessment; Toxicology; Cancer Hazard
Education: PhD in Molecular Toxicology, University of California, Los Angeles, California; MS in Environmental Health Science, University of California, Los Angeles, California; BS in Zoology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
Experience Summary: Dr. Wade T. Barranco is employed as a toxicologist at Lyondell Chemical Company. He is board-certified as a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT) since 2009 and has been a European Registered Toxicologist (ERT) since 2021. He has eight years of experience in risk assessing chemicals and an additional ten years of experience in risk assessing pharmaceuticals. As a toxicologist at Lyondell Chemical Company, he has served on various industry-led collaborative initiatives (e.g., through the American Chemistry Council [ACC]) focused on risk assessment of chemicals marketed in the United States. In addition, he has served on the ACC's Long-Range Research Initiative Committee focused on scientific research, which supports chemical safety assessment.
Dr. Lyle Burgoon
Raptor Pharm & Tox, Ltd.
Affiliation: President and CEO, Raptor Pharm & Tox, Ltd., New Hill, North Carolina
Expertise: Toxicology; Pharmacology; Biostatistics; Human and Ecological Risk Assessment; Computational Toxicology; Bioinformatics; Epidemiology
Education: PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology with Environmental Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan; AB in Biology and Pre-Medicine, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois
Experience Summary: Dr. Lyle D. Burgoon is the President and CEO of Raptor Pharm & Tox, Limited (Ltd). Dr. Burgoon has over 20 years of experience in pharmacology, toxicology, biostatistics, human and ecological risk assessment, computational toxicology, bioinformatics, and epidemiology. At Raptor (2019─present), Dr. Burgoon leads the company's forensic, litigation support, industrial chemical, food and cosmetics ingredients, and environmental sports safety practice areas. Prior to joining Raptor full-time, Dr. Burgoon was the Director of the Center for Existential Threat Analysis at the Department of Defense (2015─2022), where he led multidisciplinary teams supporting warfighter protection from exposure to weapons of mass destruction (WMD), in addition to leading simulations of WMD primary, secondary, and tertiary impacts on agricultural, ecological, and civil infrastructure networks, communities and nation-states. In addition, Dr. Burgoon led the development of Anticipatory Intelligence activities focused on predicting and identifying emerging biological and chemical weapon capabilities around the world. Prior to that, Dr. Burgoon was a senior manager at the US Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Research and Development (2009─2015), where he served as a Senior Science and Policy Advisor, and Chief of the Hazardous Pollutant Assessment Group (HPAG) at the National Center for Environmental Assessment.
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. Celia Chen
Dartmouth College
Affiliation: Research Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
Expertise: Freshwater Ecology; Marine Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Research on the Fate and Effects of Mercury and Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances in Freshwater and Marine Food Webs
Education: PhD Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Program (Aquatic Ecology), Dartmouth College; MS Biological Oceanography, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island; BA Biology modified with Environmental Studies, Dartmouth College
Experience Summary: Dr. Celia Y. Chen is a professor of Ecotoxicology with over 30 years of teaching and research experience. She has been in the research faculty at Dartmouth College since 1995 and has also been the Co-Director of the Center for Mercury Studies of Biodiversity Research Institute since 2018. From 1995─2020 as a member of Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program (SRP; 1995─2020), she had roles as a Research Associate, Principal Investigator, and Director. She is a review editor for the journal, Ecohealth, and has been a guest editor for Ecohealth 2007─2008; Environmental Research 2011─2012; Environmental Health Perspectives 2011-2012; Estuaries and Coasts 2013-2015; Science of the Total Environment 2015─2017; and Ambio 2016─2018, 2021─2023. She was a chairperson leading synthesis workshops (Sources to Seafood 2008─2013; Collaborative on Food with Arsenic and Associated Risk Regulation 2014─2017; Global Mercury Impact Synthesis 2020─2023) and led the International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (Co-chair 2015─2017; Scientific Steering Committee 2013─2024). She serves as co-chair of the Fate and Transport Partnership of the Minamata Convention (2020─present). Her research investigates the ecological, chemical, and physical factors determining bioaccumulation and trophic transfer of mercury and per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances in freshwater and marine food webs.
Dr. Michael Dourson
Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment
Affiliation: President and Director of Science, Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA), Cincinnati, Ohio
Expertise: Toxicology; Risk Assessment
Education: PhD in Toxicology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio; BA in Biology, Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio
Experience Summary: Dr. Michael L. Dourson has a PhD in toxicology from the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, and is a board-certified toxicologist (i.e., DABT) serving as the Director of Science at the 501c3 nonprofit organization Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) (six-plus years). Prior to this, he was Senior Advisor in the Office of the Administrator at the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), (3 months). Before this, he was a Professor in the Risk Science Center at the University of Cincinnati, (two-plus years) College of Medicine and also worked at TERA (20 years) and USEPA (15 years). He has been awarded the Arnold J. Lehman award from the Society of Toxicology, the International Achievement Award by the International Society of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, and four bronze medals from the USEPA. He has been elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences (i.e., FATS) and as a Fellow for the Society for Risk Analysis (i.e., FSRA). He has co-published more than 150 papers on risk assessment methods or chemical-specific analyses (five of them winning paper-of-the-year awards), and co-authored well over 100 government risk assessment documents (many of them EPA risk assessment guidance texts). He has made over 150 invited presentations to a variety of organizations, and has chaired over 150 sessions at scientific meetings and independent peer reviews. He has been elected to multiple officer positions in the American Board of Toxicology (including its President), the Society of Toxicology (including the presidency of four specialty sections), the Society for Risk Analysis (including its Secretary), and is currently the President of the International Society for Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology (ISRTP), a nonprofit organization that provides an open public forum for policy makers and scientists promoting sound toxicologic and pharmacologic science as a basis for regulation affecting human safety and health, and the environment. In addition to numerous appointments on government panels, such as USEPA’s Science Advisory Board, he is a current member on the editorial board of the journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology.
Since 1986 to the present, Dr. Dourson has chaired well over 100 scientific peer-review meetings for risk assessment documents. Documents have covered a number of topics including risk assessment methods and assessments and including cancer and non-cancer toxicity. These meetings have been sponsored by a number of organizations through either Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment’s (TERA) program of the International Toxicity Estimates for Risk (ITER) database (for examples, please see www.tera.org/peer), by USEPA through its IRIS database (see www.epa.gov/iris), by the NSF International, or by groups such as Versar. These reviews have discussed well over 400 chemicals or risk issues.
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. Sanket Gadhia
Tesla, Inc.
Affiliation: Staff Toxicologist, Tesla, Incorporated, Austin, Texas
Expertise: Pharmacology/Toxicology; Occupational Toxicology; Risk/Hazard/Safety Assessments
Education: PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, St. John's University, New York; MS in Pharmacology, St. John's University, New York; Bachelor’s of Pharmacy, Rajiv Gandhi University, India
Experience Summary: Dr. Sanket Gadhia is a Staff Toxicologist at Tesla, Inc. with ten years of professional experience in risk, hazard and safety assessment of chemicals, pharmaceutical modalities, and personal care products. He currently oversees the global toxicology function within Environmental Health and Safety at Tesla. Dr. Gadhia has coauthored over 300 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and safety assessments. He has served several expert/working groups including Cathode Active Materials Science Alliance (2025─present), American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) dermal and surface sampling working group (2023─present), International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Europe (2018─2020), and Cosmetics Europe (2018─2020). In addition, he is a member of the U.S. Society of Toxicology (SOT) and continues to serve SOT and its specialty sections/committees since 2011. Dr. Gadhia's doctoral research focused on epigenetic changes in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESC) following exposure to heavy metals. His postdoctoral research focused on development of high throughput label free in-chemico and in-vitro assays to validate epigenetic drug targets for novel drug discovery programs at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Dr. Gadhia's current research interests include use of novel approach methodologies (NAMs) in hazard assessment and employing 3Rs in occupational toxicology.
Mr. Gregory J. Garvey, MSPH
EHS Support
Affiliation: Principal Scientist, EHS Support, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania
Expertise: Toxicology; Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment; Exposure Assessment; Fate and Transport
Education: MSPH in Toxicology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; BS in Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida
Experience Summary: Mr. Gregory J. Garvey is a public health toxicologist with over 25 years of experience as an environmental consultant. He has extensive experience evaluating chemical exposures and effects in both human and ecological receptors. His experience includes human and ecological risk assessment, toxicology, vapor intrusion, background evaluations, environmental site assessment, and field studies. He has published articles in peer-reviewed journals and presented at international conferences on the exposure and risk of metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and emerging contaminants. He has conducted screening-level and baseline risk assessments, both deterministic and probabilistic, in support of remedial investigations and feasibility studies throughout the United States and internationally. He has also reviewed regulatory developments associated with standard and emerging contaminants, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and 1,4-dioxane. He is a board-certified risk assessor as a Diplomate of the International Board of Environmental Risk Assessors (IBERA) through the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC).
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. 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. Jill Ryer-Powder
Environmental Health Decisions
Affiliation: Principal Toxicologist at Environmental Health Decisions, Coronado, California
Expertise: Human health risk assessment with a focus on toxicological evaluation and exposure assessment of chemicals in the environment.
Education: PhD in Toxicology, Rutgers University; MS in Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University; BS in Nutrition, Cornell University.
Experience Summary: Dr. Jill Ryer-Powder is the Principal Toxicologist at Environmental Health Decisions. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (1990─present), and from 2019─2023 was a member of the Board of Directors for the American Board of Toxicology. Her focus is on human health risk assessment, toxicological assessment of environmental chemicals, and exposure assessment. She has extensively researched the toxicological issues surrounding human exposures to metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, ammonia, and chlorinated hydrocarbons.
Dr. Ryer-Powder was selected by EPA’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to augment the SAB Chemicals Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) for the review of the EPA’s draft IRIS assessment for ammonia (2014). Dr. Ryer-Powder served on the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Lead Exposure and Prevention Advisory Committee (LEPAC) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from July 2019 to December 2022. She was the Chairman of LEPAC’s Blood Lead Reference Value (BLRV) workgroup charged with providing recommendations to CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR) through the LEPAC on the rationale for establishing CDC’s Blood Lead Reference Value (BLRV) and how to define, use, and update the BLRV. Dr. Ryer-Powder has also served on State and foundation review panels and committees.
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.
Dr. Hyeong-Moo Shin
Baylor University
Affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, Waco, Texas
Expertise: Quantitative Risk Assessment; National-Scale Exposure Modeling (UCMR-5, USGS, etc.); Physiologically-Based Toxicokinetic (PBPK), Study Quality Evaluation; Aggregate and Cumulative Chemical Exposure Assessment; Inhalation, Ingestion, and Multimedia Exposure Modeling, Potentially Exposed or Susceptible Subpopulations (PESS).
Education: PhD in Environmental Health, University of California, Irvine; MS in Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania; BS in Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, South Korea
Experience Summary: Dr. Shin leads a research group focused on environmental exposure assessment, chemical risk assessment, computational modeling, and environmental epidemiology. His research is federally funded and encompasses biomonitoring, maternal-fetal exposure assessment, and statistical modeling.
His active research areas include the investigation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure and health outcomes, the effects of lithium on dementia using national datasets, micro- and nanoplastics exposure in relation to autism, and the impact of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on thyroid health. Additionally, he examines consumer product emissions and risk modeling, evaluates PBPK models, and incorporates machine learning applications into chemical exposure science and exposome-wide association studies.
Dr. Shin has published 76 peer-reviewed articles, contributing to topics such as PFAS exposure, maternal-fetal transfer of contaminants, exposome research, neurodevelopment, and computational exposure modeling. His service on federal advisory committees includes roles as a National Institutes of Health Study Section Reviewer for Neurological, Mental and Behavioral Health in 2025, a Department of Defense Alzheimer’s Research Program Reviewer, and Guest Editor for a special issue of Indoor Air.
Dr. Shin has experience in evaluating complex exposure pathways and assessing health impacts on susceptible populations. His research is independent, and he participates in national scientific review panels, making him applicable for ongoing advisory roles.
Dr. Berrin Tansel
Florida International University
Affiliation: Distinguished University Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Florida International University, Miami, Florida
Expertise: Contaminant Transport; Transport and Partitioning of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and Siloxanes in the environment; Exposure Pathways; Trophic Transfer of Contaminants PFAS and Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons; Ecotoxicology; Contaminant Partitioning in Environmental Compartments; Bioaccumulation; Risk Assessment
Education: PhD in Environmental Engineering (with minor in Chemical Engineering), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin; MS in Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin; BS in Chemical Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye
Experience Summary: Dr. Berrin Tansel is a distinguished university professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Florida International University. She has over 35 years of experience in environmental engineering, focusing on water treatment processes, sustainable infrastructure, and contaminant transport. Dr. Tansel has authored over 200 scientific research papers on contaminant fate and transport, treatment technologies for water and soil, contaminant partitioning and accumulation, in environmental compartments, bioaccumulation, exposure and risk assessment, and emerging technologies for water treatment. Most recently, Dr. Tansel’s group has emphasized: leaching profiles of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in biosolids and e-waste; fate and transport of siloxanes in biogas; oil spill impacts on coastal ecosystems; and multi-hazard vulnerability of infrastructure. Within the professional community, she is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the Environment and Water Resources Institute (EWRI). Dr. Tansel is a Board-Certified Environmental Engineer by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) and Board-Certified Water Resources Engineer by ASCE.
Dr. Chadwick Thompson
ToxStrategies
Affiliation: Senior Managing Scientist, ToxStrategies, Houston, Texas
Expertise: Human Health Risk Assessment; Dose-Response Analysis; Toxicology; Hazard Identification; Mode of Action Analysis
Education: PhD in Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, Texas; MBA in Finance, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia; BS in Psychology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia
Experience Summary: Dr. Chadwick M. Thompson is a senior managing scientist at ToxStrategies (2009─present). He has over 20 years of experience in human health risk assessment and over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles—mostly focused on risk assessment issues. Prior to his current role as a scientific consultant, he worked at the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Office of Research and Development Effects Identification and Characterization Group (2004─2009), where he began as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Risk Policy Fellow (2003─2004). Since the beginning of his career in risk assessment, his work has focused on the application of best practices, the best available science, and weight of the scientific evidence to risk assessments and risk management decisions. As a consulting scientist, he has helped design and analyze studies to inform risk assessment. In this capacity, he has had the pleasure of interacting with several US EPA panels and US EPA advisory panels on behalf of regulated stakeholders. Most recently, his work has focused on the mode of action and risk assessment of inorganic metals and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), as well as the quantitative application of genotoxicity data in risk assessment. He was also recently invited to serve on a panel reviewing US EPA’s Value of Information case study on US EPA’s transcriptomic-based risk assessment product (circa 2023).
Dr. Douglas Wolf
Independent Consultant
Affiliation: Retired, private citizen, Pittsboro, North Carolina
Expertise: Toxicology; Pathology; Toxicologic Pathology; Carcinogenesis
Education: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), University of Missouri; PhD in Veterinary Pathology, Purdue University
Experience Summary: Dr. Douglas C. Wolf is currently retired from formal work. Dr. Wolf graduated from the University of Missouri with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree and, after six years in clinical veterinary practice, attended Purdue University where he completed a pathology residency and received a research PhD in Veterinary Pathology. Dr. Wolf was a staff scientist for six years at the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology where he studied chemical carcinogenesis. From 1997 until 2013, Dr. Wolf held various positions with the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), initially as a Principal Investigator at the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL), where he continued research in chemical carcinogenesis and molecular pathology. Dr. Wolf held several formal leadership roles at the US EPA as a Branch Chief in the Environmental Carcinogenesis Division, Director of the Toxicology Assessment Division, Assistant Laboratory Director in NHEERL and Director of the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. He received numerous awards for innovative work at the US EPA to provide solutions to improve regulatory science and decision-making. In November 2013, he joined Syngenta Crop Protection as Regional Lead for Toxicology and Health Sciences in North America. In January 2019, Dr. Wolf was appointed a Senior Syngenta Fellow as he led international efforts to advance science-based risk assessment focusing on crop protection chemicals and progressing the development and qualification of new approach methods in the service of decreasing the use of animals in chemical evaluation until his retirement in March 2024. Dr. Wolf has authored or coauthored over 165 journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports and has presented at numerous national and international scientific meetings. Dr. Wolf has participated in numerous scientific advisory boards reviewing health effects and risk assessments including as a member of the US EPA Science Advisory Board, as an ad hoc member to the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals, and the Health Advisory Board for National Science Foundation-International reviewing drinking water risk assessments. In 2004, he was elected a Fellow of the International Academy of Toxicologic Pathologists and in 2007 a Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences.
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).