Members of the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals
Members of the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) are appointed by the Administrator of EPA from nominations received through a public call for membership. Members serve staggered terms of appointment, generally of two to three years.
EPA issued a request for nominations in an August 26, 2016 Federal Register Notice. Nominations were due on or before October 11, 2016. EPA solicited public comments on the nominees under consideration in a December 9, 2016 Federal Register Notice. Comments were due on or before January 9, 2017. Current SACC panel members are listed below and available to download as a PDF.
EPA is requesting public comments on additional candidates to the SACC. Biosketches of these candidates are available to download as a PDF. Please send any comments on these potential candidates to Tamue Gibson at Gibson.Tamue@epa.gov. Comments must be received by September 17, 2017. Read the original Federal Register notice requesting comments on these potential candidates, as well as the new Federal Register notice correcting the original due date for comments from September 5 to September 17. EPA will also be considering comments that were received on the original 29 candidates previously identified in the December 9, 2016 Federal Register notice.
Chair
- Dr. Kenneth Portier
The American Cancer Society (ACS)Affiliation: Non-Governmental - The American Cancer Society (ACS)
Expertise: Cancer assessment, statistics in environmental sampling, toxicology, program evaluation, and geographical information systems.
Dr. Kenneth Portier is Vice President of the Statistics & Evaluation Center at the American Cancer Society (ACS) home office in Atlanta, GA, and Affiliate Professor of Biostatistics in the School of Public Health, Emory University. A native of south Louisiana, Dr. Portier holds an M.S. in Statistics (1975) and Ph.D. in Biostatistics (1979) from the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill. Dr. Portier was a Statistical Consultant and Teacher at the University of Florida for 27 years, working with researchers in agriculture, environment, natural resources, and environmental health.
With ACS since early 2006, he provides administrative and statistical support on design and analysis of cross-sectional and longitudinal sample surveys, program evaluation and cancer modeling. He participated in over 60 FIFRA-SAP meetings since 1999 and five SAB Science Review Panels. In addition, Dr. Portier served on expert and advisory panels for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Toxicology Program (NTP), and the World Health Organization Food and Agriculture Organization (WHO/FAO). His research interests are vast, including the application of new statistical methodologies to cancer research and environmental health.
Members
- Dr. Henry Anderson
University of Wisconsin-MadisonAffiliation: University - University of Wisconsin-Madison. Formerly - Chief Medical Officer, Wisconsin Division of Public Health
Expertise: Disease and exposure surveillance systems, cancer and chronic disease epidemiology, reproductive and endocrine health hazards, drinking water contaminants, pesticides and dietary risk assessment including sport fish consumption advisory communication.
Dr. Henry Anderson holds adjunct professorships at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Population Health Sciences, and the University of Wisconsin Institute for Environmental Studies, Center for Human Studies. He recently retired from his positions as Wisconsin State Environmental and Occupational Disease Epidemiologist, and Chief Medical Officer in the Wisconsin Division of Public Health, Department of Health Services.
His primary research interests include disease and exposure surveillance systems, cancer and chronic disease epidemiology, reproductive and endocrine health hazards, drinking water contaminants, pesticides and dietary risk assessment, including sport fish consumption advisory communication.
Dr. Anderson previously served on five National Academies of Science Committees including “Toxicity Testing for Assessment of Environmental Agents," the Presidential Advisory Board on Radiation Worker Compensation and the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (U.S. EPA) National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Substances.
Dr. Anderson is the former chair of the U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board’s Environmental Health Committee and was also former chair of the Board of Scientific Councilors for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.
Dr. Anderson received his M.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is board-certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine with sub-specialty in Occupational and Environmental Medicine and is a fellow of the American College of Epidemiology. - Dr. James Bruckner
University of GeorgiaAffiliation: University - University of Georgia
Expertise: Toxicology and toxicokinetics of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), drug-chemical interactions at environmental exposure levels, metabolic and toxicokinetic bases for susceptibility of children to chemicals, and Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetics (PBPK) modeling of pyrethroid insecticides.
Dr. James Bruckner is currently a professor at the University of Georgia (UGA) College of Pharmacy. His primary research focus is the toxicology and toxicokinetics of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), drug-chemical interactions at environmental exposure levels, metabolic and toxicokinetic bases for susceptibility of children to chemicals, and physiological modeling of pyrethroid insecticides.
Dr. Bruckner has served on a variety of expert panels and committees for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S. Air Force, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ATSDR/CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The NAS appointments have included the Committees on Safe Drinking Water, Pesticides in Diets of Infants and Children; Acute Exposure Guideline Levels; Health and Safety Consequences of Child Labor; use of Third Party Pesticide Toxicity Research with Human Participants; Contaminated Drinking Water at Camp Lejeune; and the Committee on Toxicology.
Dr. Bruckner has also served on the editorial boards of Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Toxicology, Chemosphere and the International Journal of Toxicology. - Dr. Deborah Cory-Slechta
University of RochesterAffiliation: University - University of Rochester Medical School
Expertise: Development of animal models of behavioral toxicology that better simulate the context of the human environment, including assessment of behavioral consequences of the interactions of lead with prenatal stress, and with early behavioral adversity; neurotoxicology, pathology, and psychology.
Dr. Deborah Cory-Slechta is a professor of Environmental Medicine, Pediatrics and Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester Medical School and Acting Chair of the Department of Environmental Medicine and Principal Investigator (PI) of its National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Core Center Grant. Her research includes both animal models and human studies where she has focused largely on the behavioral consequences of developmental exposures to environmental chemicals. Current efforts include development of animal models of behavioral toxicology that better simulate the context of the human environment, including assessment of behavioral consequences of the interactions of lead with prenatal stress, and with early behavioral adversity.
Dr. Cory-Slechta previously served as Dean for Research at the University of Rochester Medical School and as Director of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute of Rutgers University.
Dr. Cory-Slechta has served on advisory panels of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the Institute of Medicine (IOM), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Specifically, she served on the U.S. EPA’s Science Advisory Board and the Board of Scientific Counselors. Dr. Cory-Slechta also served as Chair of the IOM and the NAS/National Research Council Committees. - Dr. Holly Davies
Washington State Department of HealthAffiliation: Washington State Department of Health
Expertise: Sustainability, human health and ecological risk assessments; scientific studies supporting State chemical policy, postdoctoral research (2000-2004) on mammalian reproduction and development, transcription factors and genomics.
Dr. Holly Davies is a senior toxicologist in the Washington State Department of Ecology, the State Environmental Agency, where she leads the agency’s initiative to prevent and reduce toxic threats. She has experience in chemical policy, scientific research, and teaching. Her work at the Department of Ecology has focused on Chemical Action Plans to identify, characterize, and evaluate all uses and releases of a specific persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemical (PBT) or group of PBTs followed by a suite of recommended actions needed to protect human health and the environment.
Dr. Davies is a member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, and actively participates in the Children's Environmental Health Working Group within the Washington Chapter of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment. She received her Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Washington and her B.S. in Biology from Cornell University. - Dr. William Doucette
Utah State UniversityAffiliation: University - Utah State University
Expertise: Ecological risk assessment; fate and behavior of organic contaminants in the environment.
Dr. William Doucette is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Utah State University (USU), and serves as the Associate Director of the Utah Water Research Laboratory. He is also a faculty member in the Toxicology Graduate Program and an Adjunct Professor (concurrently) in the Chemistry and Biochemistry and Geology Departments. Bill has B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Aquatic Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Doucette’s research focuses on the fate and behavior of organic contaminants in the environment with emphasis on phytoremediation, the uptake of industrial chemicals into edible plants, the measurement and prediction of physical-chemical properties using Quantitative Structure Property Relationships (QSPRs), emission of chlorinated solvents. - Dr. Panos Georgopoulos
Rutgers, the State UniversityAffiliation: University - Rutgers, the State University
Expertise: Chemistry and exposure (including susceptible life stages and subpopulations), Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetics (PBPK) modeling, and informatics related to environmental health applications.
Dr. Panos Georgopoulos is a professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, School of Public Health. Since 1989, he has served on the faculty of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and on the Graduate Faculty of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering, and of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University. He is a member of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI) of Rutgers, where he directs the Informatics and Computational Toxicology Core of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Center for Environmental Exposures and Disease (CEED).
Dr. Georgopoulos received his M.S. and Ph.D. Degrees in Chemical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and his Dipl. Ing. Degree from the National Technical University of Athens. At EOHSI, he established and directs the Computational Chemodynamics Laboratory (CCL), a state-of-the-art facility for informatics and modeling of environmental and biological systems. Dr. Georgopoulos’ teaching activities at Rutgers include development and implementation of innovative methods for high-content to high-throughput environmental risk analysis and informatics. - Dr. Kathleen Gilbert
University of Arkansas for Medical SciencesAffiliation: University - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Expertise: Toxicology, immunology, pathology, and links between toxicant exposure (e.g., trichloroethylene (TCE)) and autoimmune disease.
Dr. Kathleen Gilbert is a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and is based in the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute. She received her doctorate from Tulane University and has worked for over 30 years as an Immunologist and Immunotoxicologist.
Dr. Gilbert has served as the Director of the Arkansas Center for Environmental Exposure Research (ACEER) since its inception in 2002. Dr. Gilbert has served on several advisory panels for the EPA and the National Toxicology Program concerning the impact of chlorinated solvents as triggers of autoimmune disease and other types of toxicity. Her broad-based expertise is underlined by the fact that she also served on NIH review panels for Digestive, Kidney and Urological Systems; Immunology; and Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
Dr. Gilbert’s environmental research has focused on how chronic exposure to low concentrations of immunotoxicants such as chlorinated solvents; e.g. trichloroethylene, or heavy metals, can trigger autoimmune diseases. - Dr. Concepcion Jimenez-Gonzalez
GlaxoSmithKlineAffiliation: Industry - GlaxoSmithKline
Expertise: Chemistry and exposure (including susceptible life stages and subpopulations); sustainability and environmental health and safety; chemical engineering and new product development.
Dr. Concepcion Jimenez-Gonzalez is the Graduate Program Lead for Global Manufacturing and Supply at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Prior to this position, she served as Director of New Product Development, Director of Operational Sustainability, and Director of Engagement, Planning, Analysis and Reporting. She also previously served as Manager of New Product Support.
Prior to working at GSK, Dr. Jimenez-Gonzalez worked as an Environmental Engineer for Geo Environmental Consultants, Inc. She was also employed as a Program Manager, Researcher and Project Engineer at ITESM in Mexico. During the same timeframe, she was a visiting professor at Pfizer.
In addition to working for GSK, Dr. Jimenez-Gonzalez is an Adjunct Professor at North Carolina State University in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department. She also serves on the Governing Board of the American Chemistry Society’s Green Chemistry Institute. She received her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering (Fulbright Scholar) from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. - Alan Kaufman
Toy Industry AssociationAffiliation: Industry - Toy Industry Association
Expertise: Chemistry and exposure (including susceptible life stages and subpopulations); development and implementation of technical policies and strategies relating to toy safety, the environment, supply chain issues, and factory processes.
Alan Kaufman is a toy industry veteran with more than 35 years of experience addressing product safety, quality assurance, regulatory compliance and product testing issues for toy companies and retailers.
Prior to joining the Toy Industry Association (TIA), Mr. Kaufman was Vice President for Global Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs at Toys “R” Us, Inc. He spent more than a decade directing production, sourcing and technical services within the Walt Disney Company and its affiliated companies. Earlier in his career, he held technical and production positions at a number of toy manufacturers, including Mattel, Knickerbocker and Coleco.
As part of the External Affairs Team, Mr. Kaufman leads the continuing development and implementation of technical policies and strategies relating to toy safety, the environment, supply chain issues, factory processes and other related matters.
A graduate of UCLA with a degree in biology and organic chemistry, Mr. Kaufman is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO). He is also a member of the executive board of ASTM International Committee F15 for Consumer Products and is active on a number of its subcommittees, responsible for toy and juvenile product safety standards. - Dr. John Kissel
(Retired) University of WashingtonAffiliation: University - (Retired) University of Washington
Expertise: Chemistry, human exposure (including susceptible life stages and subpopulations) to environmental contaminants.
Dr. John Kissel is Professor Emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he had been a member of the faculty since 1990. He held a prior position in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. Dr. Kissel holds a Ph.D. in Civil/Environmental Engineering from Stanford University, an S.M. in Environmental Engineering from Harvard University, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. He is a registered Professional Engineer.
Dr. Kissel’s former research interests involved human exposure assessment with emphasis on exposures related to waste management, agricultural and residential use of pesticides, and consumer products. He also conducted research in probabilistic prediction of aggregate exposure and reconciliation of model predictions with observed biomarker data. Dr. Kissel is a former President of the International Society of Exposure Science and also served one term as Chair of the Exposure Assessment Specialty Group within the Society for Risk Analysis. He has served on two National Academy of Sciences Committees, multiple USEPA FIFRA Science Advisory Panels, EPA's Human Studies Review Board, and as a reviewer of the WHO environmental health criteria document on Dermal Exposure. - Dr. Melanie Marty
(Retired) California Environmental Protection AgencyAffiliation: State Government - (Retired) California Environmental Protection Agency. Adjunct Associate Professor, University of California-Davis
Expertise: Human health risk assessment, and risk assessment of environmental contaminants.
Dr. Melanie Marty recently retired from her position as Acting Deputy Director for the Science Division at the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), California Environmental Protection Agency where she oversaw the scientific activities of the division.
Dr. Marty previously served as Assistant Deputy Director, and Chief of the Air Toxicology and Epidemiology Branch. Her work has largely been in risk assessment of environmental contaminants, including developing guidance to adequately address susceptible subpopulations such as children.
Dr. Marty has served on a number of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s peer review committees and was the Chair of the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee.
Dr. Marty is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of California- Davis, in the Department of Environmental Toxicology, where she teaches a course on risk assessment of toxicants and contributes to other teaching activities. Dr. Marty received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis in Pharmacology and Toxicology. - Dr. Craig Rowlands
Underwriters Laboratories, LLCAffiliation: Industry - Underwriters Laboratories, LLC. Formerly - Dow Chemical Company
Expertise: Human health risk assessment, molecular biology, systems biology, toxicology applications to chemical risk assessments, sustainability and toxicant modes of action.
Dr. Craig Rowlands is a Senior Toxicologist with UL Supply Chain and Sustainability where he provides leadership in the development of new approaches and capabilities for safety assessments of chemicals and consumer products. He is an expert in navigating regulatory compliance for new substances and products through delivery of the appropriate safety data and risk assessments.
His research focuses on systems biology and toxicology applications to chemical risk assessments, sustainability and toxicant modes of action. He is an Adjunct Professor of Toxicology at Michigan State University, Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology, and a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition.
Prior to his tenure at Underwriters Laboratories, Dr. Rowlands was employed with the Toxicology and Environmental Research & Consulting program at Dow Chemical Company, where he practiced chemical risk assessment and led the development of new approaches to risk assessment policy and practices on the application of 21st century non-animal toxicity testing methods. - Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana
University of WashingtonAffiliation: University - University of Washington
Expertise: Pediatrics, epidemiology, exposures to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, including phthalates and bisphenol A and their impact on reproductive development.
Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Adjunct Associate Professor within the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington.
Her research interests focuses on exposures to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, including phthalates and bisphenol A and their impact on reproductive development.
Dr. Sathyanarayana previously served as Chair of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee. Currently, she serves on the National Academies of Sciences Committee on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals and Low Dose Toxicity. - Dr. Valentine Schaeffer
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health AdministrationAffiliation: Labor - U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Expertise: Human health risk assessment, permissible exposure limits for chemical hazards, rulemakings for beryllium, silica, and hexavalent chromium, and liaison with the National Toxicology Program.
Dr. Valentine Schaeffer works as a Health Scientist in the Directorate of Standards and Guidance at the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), where he directs preparation of health risk assessments to support occupational health standards.
His duties also involve development of OSHA scientific policy and the coordination of OSHA health science activities with other Federal agencies and professional organizations. Project areas include updating permissible exposure limits for chemical hazards; rulemakings for beryllium, silica, and hexavalent chromium; and liaison with the National Toxicology Program.
Prior to working at OSHA, Dr. Schaeffer was a Health Scientist at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, responsible for evaluating human health risk from exposure to chemicals in consumer products. He received his Ph.D. degree in Biochemical Toxicology from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. - Dr. Daniel Schlenk
University of California-RiversideAffiliation: University - University of California-Riverside
Expertise: Understanding the biochemical factors that influence susceptibility to environmental and natural chemicals, aquatic organisms, metabolism, mode of action analysis, and ecological risk assessment.
Dr. Daniel Schlenk is Professor of Aquatic Ecotoxicology and Environmental Toxicology at the University of California-Riverside. Dr. Schlenk received his Ph.D. in Toxicology from Oregon State University in 1989. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and from 2007-2014, he was a permanent member of the USEPA FIFRA Science Advisory Panel of which he chaired from 2012-2014.
From 2003-2006, Dr. Schlenk was a member of the Board of Directors for the North American Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. He has been an ad hoc member for the USEPA Science Advisory Board for Aquatic Life Criteria Guidelines from the Ecological Processes and Effects Committee, and participated in proposal review panels for the NSF, USEPA, NOAA, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. His research interests focus on mechanisms of action of pesticides, PAHs, and emerging compounds in aquatic organisms. - Dr. Christopher Waller
Merck Research LaboratoriesAffiliation: Industry - Merck Research Laboratories
Expertise: Physiologically-based pharmacokinetics (PBPK) modeling, translational data science, predictive modeling, and business transformation.
Dr. Christopher Waller is an Executive Director in the Merck Research Laboratories Division of Merck & Co., where he leads the Scientific Modeling Platform and Applied Math and Modeling teams and is responsible for Information Technology solutions in support of Merck’s Center for Observational and Real-world Evidence. His current primary interests are in translational data science, predictive modeling, and business transformation.
Dr. Waller has held a variety of positions in academic, government, biotech, and large pharmaceutical company sectors. Dr. Waller was a founding board member of the Pistoia Alliance, serves on the Board of Visitors at the School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and is a member of the Strategic Advisory Board for the Department of Computer Science at North Carolina State University.
Dr. Waller received his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. - Dr. Catherine Willett
The Humane Society of the United StatesAffiliation: Animal Protection - The Humane Society of the United States
Expertise: Toxicology, pathology, in vitro to in vivo extrapolation, science, policy and regulatory aspects of replacing animals as the basis of chemical safety assessment.
Dr. Catherine Willett is currently the Director of Regulatory Toxicology, Risk Assessment and Alternatives at the Humane Society of the United States and Coordinator of the Human Toxicology Project Consortium. Her work focuses on the science, policy and regulatory aspects of replacing animals as the basis of chemical safety assessment and involves working with regulatory agencies, scientists and policy-makers in the U.S. and Internationally, to facilitate the development and implementation of new scientific approaches to chemical assessment.
Dr. Willett has served in the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Test Guidelines Program for several expert groups and as part of the Task Force on Hazard Assessment and Extended Advisory Group on Molecular Screening and Toxicogenomics. She also served on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Toxicology Program’s (NTP), Scientific Advisory Committee on Alternative Toxicological Methods (SACATM).