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SPEAKER PROFILES
Lesa Aylward is a Senior Scientist at BBL Sciences and provides consulting services in the areas of toxicology, epidemiology, and risk assessment. Ms. Aylward has been active in the assessment of the scientific data on dioxins are related compounds for nearly fifteen years. She has published on issues including the use of biologically relevant dose metrics for evaluation of epidemiologic and toxicologic data and on the incorporation of the epidemiology data on dioxins into evaluation of risks at background exposure levels. Ms. Aylward also has broad experience in other areas related to the assessment of risks from exposure to metals, other persistent organic compounds, and organic solvents; in the use of physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPk) models; and in hazard communication. Ms. Aylward holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in materials science and engineering. Dr. Leila Barraj holds a Doctor of Science degree in Biostatistics from the Harvard School of Public Health. She is Director of Statistical Services at Novigen Sciences, Inc., a consulting firm in Washington, D.C. Dr. Barraj has developed methodologies and conducted dietary risk assessments for the last ten years. She has worked extensively with the consumption data generated by USDA’s surveys, and was involved in developing the models and algorithms used in Novigen’s risk assessment software, including the Dietary Exposure Evaluation Model (DEEMÔ) that is used by EPA in its dietary risk assessments. She has designed and analyzed data from nationwide market basket surveys of food commodities. She has served as a WHO Temporary Adviser for JECFA, reviewing and evaluating the safety of food additives and contaminants. Dr. Barraj has consulted for such groups as the Nutrition Institute of Cairo, Egypt and the United Nations Children’s Fund. She has also served as Assistant Professor at the American University of Beirut. Dr. Gail Charnley is an internationally recognized expert in environmental health risk assessment and risk management science and policy. She has more than twenty years of experience in environmental toxicology, human health risk assessment, and risk management. As a consultant, she develops scientific, regulatory, and risk communication strategies to help clients respond to legal, regulatory, and public perception challenges in the United States and Europe. She provides support for clients on issues regarding the strategic risk management of complex scientific issues related to, for example, the implementation of numerous regulatory programs and standards, including the Clean Air Act, Food Quality and Protection Act, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed cancer risk assessment guidelines and Integrated Risk Information System. She also holds an adjunct faculty position at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis. During its tenure, she was executive director of the Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management, mandated by Congress to evaluate the role that risk assessment and risk management play in federal regulatory programs, establishing her as a leader in health risk-related public policy. Before her appointment to the Commission, she served as acting director of the Toxicology and Risk Assessment Program at the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council. She has been the project director for several National Academies of Sciences committees, including the Committee on Risk Assessment Methodology and the Complex Mixtures Committee, and served as the chair of several U.S. Army Science Advisory Board committees that evaluated health risk assessment practices in the Army. She recently served as Director of the Management of Risk program for The Weinberg Group, Inc.’s Health, Safety, and Environmental Sciences group. She has conducted laboratory research, published, and consulted for both public and private sector clients in areas related to the experimental and applied aspects of toxicology and human health risk assessment. She lectures frequently on risk science policy issues and is the author of numerous reports evaluating the toxicity of chemical exposures and their potential impact on public health. She is immediate past-president of the International Society for Risk Analysis, for which she has also served as councilor and chair of the public policy committee. She holds a Ph.D. in Toxicology from M.I.T. and an B.A.. in biochemistry from Wellesley College. Rory B. Conolly is a Senior Scientist at CIIT. His main research interest is human health risk assessment, with an emphasis on reducing uncertainty in risk assessment through development of quantitative, mechanism-based exposure-response models. Dr. Conolly received formal training in biology and biochemical toxicology and became interested in physiologically based pharmacokinetic models in the early 1980's. He worked initially on the biochemical mechanism of hepatic DNA damage by 1,2-dichloroethanoe and on the ototoxicity of toluene. He has developed simulation models and directed laboratory studies for a variety of chemicals, including organophosphates and halogenated hydrocarbons, worked on stochastic simulation models to examine the roles of cellular division and apoptosis in chemical carcinogenesis, and on several physiologically based pharmacokinetic models, including models describing pregnancy and lactation. Most recently, he has played a central role in the development of a new mechanism-based cancer risk assessment for formaldehyde that uses advanced dosimetry and tissue response modeling. Rory is President of the Society of Toxicology (SOT) Biological Modeling Specialty Section (2000 - 2001), past president of the SOT Risk Assessment Specialty Section (1997 - 1998) and was a member of the SOT Risk Assessment Task Force (1998 - 2000). He is an Adjunct Professor of Biomathematics at North Carolina State University and has twice received awards from the Risk Assessment Specialty Section (1991, 1999) for the best presentation in risk assessment at the SOT Annual Meeting. Dr. Conolly maintains an active interest in teaching, having most recently (December 1999) given a 3-day course on simulation modeling and risk assessment to postdoctoral fellows at CIIT. In addition to the SOT, he is a member of the Society for Risk Analysis and has been a diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology since 1980. Dr. Conolly was born in London, England and raised in Canada and the United States. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Harvard College in 1972, a doctorate in physiology/toxicology from the Harvard School of Public Health in 1978, and spent a postdoctoral year at the Central Toxicology Laboratory of Imperial Chemical Industries, PLC, Cheshire, England. He was a member of the Toxicology Faculty at The University of Michigan School of Public Health from 1979 through 1986, and worked with the U.S. Air Force Toxic Hazards Research Division, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio from 1986 until 1989, when he joined CIIT. Herbert Estreicher concentrates in environmental, health, and safety law, with particular emphasis on the regulation of toxic chemicals, pesticides, food additives, consumer products, and biotechnology products. His practice includes advising and representing clients on regulatory matters before the federal Environmental Protection Agency, state environmental agencies, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Consumer Products Safety Commission, and on legislative matters before Congress. Mr. Estreicher joined Covington & Burling in 1989 and now serves as Of Counsel to the Firm. Mr. Estreicher serves as Chair of the ABA Committee on Chemical Regulation and Right-To-Know and is a former chair of the Environmental Law and Public Health Committee of the ABA Science and Technology Section. Mr. Estreicher received a J.D. Degree cum laude from The New York University School of Law, was elected to the Order of the Coif, and served as a staff editor on the Law Review. He was a law clerk to Judge Daniel M. Friedman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Prior to entering law school, Mr. Estreicher was a senior research chemist and technical project leader with The Shell Chemical Company, and received a Ph.D. in chemistry from Harvard University in 1980. He is admitted to the Bars of the District of Columbia and New York. Michael Gough, Ph.D. taught microbiology and did research in molecular biology for about ten years, during which time he was a Fulbright Lecturer in Peru and India. In the last two decades, he has worked in environmental health risk assessment at the US Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, where he managed the Biological and Behavioral Sciences Program, and middle-of-the-road and libertarian think tanks. Currently a freelance consultant, he is especially interested in distinguishing science - the essence of which is measurement - from policy-based estimation and assumption in risk assessment and in illuminating the dominance of policy in government risk assessments. Dr. Gough is a Fellow of the Society for Risk Analysis, current Vice President of the International Society of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, the author of more than 40 papers and newspaper pieces about risk assessment, author of Dioxin, Agent Orange (Plenum Press, 1986), co-editor with T.S. Glickman of Readings in Risk (Johns Hopkins, 1990), and coauthor with Steve Milloy of Silencing Science (Cato, 1999). George M. Gray, B.S., M.S., Ph.D. is a Lecturer in Risk Analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health and Director of the Program on Food Safety and Agriculture at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis. As a scientist, George is a strong proponent of the use of more and better scientific information in the risk assessment process and risk-based frameworks to guide social efforts to manage health and environmental hazards. His primary research interests are risk characterization and risk communication applied to food safety and agriculture and to chemicals in the environment. Dr. Gray’s current work focuses on the potential for bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the United States, interpretation of rodent cancer bioassays for risk assessment, risk/risk tradeoffs in pesticide regulation, methods for evaluation of the benefits of changes in drinking water quality standards, and right-to-know policies for environmental management. Dr. Gray teaches toxicology and risk assessment at the Harvard School of Public Health and directs the Center’s continuing education short course "Analyzing Risk: Sciences, Assessment and Management." He has worked with many companies and trade organizations as well as Federal and State government groups to increase understanding of the size and sources of health and environmental risks. George holds a B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Michigan, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Toxicology from the University of Rochester. Clifford T. "Kip" Howlett, Jr. is Vice President of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and Executive Director of its Chlorine Chemistry Council (CCC). He has general management responsibilities for the CCC, which was formed in 1993 to represent industry’s interests in the public policy dialogue surrounding chlorine and chlorinated compounds. The CCC is involved in science, research, product stewardship, government relations and public information regarding chlorine and chlorine chemistry. CCC represents more than thirty-five companies that produce chlorine or use chlorine chemistry to make products, ranging from medicines to high-performance plastics, that meet the most essential needs of modern society. Mr. Howlett joined the CCC in October 1994, after serving as Vice President of Policy for the Washington-based National Policy Forum (NPF), which was the Republican party center for public policy. Prior to joining NPF in early 1994, he spent more than nineteen years with Georgia Pacific Corporation, a major paper and forest products company which also produced chlorine. From 1990 to 1993, he was the Company’s Vice President of Environmental and Government Affairs, dealing with health and environmental issues, other public policy issues, and compliance at more than 400 facilities. Mr. Howlett has a B.A. from the Johns Hopkins University, and a law degree from Williamette (OR) University. He is a member of the Oregon bar. Brent D. Kerger, Ph.D., DABT is a Principal Toxicologist and the Director of HSRI. He has more than 18 years of experience in conducting, managing, and publishing studies involving toxicology, environmental chemistry, and investigation of environmental problems. A Board-Certified toxicologist, Dr. Kerger has extensive experience in the investigation and analysis of legal or regulatory issues regarding risk assessment and chemical causation of diseases in humans. He has thoroughly researched key toxicological issues surrounding human exposures to a broad range of chemicals, particularly chlorinated organics like dioxins, dibenzofurans, and PCBs, as well as heavy metals, PAHs, benzene, and chlorinated solvents. Dr. Kerger guides the optimized research capabilities and access to resources (expertise and information) that promotes an integrated, multi-disciplinary perspective to addressing scientific issues. He has designed and implemented a variety of field studies, laboratory studies, and clinical studies aimed at characterizing chemical exposure and toxicity. He has written several major documents responding to controversial legal and regulatory policy issues. Dr. Kerger has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals on chemical toxicity, physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling, and innovative exposure and risk assessment techniques. Dr. Kerger has applied his expertise in litigation and regulatory negotiation settings in Federal and State Courts throughout the United States. Jack S. Mandel earned his B.Sc. degree in Mathematics in 1966 at the University of Manitoba; MPH in Epidemiology in 1973 and Ph.D. in Epidemiology in 1981, at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Mandel is currently a Group Vice President at Exponent, primarily responsible for directing the nationwide operations of the Health and Environmental practices. Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Mandel was a member of the University of Minnesota faculty since 1975. From 1995 to 1999, he was the Head of the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. In 1996, he received the distinguished honor of being named to the endowed Mayo Chair in Public Health. In 1997, he was the recipient of the Leonard M. Schuman Award for Excellence in Teaching. During his tenure at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Mandel served on many international, national, state, and local committees. He has also served as a consultant to industry, professional associations, and governmental agencies. Dr. Mandel has conducted many case-controls, cohort (both prospective and retrospective), cross-sectional, experimental, and methodological studies. He has published more than 100 articles related to epidemiology, including studies of prostate, colorectal, kidney, pancreatic, breast, lung, stomach, hematopoietic and skin cancers. These studies have evaluated a variety of potential causes for illness due to exposures through occupation, radiation, pesticides and other chemicals, hormones, medications, diet, alcohol, and tobacco, as well as other lifestyle factors. John Donald Millar, MD, DTPH (Lond.) is President of Don Millar & Associates, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia, consultant in Occupational and Environmental Health. Dr. Millar received a B.S. degree in Chemistry in 1956 from the University of Richmond; M.D. in 1959 from the Medical College of Virginia; 1966, the D.T.P.H. (Lond.) [equivalent to a Master of Public Health] from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, U.K.; and in 1993, Dr. Millar studied Quality Enhancement with the late Dr. W. Edwards Deming. A physician epidemiologist, the only person to hold three key national scientific leadership positions in occupational/environmental health: Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 1981-1993; Director, National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) 1980-1981; and, Chairman Executive Committee, National Toxicology Program (NTP) 1989-1993. He previously directed CDC’s Bureau of State Services, and the historic Smallpox Eradication Program. In 1993, Dr. Millar retired from the U.S. Public Health Service as Assistant Surgeon General with the rank of Rear Admiral (Upper). He now is Vice Chairman of the Louis W. Sullivan Public Health Policy Advisory Board, a Washington-based "think-tank" for the improvement of science-based public health policy-making, and Consultant in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, PathCon Labs. In 1998, Dr. Millar chaired the Scientific Workshop on Toxigenic Models for AIHA, and in 1999, for the CDC, facilitated the External Expert Panel on Acute Pulmonary Hemorrhage in Infants. From 1988-1998, Dr. Millar served as Adjunct Professor of Occupational and Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, and now serves on the editorial and advisory boards of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, and the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. Dr. Millar has received many awards and honors over the years of his distinguished service. Terry F. Quill is a partner in the law firm of Duane, Morris & Hechscher, LLP, where he provides environmental and regulatory counseling and litigation services. He counsels corporations, local governments and trade associations on legal and technical matters associated with potential human and environmental exposures to toxic substances, and has extensive experience with issues related to dioxin, endocrine disrupters, and human and ecological risk assessments. He also advises clients on U.S. and international efforts to address persistent organic pollutants and endocrine disrupters. Prior to his legal career, Mr. Quill held research positions specializing in molecular and developmental genetics, immunochemistry and tumor immunology. He served as a county toxicologist responsible for addressing community health concerns associated with potential exposure to toxic wastes and toxic materials. He was also responsible for assessing and communicating risk. Mr. Quill received BS (biology) and MS (specializing in molecular and developmental genetics) degrees from Wayne State University in 1976 and 1977. In 1983, he received a MS in toxicology from the University of Michigan and is a 1988 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. Mr. Quill is a Council member of the International Society of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. Lorenz R. Rhomberg is a Principal Scientist at Gradient Corporation, a Cambridge, Massachusetts environmental consulting firm. Before joining Gradient he was an Assistant Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he maintains an adjunct appointment. From 1984-1994 he was a risk assessor at the U.S. Environment Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. Dr. Rhomberg earned his Ph.D. in population biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and his B.Sc. in biology from Queen’s University in Ontario. His interests lie in methodology and science policy for quantitative risk analysis, including pharmacokinetic modeling and probabilistic methods with special emphasis on cross-species extrapolation, chlorinated solvents and endocrine active agents. Dr. Rhomberg is a member of the Office of Pesticide Programs’ FQPA Science Review Board, has served on several FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panels, on NAS Committees, and other panels. He is a Past President of the New England Chapter of the Society for Risk Analysis. Stephen H. Safe received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemistry from the Queen’s University in Canada, and Doctor of Philosophy in Bioorganic Chemistry from the Oxford University in Great Britain. He served as research officer with the National Research Council of Canada from 1968 to 1973. From there he went to the Department of Chemistry as Associate Professor at the University of Guelph from 1973 to 1977, then full professor 1977 to 1981. From 1984 to present Dr. Safe is a distinguished professor in the Department of Veterinary Physiology & Pharmacology, Texas A&M University. Dr. Safe has received many honors and awards, written five books, and refereed more than 480 papers. Robert Scheuplein received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Miami, Florida and his Doctorate from the University of Utah. Bob joined the FDA in 1977 and served in several positions in the area of toxicology and food safety. He became the Director of the Office of Toxicological Sciences, CFSAN in 1991. His activities included membership on: the OSTP Committee that drafted the National Policy on Chemical Carcinogens in 1985; IARC evaluation committees; JECFA; FAO/WHO risk assessment and risk management consultations and various interagency HHS Risk Management Committees. Between 1992-1994 he was FDA’s principal liaison with the EPA/HHS working group on the dioxin reassessment. Bob retired from FDA in 1994. At the present time Bob is a scientific consultant for Keller and Heckman, LLP working in the areas of food safety, toxicology and risk assessment. Barbara Olds Schneeman currently serves as Assistant Administrator for Nutrition in the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. From 1993 through 1999 she was the Dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis. She has been a faculty member at UC Davis since 1976 and is a professor of nutrition with appointments in the Departments of Nutrition, Food Science and Technology, and Internal Medicine in the School of Medicine. During this time she has also served as chair of the Department of Nutrition and was a visiting scientist at the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Schneeman received her bachelor of science degree from the University of California, Davis in food science and technology, her Ph.D. in nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley and postdoctoral training in gastrointestinal physiology at Children’s Hospital in Oakland. Dr. Schneeman’s professional activities include membership on both the 1990 and 1995 Dietary Guidelines Committee which is advisory to the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and of Agriculture in the USA. She has been a member of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture and served on Governor Gray Davis’ transition team for agriculture and water. In 1997, she was appointed by Secretary Glickman to serve on the Research, Extension and Education Advisory Board for USDA. She has served as Associate Editor for the Journal of Nutrition and on the Editorial board for Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine, Food and Nutrition Series of Academic Press, Nutrition Reviews, Journal of Nutrition, and California Agriculture. In addition she has served on committees for FDA, FAO, WHO, the American Society for Nutritional Sciences and the Institute of Food Technologists. Professional honors for Dr. Schneeman include the FDA Commissioner’s Special Citation and the Harvey W. Wiley Medal, the Samuel Cate Prescott award for research, the Future Leader Award, and several honorary lectureships. She currently has more than 100 publications and is recognized for her research contributions in the areas of gastrointestinal function, dietary fiber, and lipid metabolism. Joseph C. Stanko, Jr. has been Majority Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Commerce, chaired by Rep. Tom Bliley (R-VA) since early 1997. In that position, Mr. Stanko advises the Committee on environmental matters such as air quality standards, Environmental Justice, EPA’s information and data systems, and the role of state agencies in implementing federal environmental statues. He also takes part in the Committee’s congressional oversight of EPA’s programs. During his tenure at the Committee, he has been the lead House staffer on a number of Clean Air Act amendments and other environmental legislation. Prior to joining the staff of the Commerce Committee, Mr. Stanko was in private practice where he specialized in environmental and administrative law. He has represented companies and municipalities in all regions of the United States, in the context of civil, administrative and criminal proceedings. Mr. Stanko received his undergraduate and law degrees from Boston University. He is a member of numerous legal and environmental professional organizations. Thomas B. Starr trained academically in theoretical physics, first at Hamilton College (B.A., 1966), and then at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (M.S., 1968, and Ph.D., 1971). Following NSF postdoctoral and faculty appointments in the Institute for Environmental Studies at Wisconsin, in 1981 he joined CIIT as a senior scientist in the Department of Epidemiology, and from 1987 onward, as Director of its Program on Risk Assessment. In 1989, he joined ENVIRON International Corporation as a Principal in the Health Sciences Division, with quantitative risk assessment as his main practice area. In 1998, he became an independent consultant. His research interests have been aimed at incorporating knowledge of toxic mechanisms into risk assessment, and improving epidemiologic methods for assessing worker health. He has published more than 80 scientific papers and abstracts, and given hundreds of scientific presentations. Dr. Starr is an adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering in the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He has been appointed to numerous advisory posts, including the Halogenated Organics Subcommittee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board, the North Carolina Academy of Sciences Air Toxics Panel, and the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission Ad Hoc Committee for Air Toxics. Currently, he is a member of the Secretary’s Scientific Advisory Board on Toxic Air Pollutants for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Health and Natural Resources. He has testified before OSHA, EPA, other regulatory agencies, and Congress regarding the potential human health risks posed by various chemical exposures, including 1,3-butadiene, cadmium, dioxin-like compounds, formaldehyde, lead, methylene chloride, particulate matter, pesticides, and environmental tobacco smoke. He is an active member of the American Statistical Association, the Society for Risk Analysis, and the Society of Toxicology. In 1988-89 he served as the first President of SOT’s newly formed Specialty Section on Risk Assessment, and in 1989-90 as President of the Research The Moderators,
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