Victoria Baxter is the Head of Climate & Crisis Response Partnerships at Google where she builds product-enabling partnerships, drives go-to-market strategy, ecosystem engagement and partnership execution and relationship management for sustainability, weather and crisis response experiences and products. Previously, Victoria advised Fortune 500 companies on how to take their social impact and sustainability strategies to the next level with leadership positions with the Social Impact Practice at Weber Shandwick and Korn Ferry’s ESG & Sustainability Practice. She is also an ICF-certified Executive Coach and partners with leaders to increase self-awareness, build on existing strengths and create concrete action plans to drive more effective results.
B2 Pathology Solutions LLC
Dr. Brian Berridge is the Chair of the Digital In Vivo Alliance and the Principal Consultant at B2 Pathology Solutions LLC. Prior to his retirement from the NIH in 2023, he was the Scientific Director of the Division of Translational Toxicology and Associate Director of the interagency National Toxicology Program at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Before he joined NIH, he served as Head of Animal Research Strategy at GlaxoSmithKline.
Brian is a veterinarian and board-certified as a veterinary pathologist. He received a PhD in Veterinary Pathology from Texas A&M University. Brian spent 17 years in the pharmaceutical industry as a toxicologic pathologist with specialty expertise in cardiovascular pathology and translational animal research. He is the former Chair of the pharma industry’s IQ Consortium 3Rs Leadership Group where he also served as the Lead for the Microphysiological Systems Working Group. While at the NIH, he was a member of the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director’s Animal Research Rigor and Reproducibility Working Group. Brian is currently a member of the Advisory Committee to the Division of Earth and Life Studies at the National Academies and the Stakeholder Advisory Group for the EU’s Horizon 2020 Predictive Toxicology Project.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
Dr. Charles is a veterinarian and Chief Data Scientist within the National Security Directorate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Her research integrates multimodal data, e.g., human and animal medical records and disease reporting with opensource data, environmental conditions, epidemiologic variables, and socioeconomic factors, into complex models to advance current situational awareness, event and anomaly detection, risk assessment, and early warning through an all-source, One Health (OH) approach. Dr. Charles leads PNNL’s AI-Driven OH Security program, which focuses on disrupting health threats and their impacts. Leveraging PNNL’s leadership in operational AI and OH, the team works at the local, regional, national, and global levels to achieve optimal health and security results. Charles sits on the editorial board of Nature’s Scientific Reports, Pathogens journal, and holds an associate editor position for CABI One Health. She also serves as a technical advisor on Senator Gillibrand’s One Health Security Council and holds a joint appointment with Washington State University’s Paul Allen School for Global Health.
Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), World Health Organization (WHO)
Cary Institute
Dr. Barbara A. Han is an Associate Scientist and disease ecologist at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York. Her research focuses on advancing infectious disease intelligence to improve the prediction and prevention of zoonotic disease emergence. By integrating machine learning with ecological and evolutionary principles, Dr. Han’s work enhances upstream surveillance and management strategies, aiming to preempt spillover transmission and mitigate epidemic spread in humans. Dr. Han is a pioneer in applying AI and ecoinformatics to predict spillover risks associated with zoonoses, including Ebola, SARS-CoV-2, Zika, Nipah, and understudied hemorrhagic fevers. A trusted advisor to global organizations, Dr. Han has contributed her expertise to the World Health Organization, Wellcome Trust, United Nations Environment Programme, the U.S. National Academies, and the National Security Council. She earned her undergraduate degree from Pepperdine University and completed her Ph.D. at Oregon State University in 2008. Before joining Cary Institute, she held research fellowships from the National Science Foundation (ecological informatics), National Institutes of Health (machine learning), and the U.S. Department of State (Fulbright Scholar).
Bayer
Dr. Julian Heinrich is a trained bioinformatician and computer scientist currently working in data-science and landscape modeling for environmental safety at Bayer AG. During his time in the agrochemical industry, he has been applying data-science and visual analytics to agro-chemical data over multiple scales from small molecules to the landscape. As former assistant professor for visual analytics in the life sciences at the Computer-Science Department of University of Tuebingen, Germany, he conducted research in the development, application, and evaluation of visual-analytics tools and visualization techniques and served as (co-) chair of multiple international conferences.
National Institute of Health Sciences, Japan
Dr. Kanda currently serves as Division head of Pharmacology at National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS) Japan. His research area is regulatory science, which seeks to apply new approach methodologies (NAM) to the review process and bridge the gap between scientific innovation and safety issues.
He has coordinated the JiCSA (Japan iPS Cardiac Safety Assessment) consortium, including the development and validation of test methods using iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes, and has collaborated with HESI Cardiac Safety Committee, FDA, and Comprehensive In Vitro Proarrhythmia Assay (CiPA). He has worked with HESI NeuTox Committee in terms of seizure liability and other projects, such as PBPK, DART and CORA. In addition, he has contributed to OECD guidances (Good In Vitro Method Practice, Developmental Neurotoxicity, and PBPK) as an expert group.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of Safety Pharmacology Society (SPS) and Japanese Pharmacological Society (JPS). He is also a member of the Board of Directors of European Society of Toxicology In Vitro (ESTIV) and the Japanese Society for Alternatives to Animal Experiments (JSAAE) to promote the 3Rs. He serves as the Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports, Cardiovascular Toxicology, Journal of Pharmacological Sciences. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters related to assessing the safety and effectiveness of drugs and chemicals.
He received B.S. degree, M.S. degree, and Ph.D. degree from the University of Tokyo. After he worked as a research assistant professor in National Defense Medical College, he has worked on regulatory science research since joining the Division of Pharmacology, NIHS as a section head in 2008 and has been promoted as a Division head in 2017.
IBM
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
U.S. FDA National Center for Toxicological Research
Dr. Dongying Li is a research scientist and project manager with over 15 years of experience in cell biology, drug safety, and toxicology. At the U.S. FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research, she leads and supports regulatory science initiatives focused on drug-induced liver injury (DILI), cardiotoxicity, and sex-based drug safety. Her work involves the application of genomics, New Approach Methods (NAMs), bioinformatics, and artificial intelligence in both experimental and computational settings. She also serves as a global regulatory science liaison through the Global Coalition for Regulatory Science Research (GCRSR) which consists of ~20 government agencies from 11 countries and EU.
Dassault Systèmes
University of Florida
Dr. Zhoumeng Lin is an Associate Professor of Toxicology at the Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology and the Department of Environmental and Global Health at the University of Florida. He received his PhD degree in Toxicology from the University of Georgia in 2013. He completed his postdoctoral training in the Institute of Computational Comparative Medicine at Kansas State University in 2016. He was an Assistant Professor from 2016 to 2021 and then an Associate Professor from March to May 2021 at Kansas State University, prior to joining the University of Florida as an Associate Professor in May 2021. Dr. Lin’s research is focused on the development and application of computational technologies, especially PBPK, QSAR, machine learning, and AI approaches, to study chemical and nanoparticle risk assessment. He is a co-author of >100 peer-reviewed publications. He teaches two courses entitled “PBPK Modeling in Toxicology and Risk Assessment” and “AI in Environmental and Global Health”. He is a co-editor of the textbook entitled “Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) Modeling: Methods and Applications in Toxicology and Risk Assessment”.
Boehringer-Ingelheim
Dr. Zhichao Liu is the Director of AI and Digital Innovation at Global NCS&DMPK of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. At Boehringer, Dr. Liu spearheads efforts to develop AI-based solutions for next-generation drug safety evaluation and risk assessment, including AI-powered target liability assessment, predictive toxicology, ToxGPT, tox report automation, translational safety, and digital pathology. Prior to joining Boehringer, Dr. Liu led the Artificial Intelligence Research Force (AIRForce) at the US FDA/NCTR. Dr. Liu’s expertise spans chemistry, biology, and computer science, and he has led numerous cutting-edge projects over the past decade, designing, implementing, and deploying AI/ML solutions for advanced drug development and regulatory science. His accomplishments are reflected in over 100 peer-reviewed publications and numerous scientific awards.
Baylor College of Medicine
Vasiliki (Vaso) Rahimzadeh, PhD (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy. She investigates the ethical, legal, and social issues of health data sharing across emerging computing environments. Dr. Rahimzadeh is currently PI of a NIH K01 Mentored Research Scientist Award that aims to develop and implement an assessment tool for responsible genomic data stewardship in the cloud. She furthermore co-leads the Regulatory and Ethics Work Stream of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health, has served on a National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine committee on life science governance and is a standing member of the Bioethics Advisory Panel for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Dr. Rahimzadeh received her undergraduate degree from the University of California Berkeley, and earned both her MSc and PhD degrees in biomedical ethics from McGill University. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University with support from a National Human Genome Research Institute Ethical Legal and Social Implications Program training grant
University of California, Riverside
Shaolei Ren is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Riverside. His research broadly focuses on AI for Good, addressing societal challenges such as public health and sustainability. His work has influenced AI governance frameworks adopted by international organizations such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and WHO, while also driving industry innovations, including the first real-time water footprint reporting tool for computing. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award (2015) and several paper awards, including at ACM e-Energy (2024, 2016) and IEEE ICC (2016). He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Bayer AG
Dr. Thomas Steger-Hartmann (VP) led department Investigational Toxicology and subsequently the In Vitro Safety Subcluster at Bayer AG, Pharmaceuticals, Germany until September 2024. Thomas has more than 29 years of experience in the field of preclinical assessment of pharmaceuticals. He is a trained biologist with a diploma from the University of Freiburg i.Br., an M.Sc. degree from the University of Michigan and a PhD from the University of Freiburg i.Br., Germany. He is a Eurotox registered toxicologist.
Thomas was deputy leader of two European Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) projects (eTox and eTransafe) which focussed on data science approaches for preclinical safety assessment. Since September 2024 Thomas leads a a new consortium under the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) for the advancement of virtual control groups with the name VICT3R (“VICTER”).
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Click here to view Dr. Teeguarden’s CV.
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Mathieu Vinken is a senior full professor affiliated with the Free University Brussels-Belgium. He has a background in pharmaceutical sciences, holds a doctoral degree in experimental in vitro toxicology and is a European registered toxicologist. He is author of more than 250 papers. He is editor-in-chief of Toxicology and NAM Journal, associate editor of Archives of Toxicology and European editor of Applied In Vitro Toxicology. He coordinates several national and international projects in the field of NAMs, among which the European project ONTOX. He is past-president of the European Society of Toxicology In Vitro, and current executive committee member of the Federation of European Toxicologists and European Societies of Toxicology.
Vice President of Assembly
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Director, Strategic Partnerships
Division of Translational Toxicology (DTT)
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Dr. Warren Casey is the Director of Strategic Partnerships in the Division of Translational Toxicology (DTT) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). In this role, he is responsible for identifying strategic opportunities and managing collaborative programs that promote the development and adoption of human-based testing approaches. Over the course of his career, Dr. Casey has held several key leadership roles, including serving as Executive Director of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) and Director of the NTP Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Toxicological Methods (NICEATM). He also serves as a scientific advisor to various national and international consortia, contributing his expertise to advance the field of human-relevant toxicology.
A veteran of the U.S. Army, Dr. Casey was deployed with the 82nd Airborne Division to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In his current role at DTT, he is collaborating with colleagues in the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to lead the PROject for Military Exposures and Toxin History Evaluation in U.S. Service Members (PROMETHEUS). This initiative aims to improve understanding of exposure-related adverse health outcomes and to inform strategies for prevention and intervention in military populations.
Vice Chair of Board
Bayer Crop Science
Dr. Nina Hallmark is currently working in the Environment Safety organisation of Bayer AG Crop Science Division in Germany. This role includes investigating the potential risk to terrestrial vertebrates, such as birds and mammals, to pesticides used in the landscapes where these wild creatures live and feed. Previously, Nina worked as a Human Safety expert for Bayer In France, using her interest and experiences in human toxicology to explore potential developmental, reproductive or endocrine-mediated toxicity from pesticides using laboratory mammalian test systems. This built on similar work with industrial chemicals during 8 years with ExxonMobil in Brussels, Belgium and Houston, Texas, USA. This opportunity followed her PhD in reproductive and developmental toxicology from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Originally Nina studied Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham, England which led to a MSc in Forensic Science at the University of Edinburgh in bonny Scotland. This course revealed the science and art of regulatory toxicology, leading to her becoming an in vivo Study Director for a CRO (today known as Charles River), before embarking on the PhD program and subsequent roles within the global chemical and pesticide industries. This fusion of academic, industry and CRO experiences have shaped Nina’s interests in safety sciences. These have matured into a focus on the potential inter-play between human and environment protection testing and assessment approaches. She is also curious about and fascinated by the changing technologies available to investigate potential hazard and exposure profiles which can enable effective, realistic safety profiling and assessment of the different chemistries which are integral to our 21st century lifestyles. Nina believes in cross-disciplinary collaboration to identify and address the key safety science questions we face today and is greatly looking forward to supporting HESI with their mission as the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute to engage with diverse scientific minds of the HESI strategic partners to bring their many different experiences and perspectives into the discussions and together, to foster collaborative, holistic, science-based solutions.
President of Assembly
ExxonMobil Corporation
Dr. Gary Minsavage is the Senior Environmental Health Advisor for ExxonMobil Corporation, where he provides corporate leadership and strategic direction regarding environmental health matters. Minsavage is involved in identifying emerging challenges and opportunities, leading collaborative networks and research projects, and contributing to the advancement of risk assessment methods development. Minsavage received his PhD in toxicology from the University of Rochester and Masters of Business Administration from Rutgers University. He completed postdoctoral training as a US National Research Council Fellow at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense before joining ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc. (EMBSI). Minsavage is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology and an active member of the US Society of Toxicology where he serves on the Risk Assessment Specialty Section Executive Committee, and also serves on the Board of the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute. Minsavage serves as a Liaison for the National Academies’ Environmental Health Matters Initiative where he helps the world’s leading scientists prioritize and tackle complex environmental health challenges and opportunities. He held a number of leadership roles at ExxonMobil, including Division Manager for the Global Product Stewardship Services Division at EMBSI, responsible for supporting product stewardship issues and opportunities, as well as safety data sheet authoring for all of ExxonMobil; Section Head for the Epidemiology, Health Surveillance, and Quality Assurance Section at EMBSI, responsible for coordinating epidemiology and QA programs for ExxonMobil global business units and external collaborations; and Section Head for the Toxicology Section at EMBSI, where he led toxicology research programs and initiatives. From 2008 to 2011, Minsavage was on assignment in Brussels, Belgium, as the Science Executive for Health Programs at the European refining industry’s technical association for health, safety, and the environment (CONCAWE). In this role, he was the EU REACH Project Manager responsible to deliver all petroleum product risk assessments for the 2010 registration period and was responsible to coordinate research in various areas including community health impact of air pollution and epidemiologic assessments of industry workers. Minsavage enjoys driving strategic thinking at work and hanging out with his family on and off sports fields.
Executive Director
Director, Center for Patient and Consumer Safety (CPCS)
spettit@hesiglobal.orgSyril Pettit is the Executive Director of the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) and has been with the organization since 2000. Dr. Pettit holds a Doctorate in Public Health Leadership from the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Amherst College. As the organization’s senior scientific and organizational leader, Dr. Pettit guides the strategic and technical direction for the organization’s collaborative programs and its Board of Trustees. She has authored or co-authored dozens of scientific articles and lectured at international scientific meetings around the world on topics including public health, oncology, cardiac safety, genomics, collaborative approaches to science, and other drug and chemical safety issues. She is an avid runner and swimmer.
Chair of Board
University of Ottawa
Carole Yauk was the lead scientist of the Genomics Laboratory in the Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau at Health Canada for 18 years in Ottawa. She joined the University of Ottawa’s Department of Biology as a professor in September 2020, where she holds the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Genomics and the Environment. Her research broadly focuses on the development and implementation of genomic tools for human health risk assessment of environmental chemicals. Carole currently chairs the Board of Trustees for HESI and is involved in its Emerging Systems Toxicology in the Assessment of Risk (eSTAR) and Genetic Toxicology Technical (GTTC) Committees. She is a Canadian delegate and plays leadership roles within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Advisory Group on Emerging Sciences in Chemical Assessment. She is Past-President of the Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society and a recent inductee into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.
hesi@hesiglobal.org
Phone: +1-202-659-8404
Fax: +1-202-659-8403
740 15th Street NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20005
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