HESI is governed by a Board of Trustees, which is always comprised of at least as many public sector representatives as private sector representatives. The Board provides scientific, strategic, and financial oversight for the organization. The HESI Assembly, which is comprised of public and private sector scientists from HESI’s scientific committees, the Board of Trustees, and HESI Emerging Issues Committee Science Advisors, elects the governing Trustees and provides input on new scientific and strategic objectives for the organization.
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.
Vice Chair of Board
Syngenta
Starting June 2025, Dr. Nina Hallmark will work for Syngenta at their Jealott’s Hill International Research Centre, UK. Until May 2025, Nina was working in the Environment Safety organization 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
President, ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc.
Dr. Gary Minsavage is the President of ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc (EMBSI). He received a PhD in Molecular Toxicology from the University of Rochester and an MBA from Rutgers University. Gary completed postdoctoral training as a US National Research Council Fellow at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense before joining EMBSI. He has expertise in toxicology, human health risk assessment, chemical safety assessments and management, and strategy development with an understanding of the science-policy interface. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology. Gary has broad and diverse perspectives that bring together strategic thinking and environmental health science solutions. He was the Health Science Executive at CONCAWE, Belgium. In this role, he identified, coordinated, and/or granted research in areas including the health impact of air pollution, benzene worker studies, and asphalt/bitumen worker exposure and cancer epidemiology. He also managed CONCAWE’s EU REACH programs. Throughout his career, he has been an active contributor to advisory and scientific committees where he has helped the world’s leading scientists prioritize and tackle complex environmental health challenges and opportunities. Currently, Gary has been a Liaison and Workshop Planning Committee Member for the National Academy of Sciences Environmental Health Matters Initiative, is the president of the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute Assembly, president of the Toxicology Forum, and a sponsor representative for the Health Effects Institute. He is currently a member of the Finance Committee of the Society of Toxicology (SOT) and Past President for the SOT Risk Assessment Specialty Section.
Treasurer
University of Connecticut
José E. Manautou is the Boehringer Ingelheim Endowed Chair in Mechanistic Toxicology, Department Head of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Professor of Toxicology at the University of Connecticut (UConn) School of Pharmacy. His long-term research interests are in biochemical and molecular mechanisms of xenobiotic-induced hepatotoxicity and defining compensatory responses to liver injury that enhance tissue resistance to toxicant re-exposure. Dr. Manautou has published over 200 original research articles, abstracts, commentaries, and other reports. He has been the principal and co-investigator of numerous extra- and intramural grants. His exemplary service to UConn has been recognized with the Provost’s Outstanding Service Award. His service to the scientific community and to the discipline of toxicology are equally commendable. In 2003, Manautou was elected councilor of the Society of Toxicology (SOT) and has served in key committees and task forces of the society. He currently serves as SOT Undergraduate Diversity Program Coordinator. In 2006, he was the recipient of the SOT Achievement Award. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences and Fellow of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. His involvement in the review of extramural and intramural science for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) also has been significant. He was member of the NIH Xenobiotic and Nutrient Disposition and Action Study Section, NIH College of CSR Reviewers, and the NIEHS Board of Scientific Counselors. He also served as member of the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council and on three separate committees for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. At HESI, he is a member of the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee. He is also a member of HESI’s Health DataWell Advisory Board. Dr. Manautou also chaired the Emerging Issues Committee. He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Current Opinion in Toxicology and the President of the International Union of Toxicology. In 2019, he was named recipient of the Purdue University School of Health Sciences Distinguished Alumnus Award. He obtained his BS in pharmacy from the University of Puerto Rico, a PhD in pharmacology and toxicology at Purdue University in 1991, and postdoctoral training at the University of Connecticut. He also conducted sabbatical training at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam.
Sanofi
Karissa Adkins is an experienced toxicologist with broad expertise in both investigative and regulatory toxicology, currently employed at Sanofi pharmaceuticals. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and her PhD in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ.
Karissa started her pharmaceutical career at Wyeth in Andover, Massachusetts where she was in the Exploratory Toxicology group. She managed the Molecular Toxicology group and served as the preclinical safety representative on various project development teams for antibody and vaccine therapeutics. Following Pfizer’s acquisition of Wyeth, she became a director of Investigative Toxicology within Pfizer’s Drug Safety Research and Development department in Groton, Connecticut, where she continued to lead and manage an investigative group while still supporting product development teams. Notable during her time at Pfizer is her innovative work in nonclinical pharmacogenomics and support of the licensure of the meningococcal B vaccine Trumenba®. After 15 years at Wyeth and Pfizer, Karissa spent a brief tenure in the Development group in the Drug Safety Research and Evaluation Department of Takeda Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she oversaw nonclinical safety support for their vaccine portfolio and served as the Head of Toxicology. She is currently the Global Head of Investigative Toxicology in Preclinical Safety at Sanofi, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, overseeing groups in France, Germany, and the United States, and is a member of the Preclinical Safety leadership team.
Karissa is a member of the Society of Toxicology and is actively involved in BioSafe, the IQ consortium, IMI, and HESI. Her involvement with HESI dates back to her days at Wyeth and work with the genomics committee (now eSTAR), and has continued throughout her career. She has numerous publications, patents, and speaking engagements to her credit, a highlight of which was having one of her publications awarded the best publication award for 2015 by the Society of Toxicology.
Health Canada
Dr. Tara Barton-Maclaren is a Risk Assessment Division Manager in the Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch of Health Canada since 2012. As the focal point for hazard assessment expertise in the Bureau, the division follows advancements in toxicology and risk assessment and works toward the development of strategies for the integration of emerging data and novel methodologies for the assessment of chemicals existing in the Canadian marketplace. In support of the global transition to 21st Century toxicology and risk assessment, she participates in initiatives under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and engages in various scientific collaborations both nationally and internationally in the areas of QSAR, Adverse Outcome Pathways, Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment and new approaches to support regulatory decision-making.
Dr. Tara Barton-Maclaren joined Health Canada in the Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau in 2007 and has led various risk assessment files as well as hazard methodology initiatives. She obtained her BSc Honours from the University of Guelph with a specialization in Biomedical Science in 2000 and her PhD in Reproductive Toxicology from McGill University in 2007.
Universidade de São Paulo
Dr. Roger Chammas is currently Professor of Oncology at Universidade de São Paulo. He completed his studies in medicine at Universidade de São Paulo in 1988 and received his PhD in biochemistry from the same university, working at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, São Paulo branch. He then trained in cancer glycobiology at the University of California, under Ajit Varki’s supervision, from 1994 to 1997. He returned to São Paulo in 1998; he was a visiting researcher at Universidade Federal de São Paulo and Universidade de São Paulo Medical School, where he obtained a tenure position in 2001.
Dr. Chammas is presently the chair of the Center for Translational Research in Oncology at Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo, a public Cancer Center associated with the university. He also serves as the founding director of the Comprehensive Center for Precision Oncology at Universidade de São Paulo. He was elected a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences in 2013, and serves on the Latin American subcommittee of the Global Affairs Office of the American Association for Cancer Research, promoting interdisciplinary cancer research in the region. He is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research and the Brazilian Society of Cell Biology and a life fellow of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).
His research focuses on mechanisms of cancer therapy resistance, as a platform for innovative diagnosis and more precise treatments.
University of Seoul
Jinhee Choi, PhD
Dr. Jinhee Choi is a professor at the School of Environmental Engineering, University of Seoul, and Director of the Chemical Big Data Science AI Research Center. She holds a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Environmental Planning from Seoul National University, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology from the University of Paris XI (Paris-Sud, Orsay), France.
Dr. Choi is a leading expert in computational toxicology, specializing in AI-driven toxicity prediction, systems toxicology, and Next-Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA). Her research aims to modernize chemical safety assessment by integrating big data, AI, and mechanistic toxicology to improve the prediction of adverse effects caused by environmental chemicals. She has pioneered data-driven approaches to toxicity prediction modeling, developing explainable AI models that incorporate molecular, cellular, and organism-level toxicity data to enhance the reliability and interpretability of chemical risk assessments. A significant focus of her work is the development of Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP)-based alternative testing strategies, where she utilizes high-throughput screening (HTS), omics technologies, and in silico modeling to establish predictive frameworks that reduce reliance on traditional animal testing. By aligning AOPs with AI-powered molecular toxicity networks, her research provides a mechanistic foundation for Next-Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA), enabling more accurate hazard identification and prioritization of chemicals based on biological relevance.
Dr. Choi has also made substantial contributions to the assessment of chemical mixtures, a critical challenge in toxicology. She leads projects focusing on Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment (IATA) for chemical mixtures, where she develops integrated testing strategies (ITS) that leverage AOPs, in vitro assays, and computational models to predict combined toxic effects. These efforts help address regulatory and scientific challenges in evaluating the risks posed by complex chemical exposures, particularly in consumer products and environmental matrices. Her expertise extends to regulatory science, where she actively applies NGRA principles to chemical safety management policies, bridging the gap between advanced toxicology research and real-world regulatory applications. She has recently focused on One Health approaches, integrating human and environmental toxicity assessment through AI-powered predictive modeling, contributing to a more comprehensive and sustainable framework for chemical risk assessment.
Dr. Choi has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher in Toxicology (2015, 2016, 2017) by Clarivate Analytics for her outstanding contributions to the field. She has served in various leadership roles, including President of the Korean Society of Environmental Toxicology and Health and as an advisory member of the Korean Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology. Currently, she serves as Co-Editor of the NAM Journal and actively contributes to global efforts in advancing non-animal testing methodologies and AI-driven chemical safety assessments.
Through her pioneering research and leadership, Dr. Choi continues to shape the future of environmental toxicology, ensuring the development of safer chemicals and more sustainable risk assessment strategies in the era of next-generation regulatory science.
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Italy
Raffaella Corvi obtained her PhD in Biological Sciences at the University of Heidelberg (Germany) working at the German Cancer Research Centre. She subsequently joined the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, where her work focused on the molecular development of thyroid cancer, including the application of a variety of in vitro tools. Since 2001 she works at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, which hosts the European Reference Laboratory for Alternatives to Animal Testing (EURL ECVAM), where she established the activities in the area of genotoxicity and carcinogenicity. In 2003 she was seconded to the OECD Test Guideline Programme in Paris. Currently, she conducts activities that evaluate innovative and integrated approaches to assess chemical safety across sectors and support their regulatory implementation, while also promoting the 3Rs across multiple regulatory sectors. She is currently leading a working group for the revision of germ cell mutagenicity classification criteria at the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) and is the European Commission chair of the project platform at the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal testing (EPAA), a partnership between the European Commission Directorates and industry partners across sectors. She is a member of several European and international committees, such as various OECD expert groups, the HESI Genetic Toxicology Technical Committee and European Food Safety Agency Genotoxicity Working Group. She is also acting as the contact point between the JRC and the 3Rs European Medicines Agency (EMA) Working Party.
“I am excited to join HESI Global as a Trustee because I firmly believe in its critical role in fostering cross-sector collaboration and stakeholder engagement through a safe and inclusive platform, which is essential for driving and harnessing scientific progress to improve human and environmental health at a global scale, and I look forward to contributing my expertise to support the organization’s ambitious yet pragmatic approach to achieve meaningful impact.” – Raffaella Corvi
Boehringer Ingelheim
Dr. Myrtle Davis is the Senior Vice President and Head of Global Nonclinical Safety and DMPK for Boehringer Ingelheim.
Dr. Davis was previously the Vice President for Discovery Toxicology in the Pharmaceutical Candidate Optimization (PCO) organization at BMS. Dr. Davis joined BMS from the National Cancer Institute where she was the Chief of the Toxicology and Pharmacology Branch of the Developmental Therapeutics Program. Myrtle has previous experience as a Research Advisor in the Drug Safety group of Lilly Research Laboratories. In both roles, she contributed critical expertise to the advancement of several drugs candidates and to the understanding of toxicological mechanisms. She also has several years of academic experience as an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology in the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland.
At BMS Dr. Davis was responsible for leading the scientific efforts in Discovery Toxicology to provide target and molecular hazard identification and risk assessments for issues identified in discovery research. She also led and oversaw the investigative toxicology efforts needed to support mechanistic understanding of compound- or target-mediated toxicities in discovery and development.
Dr. Davis is a Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences, an active member of the Society of Toxicology (and serves as the current President), and a member of the Society of Toxicologic Pathology. She served on the Board of Scientific Councilors of the National Toxicology Program, and the Board of HESI. She served as a reviewer for the Assay Development and Screening Technologies Laboratory of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Myrtle also served as an Associate Editor for Toxicological Sciences and Toxicologic Pathology, and served as Editor-in-Chief of the ILAR Journal (Institute for Laboratory Animal Research of the National Academy of Sciences). She has authored several book chapters and co-authored peer-reviewed publications on a range of topics including apoptosis, toxicant-induced cell signaling, and biomarkers of tissue injury. She has also developed course content and lectures for medical and graduate student education.
A native New Yorker, Dr. Davis completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Toxicologic Pathology at the University of Maryland. She earned a PhD in Toxicology from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Tuskegee University School of Veterinary Medicine. She also completed undergraduate work in Chemistry and Math at Tuskegee University. Myrtle attended Tuskegee University where she pursued a BS degree in Chemistry and Mathematics followed by a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine.
Center for Space Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine
Click here to view Dr. Donoviel’s bio.
At Large Member
Merck & Co. Inc.
Dr. Patricia Escobar is an Executive Director in Non-Clinical Safety Assessment and Laboratory Animal Resources at Merck & Co., leading groups of scientists that focus on genetic toxicology, in vitro safety pharmacology, and in vitro toxicology assessments. Dr. Escobar is an internationally recognized genetic toxicologist with experience in academia, a contract laboratory, and the pharmaceutical industry, and she is a frequent participant in international collaborative workshops and enterprises such as development of OECD guidelines. Dr. Escobar joined Merck in 2015 as the Director of Genetic Toxicology, responsible for screening and bringing forward the best drug candidates from discovery, for GLP regulatory genotoxicity testing, and for developing follow-up strategies and application of new technologies for screening and for understanding mechanisms of genotoxicity to support compound selection and risk assessment. She is the co-chair of the Mutagenic Impurities Council at Merck.
Dr. Escobar received a BSc in microbiology and an MSc in genetic toxicology from the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, and her PhD in molecular toxicology from the University of Pittsburgh. She then completed her postdoctoral training in the Gene & Environment Laboratory at University of California, Berkeley. Following her postdoc, Dr. Escobar worked at BioReliance as a Genetic Toxicology Study Director. In 2008, she joined Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals in the Nonclinical Drug Safety group at the US site, where she had a series of roles with increasing responsibility for managing and leading the predictive toxicology group, while also serving as the genetic toxicology scientific lead for this group and as a toxicologist in drug discovery teams.
Dr. Escobar has contributed widely to international efforts in genetic toxicology, such as the International Working Groups on Genetic Toxicology (IWGT) and the Expert Working Group on the OECD In Vivo Mammalian Alkaline Comet Assay, and the OECD group working on the Bacterial Reverse Mutation testing guideline. Dr. Escobar is a former board chair and member of the Genetic Toxicology Association (GTA) and a council member of the Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (EMGS), and she was also a council officer in the Northeast Chapter of the Society of Toxicology. For EMGS she has chaired the Alexander Hollander Committee and special interest groups on Applied Genetic Toxicology and on New Technology. Currently, she is a member of the Tox Forum Program Planning Committee, the OECD Genetox expert working group, the HESI Genetic Toxicology Technical Committee (GTTC), and the HESI Emerging Systems Toxicology for the Assessment of Risk (eSTAR) Committee Dr. Escobar is author/co-author of more than 20 publications, including peer-reviewed articles and/or book chapters.
AstraZeneca
Dr Mick Fellows is the Director of CVRM Cell Therapy Safety at AstraZeneca in Cambridge UK. He earned his Ph.D in Pharmacology and Toxicology investigating topoisomerase II inhibition at Liverpool University. In the mid 1980’s Mick joined Covance, where he developed a range of in vitro and in vivo genetox assays, becoming an authority on in vitro mutagenesis and phototoxicity.
In 2001, Mick joined AstraZeneca, initially as a genetic toxicologists. However, over the last decade, Mick’s research has focused on AstraZeneca’s advanced medicine safety platforms, including genome editing and modified RNA therapies. Mick’s current role is as the AZ biopharm cell and regenerative medicine safety lead. Mick has had the honour of serving as the president of the United Kingdom Environmental Mutagen Society and has worked on and chaired several international workgroups; including HESI, OECD, EFPIA and ICH.
BfArM Germany
Roland Frötschl studied molecular and cellular biology and got his PhD in biology from the University Stuttgart in 1995. He was postdoc researcher at the Institute for Clinical Pharmacology at the University Hospital Charité in Berlin and works for the BfArM since 2001 where he joined the unit of reproductive and genetic toxicology as a researcher and preclinical assessor.
His main task is the safety risk assessment of drugs, especially with respect to their mutagenic and carcinogenic potential and the risk assessment of impurities in pharmaceuticals. Roland Frötschl is a German Society of Pharmacology and Toxicology certified Toxicologist and European Registered Toxicologist.
He is active in research projects focused on the use of new in vitro approaches and development of biomarkers for the safety testing. He is active in HESI´s GTTC and eSTAR committee since many years and active in a number of working groups of both committees (e.g. TGx-DDI project, carcinogenomics project, MGRA, in vivo follow up) and also contributed to numerous HESI workshops. Roland Frötschl is an expert and member of the Nonclinical Working Party of CHMP at the European Medicines Agency. He is currently the European Commission´s expert and Topic Leader at the ICH expert working groups for M7, Q3D and Q3C guidances and the current rapporteur of Q3D and Q3C. He was a member of the USP elemental impurities advisory panel until 2015. Roland Frötschl is member of the Executive Committee of the European Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society and member of the steering committee of the International Workshops on Genotoxicity Testing (IWGT). He is also active as a lecturer for preclinical safety assessment in the Master of Toxicology course of the Medical University Vienna the toxicology course of the German Society of Pharmacology and Toxicology, the master course for Drug Regulatory Affairs of the University Bonn and Pharmaceutical Medicine of the University Duisburg-Essen.
Shell Global Solutions
Dr. Sarah Hughes is a Principal Ecotoxicologist at Shell in the Product Stewardship organization in Houston, Texas, and has been with the company for 16 years. Dr. Hughes obtained a BSc from University of Guelph (Canada) and an MSc and PhD from the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) in Ecotoxicology. In her role, Dr. Hughes provides expert ecotoxicology advice and services to Shell’s global businesses and stakeholders relating to operating assets, projects, technology, and products. Dr. Hughes drives the development or evaluation of tools, methods, and best practices in ecotoxicology through internal and joint industry R&D as well as the responsible development of safe and sustainable products and processes for Shell. Topics of research interest include the development of new approach methodologies (NAMs) for ecotoxicology as well as non-vertebrate methods for whole effluent toxicity assessment, and she is an active member of the HESI Animal Alternatives in Environmental Risk Assessment Committee. Her current research is focused on supporting the global energy transition through evaluating the environmental risks of carbon capture and renewable energy technologies as well as low carbon fuels. Dr. Hughes is adjunct faculty at the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) as well as Clemson University and Texas Christian University (United States). Dr. Hughes is also an active member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC).
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.
Corteva Agriscience
Click here to view Dr. LaRocca’s CV.
BASF
Robert Landsiedel is Vice President of special toxicology at BASF SE in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany. He previously worked for BASF in development and management roles in the USA and in Japan. He is an associate professor (Privatdozent) at the Free University of Berlin and has further teaching positions in Leipzig and Landau.
His team at BASF is performing more than 500 regulatory toxicological studies per year under GLP, GIVIMP and ISO17020 as well as screenings for product development. In addition, they are developing new toxicological methods and testing strategies.
They have received more than 20 external grants (German BMBF- and EU-funded) and their work has been recognized by several awards including the German Research Award for the development of alternative methods, German GT-Toxicology Award, the Responsible Care Award of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) and the Herbert E. Stokinger Awards of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH).
Robert received a doctorate degree in chemistry (Dr. rer. nat.), a postgraduate degree in toxicology, and a habilitation in pharmacology and toxicology. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT) and a Fellow of American Academy of Toxicological Sciences (FATS). He was appointed member of the European Commission’s Scientific Committee for Occupational Exposure Levels (SCOEL) where he chaired the methodology working group until the Committee’s decommissioning in 2019. Currently he is the chair for human toxicology of German National Hub within the “Partnership for the Assessment of Risk from Chemicals (PARC), the chairman of the German Toxicology Society (GT) and President of the German Society for experimental and clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology (DGPT).
Robert Landsiedel – Google Scholar
Robert Landsiedel (0000-0003-3756-1904) – ORCID
Novartis
Silvana Libertini earned her PhD in “Molecular Oncology and Endocrinology” from the University of Naples “Federico II” (Italy), with a thesis focused on the use of oncolytic adenoviruses for treating anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Subsequently, she joined the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow (UK) to examine the relationship between DNA damage and tumorigenesis, followed by a post doc at the University of Zurich, where she investigated miRNA regulation of erythropoietin expression. Throughout her academic career, she has been awarded several prestigious fellowships, including a FIRC fellowship, a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship, and a Hartmann-Mueller Stiftung.
Since 2015, Dr. Libertini has been part of the PreClinical Safety Department at Novartis, where she evaluates genotoxicity of advanced therapy products such as CAR T cells, AAV-based gene therapy, and designer nucleases. Reflecting her commitment to pioneering in vitro models and her motivation to support the 3Rs cause, she represents Novartis in various NC3Rs CRACK-IT Challenges (currently: CleanCut and T-Alert) and serves on the Executive Board of the Swiss 3R Competence Center. Dr. Libertini is also an active member of HESI CT-TRACS, where she leads the tumorigenicity group. Additionally, she has held roles as organizer and session chair for several associations, including SST (Swiss Society of Toxicology), GUM (German Society for Environmental Mutation Research), IWGT (International Working Group on Genotoxicity Testing), GTA (Genetic Toxicology Association), and EMGS (Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society). In recent years, she has also presented at BioSafe and ASGCT Insights. She is a well-known scientist in the gene therapy genotoxicity field, with more than 30 publications and a respectable h-index (19).
“I am excited to take on a role as a Trustee with HESI Global because I believe in the ethical principles driving this association: the power of connection, the need for sharing, and the commitment to transparent science.” – Silvana Libertini
Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA)
Dr. Adam Lillicrap is the Research Manager for the section of Ecotoxicology and Risk Assessment which employs 24 dedicated research scientists and several PhD students and post-Doctoral scientists. He is also NIVA’s GLP Manager and has been project managing and study directing regulatory ecotoxicity tests according to Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) for over 20 years. Adam is a EUROTOX Registered Toxicologist (ERT) and is involved in numerous international committees and expert working groups. Adam is the Norwegian representative at the OECD validation management group for ecotoxicity test methods (VMGEco). Adam is also the Norwegian expert for fish within the OECD and the Norwegian representative for ISO Water Quality test standards. Adam has been working with zebrafish embryos for ecotoxicity assessments for over 20 years and was an industry nominated expert to the OECD regarding the implementation of the Fish Embryo Toxicity (FET) test guideline. Subsequently, Adam was elected as an independent advisor for the validation management group of the ring trial of the FET test. Over the years, Adam has been very active in the field of animal alternatives for ecotoxicity testing, chairing many sessions at SETAC and currently chairs the SETAC global animal alternatives interest group. He has been actively promoting the use of alternative methods for hazard assessments of chemicals at a regulatory level and was the project lead for the newly adopted ISO standard and OECD test guideline for a cytotoxicity assay (RT-gill W1 cell line). Adam was also the chairperson for the Cefic LRi Research Liaison Team for the project CELLSens and is currently leading the Cefic LRi project (ECO 51) entitled Strengthening Weight of evidence for FET data to replace acute Fish Toxicity (SWiFT). Adam was also the coordinator for a JPI Oceans Knowledge Hub for contaminants of emerging concern in the marine environment. Adam has a thorough understanding of the regulatory complexities regarding the adoption of alternative test methods and the need for a weight of evidence approach to gain regulatory acceptance. Adams main interests involve understanding how chemicals are regulated within an environmental context, and how to influence policy making decisions for regulatory frameworks.
Charles River Laboratories
Elise Madison Lewis, PhD, Principal Director of Toxicology, Charles River Laboratories, Inc., Horsham, Pennsylvania
Dr. Lewis is a native of Alabama, and she received both her Bachelor and Doctorate degrees from The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. As an undergraduate, she was patterning herself to be a medical professional, particularly an Obstetrician. However, she diverged from this path and literally embarked upon a road that is less traveled, the field of toxicology. While in graduate school she was recipient of a Future Faculty Fellowship for minority students, and through her training in the field of toxicology, Dr. Lewis found a way to marry her interests in the medical field with a passion to prevent birth defects from intentional or unintentional exposure to drug products or chemicals. Simply put, she spends much of her time researching human health hazards that could cause embryo-fetal death, birth defects, growth retardation, or functional deficits. Today, Dr. Lewis is employed by Charles River Laboratories, Inc., a contract research organization that focuses on improving human and animal health by advancing the search for drugs from discovery through market approval. Dr. Lewis joined Charles River Laboratories, Inc. in 2001 as a Study Director in the area of Reproductive, Developmental, and Juvenile Toxicology. In this role, she had the opportunity to oversee the technical conduct of nonclinical laboratory studies that are critical to environmental safety and the health care industry, and are necessary prior to consideration of new compounds for regulatory approval as drug products, medical devices, vaccines, pesticides, and other products to which humans might be exposed.
Over the years, she has successfully navigated her way through the scientific ranks within Charles River to become the Principal Director of Toxicology at the Horsham, Pennsylvania site with additional oversight of Reproductive, Developmental and Juvenile Toxicology specialty services within the East Coast Region of Safety Assessment. Dr. Lewis has authored or co-authored over 100 publications, books, and book chapters in various areas of developmental, reproductive, and juvenile toxicology, and has participated in numerous national and international speaking engagements. She is the co-editor of a book on Nonclinical Pediatric Toxicology that was published in January 2012. In 2021, Dr. Lewis was recognized as a living legend in celebration of Black History Month in the Philadelphia area for her significant contributions to STEM and biomedical research.
Dr. Lewis is involved in a number of national and international scientific organizations. She is a Past President for the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention (BDRP) and the current past President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS). She currently serves on the Chapters Advisory Committee for the national AWIS organization, the nominations committee and constitution and bylaws committee for BDRP, and a BDRP representative for the Scientific Liaison Coalition and Friends of NICHD. She also served as a secretary and mentor for AWIS-PHL, council member of the European Teratology Society, and an ambassador, membership chair, member of the DE&I working group and sponsorship committee for BDRP. She has used her various roles within these scientific organizations to counsel and empower those who will follow in her footsteps and will be the scientific leaders of tomorrow. As a leader, Dr. Lewis has a great interest in investing in the next generation of trainees who are eagerly pursuing education in the area of STEM. She believes that mentors can play an important role in the success of young scientists, and she views herself to be in a unique position to provide career advice to those can benefit from learning about her unique career journey. In addition, she is a member of the Society of Toxicology, European Teratology Society, the American College of Toxicology, Philadelphia Women’s Leaders (The Philadelphia Chapter of the Women Leaders Association) and the Mid-Atlantic Reproductive Toxicology Association.
University of Buenos Aires
Eliana Munarriz is a researcher and academic with expertise in biological science, toxicology and regulatory science fields. She holds a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” in Italy and a Master’s in Business Administration from the “Torcuato Di Tella University” in Argentina. She also completed her post-doctoral training in toxicology at the Medical Research Council Toxicology Unit in the UK and her second postdoctoral studies at the Systems Biology Department at New York University. Since her return to Argentina in 2012, she has been working as a researcher at the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) and as a Biochemistry Professor at the School of Agriculture of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). Her research focuses on molecular and environmental toxicology, specifically using the nematode C. elegans as a biological model for studying the effects of agrochemicals. In addition to her academic work, Eliana has served as a consultant for international organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). She is a specialist in risk assessment of chemical products and has been involved in the development of pesticide regulations in Latin America. Eliana is an active member of several committees and organizations related to health, environment, and toxicology, including RISK21, GRATC, TEA at the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) where she is also a member of the Board of Trustees, and the Scientific Cooperation in Environment and Health (ICCAS). She has also served as a technical expert in the Committee for the Examination of Chemical Products of the Rotterdam Convention and was appointed as a member of the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Management (JMPM).
Ghana Science and Technology Policy Research Institute
Dr. Rose Omari is a Principal Research Scientist and the Deputy Director at the Science and Technology Policy Institute, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-STEPRI), in Ghana. She has expertise in multidisciplinary research in food safety, nutrition, health, and science, technology and innovation (STI). She has participated in the development and review of several policies and regulations including STI and aflatoxin control policies for Ghana. Rose has experience in coordinating and implementing projects both at the national and continental levels and has worked with researchers from multi-disciplines and countries. Some of her current projects are Food Safety for Africa (FS4Africa); Shaping food environment in transitioning economies for healthy and sustainable diets (FETE); Consortium Europe Africa on Research and Innovation for Food Systems Transformation (CEA-FIRST), Strengthening Evidence-Based Policy Practice for Sustainable Food Systems under the EU-AU Partnership (StEPPFoS); Enhancing farmers’ uptake of digital technologies through empirical research, innovation and policy intervention (EFUDTRIPI); Understanding the impact of women’s time-use on household nutrition; Women’s participation in STI research, capacity building and mentorship programmes: the trends, barriers and enablers (WESTIR); and Assessment of systemic barriers to women’s participation in engineering education and careers. Dr. Omari has a BSc in biochemistry and food science, a master’s degree in food science from the University of Ghana, and a PhD in rural sociology (food studies) from Wageningen University and Research Center, The Netherlands.
L'Oreal
Gladys Ouédraogo joined L’Oréal R&I in 2003 to establish a unit for predicting cancer without animal testing. During her career, she has created and led various research projects on technologies and emerging topics in the field of toxicity assessment. In doing so, she has contributed to molecular modeling, genotoxicity, endocrine modulation and systemic toxicity. In 2013, after three years in charge of teams working on alternative methods for predicting toxicity and efficacy, she managed several external collaborations and activities in areas such as repeat-dose systematic toxicity – an area she is also developing within L’Oréal R&I.
In addition to a Doctorate in pharmacy, Gladys Ouédraogo’s career also includes a Ph.D and a postdoctoral research fellowship in photobiology, along with 25 years of experience in the development of predictive approaches for toxicity. Starting in genotoxicity, she extended her sphere of expertise within L’Oréal R&I to encompass endocrine modulation and repeat-dose systematic toxicity. She also worked on efficacy predictions with new approach methodologies and helped with the deployment of numerous alternative methods and technologies to animal testing: molecular modeling, genotoxicity, systemic toxicity. In her position at L’Oréal R&I and as the chair of various scientific committees, she brings a strategic vision for developing solutions to assess toxicity with NAMs– and subsequently promotes them in the cosmetics industry, the scientific community, and other stakeholders. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology since 2018.
Université Paris-Saclay
Dr. Marc Pallardy received a PharmD in 1982 and a PhD in toxicology in 1987. He his Full Professor and Head of the Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Paris-Saclay, since 1997. He is Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy at University Paris-Saclay since 2015 and Head of Team 2 (“Drug and Chemical Allergy, Immunotoxicology and Immunopathology”) for INSERM UMR 996. From 2004 to 2015, he served as Director of the Toxicology and Pharmacovigilance master’s program at University Paris-Saclay (25 students/year).
He is now director of the interdisciplinary project HEALTHI “Health and Therapeutic Innovation” of the University Paris-Saclay composed of 130 research teams of the University. The objective is to promote interdisciplinary research in therapeutic innovation.
He is a current a member of the HESI Immuno-Safety Technical Committee and served on the HESI Board of Trustees since 2018. In 2022, he was appointed as member of the executive committe of EUROTOX and he is a member of the education committee of EUROTOX since 2020.
Dr. Pallardy headed the INSERM laboratory UMR-S 996 (“Cytokines, Chemokines and Immunopathology”) from 2011 to 2015 (60 permanent and non-permanent personnel, four teams). Marc Pallardy has been the co-coordinator of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) project ABIRISK (Anti-Biopharmaceutical Immunization: prediction and analysis of clinical relevance to minimize the Risk, 39 partners from academia and industry). He has been Vice Dean and Research Director of the Faculty of Pharmacy (2000–2015) and Director of the “Therapeutic Innovation Ecole Doctorale” (PhD program) at University Paris-Sud (2006–2015).
Marc Pallardy has 182 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and has given more than 100 invited presentations and chaired international and national meetings, seminars, and conferences. He is Associate Editor of Toxicological Sciences and Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology.
Marc Pallardy has been a member of the committee for marketing authorization of medicinal products (French agency for medicinal products), chairman of the preclinical working party (French agency for medicinal products), co-chairman of the gene therapy working party (French agency for medicinal products), and member of the clinical trials authorization and cellular therapy working party (French agency for medicinal products). He has also been a member of the safety working party at EMA.
Procter & Gamble Company
Dr. Stefan Pfuhler has been employed by the Procter & Gamble Company since 2003, has held multiple positions for them, and has worked at several of their US and overseas locations. He currently serves as R&D Senior Director Research Fellow in the Global Product Stewardship division, leads the company’s genotoxicity expert team and develops and executes their genotoxicity research program. He manages product and ingredient issues related to genetic toxicology and develops and supports testing strategies and policies across the entire company.
Dr. Pfuhler earned his MS in biology in 1993 and his PhD in 1997, both from the University of Ulm in Ulm, Germany. He serves as the chair of the genotoxicity WG of the International Consortium on Cosmetic Safety (ICCS), is a member of the OECD Endpoint Expert Working Group on genotoxicity, the OECD WG on genotoxicity of nanomaterials, and is involved in various other professional activities and memberships.
Past Chair of Board
ApconiX, Ltd.
Dr. Ruth A. Roberts is Chair and Director of Drug Discovery at Birmingham University, UK, and Cofounder of ApconiX, an integrated toxicology and ion channel company that brings together a team of world-renowned nonclinical safety experts with over 300 years of drug discovery and development experience. Before that, Ruth was Global Head of Regulatory Safety at AstraZeneca and Director of Toxicology for Aventis in Paris, France. She is currently Vice Chair of HESI. She chaired the HESI Emerging Issues Committee from 2015 to 2016, joined the HESI Board in 2019, and has co-chaired the HESI Biomarkers of Neurotoxicity scientific committee since its inception in 2015.
Dr. Roberts received her BSc in biochemistry and her PhD in medical oncology from the University of Manchester, UK. She is former president of EUROTOX, former president of the British Toxicology Society (BTS), and a Fellow and past president of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences (ATS) and was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists in 2012 and of the Royal Society of Biology in 2014.
Dr. Roberts was the recipient of the SOT Achievement Award in 2002, the EUROTOX Bo Holmstedt Award in 2009, and the SOT 2018 Founders Award, given in recognition of outstanding leadership in fostering the role of toxicological sciences in safety decision making. With over 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals, she is interested in developing and implementing innovative models in drug discovery and development.
Oregon State University
Dr. Robyn Leigh Tanguay is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at Oregon State University. She also directs the Superfund Research Center and the Sinnhuber Aquatic Research Laboratory. Her research group has pioneered a high-throughput zebrafish platform to evaluate and predict the toxicity of chemicals and chemical mixtures. With over 300 peer-reviewed publications, she has established herself as a leading authority in her field, influencing policies on chemical safety and environmental protection. She deliberately collaborates globally across sectors including academia, industry and governmental agencies to advance environmental health science. Dr. Tanguay’s expertise is widely recognized; she serves on numerous advisory boards and as an associate editor for several scientific journals. In 2023, she was appointed as a Fellow at the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University and is the current Society of Toxicology vice president-elect. Finally, she has dedicated herself to mentoring and guiding the next generation of scientists.
“I am excited to take on a role as a Trustee with HESI Global, an organization that exemplifies the power of cross-sector collaboration to address global health and environmental challenges. I am eager to contribute my energy and expertise to help HESI achieve its impactful goals.” – Robyn Tanguay
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Click here to view Dr. Teeguarden’s CV.
UCB
Jean-Pierre holds a Ph.D. in Physiology & Pharmacology 1990, from the University of Montpellier, France. Following a post-doc at UCSF, Jean-Pierre joined the Pierre Fabre Research Centre (1992-98) where he contributed to the discovery and progression into development of 3 candidate drugs. He joined AstraZeneca to build from inception, develop and lead the Department of Safety Pharmacology where he contributed to the safety evaluation of ~200 candidate drugs across a wide range of therapy areas, leading to the development and successful registration of several marketed products. In February 2014 he joined UCB-Biopharma as Senior Director Head of Investigative Toxicology, based in Belgium supporting the entire portfolio across several therapy areas and modalities. He is an active member of several scientific societies; former President of the Safety Pharmacology Society; current co-chair of the HESI subcommittee on Proarrhythmia, and of the HESI Cardiac Steering Team. He is also Chair of the IQ-DruSafe Secondary Pharmacology Working Group; and he is representing the EFPIA on the ICH E14-S7B Implementation Working Group. He is involved in training, education and mentoring programs associated with several scientific societies, universities, and trade associations. He is author/co-author of several patents and >200 peer review publications and book chapters.
hesi@hesiglobal.org
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