EIC Chair
ExxonMobil Corporation
EIC Vice Chair
Oregon State University
Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd.
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Trinidad & Tobago Ministry of Health
Dr. Brown Jordan is from the Caribbean twin nation of Trinidad & Tobago (T&T). She was awarded a PhD in Veterinary Microbiology from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus in 2019, while her masters program at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was in the field of Medical Microbiology. She was a past recipient of an Epigenesis Young Scientist Award for Animal Health in the Caribbean, a project initiative by the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD). Her research areas of interest and background reside in laboratory diagnostics for both human and animal health pathogens of importance, with specific strengths in molecular biology and virology.
She has worked extensively with various governmental institutions in the area of laboratory strengthening due to her extensive knowledge in viral agents, emerging pathogens as well as modern laboratory and diagnostic sciences. Her knowledge and experiences have afforded her the opportunity to contribute more recently to the development of a new International Organization for Standards (ISO) standard document related to SARS-CoV-2 detection as well as to guide national establishment of molecular and antigen testing programs for SARS-CoV-2 in T&T.
Brown Jordan’s main propelling factors for being involved in research and scientific development, is her desire to see greater progress and strides towards the resolution of global challenges and going further towards implementation of the solutions, as evident by her pursuits. She is mother to and advocate for one special needs son and enjoys being a fashion creative when time is afforded.
Article about Dr. Brown Jordan
US Food and Drug Administration
Dr. Suzanne Fitzpatrick is a board certified toxicologist here and in Europe and is an internationally recognized expert in alternative methods. She is the Senior Advisor for Toxicology at FDA/CFSAN. She is the FDA lead to ICCVAM and Tox 21 and chairs the FDA Alternative Methods Work Group. Dr. Fitzpatrick is the FDA representative to the International Regulatory Committee for the European Research Projects under ASPIS (Rik Hunter, ONTOX and Precision Tox) and she cochairs the EFSA and CFSAN Work Group on NAMS.
Public Health England
George Washington University
Taconic Biosciences
Yale University School of Public Health
Dr. Hines is an Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale University School of Public Health. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1980. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, he became Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor at the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases and the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In 1989, Dr. Hines was recruited to the Wayne State University School of Medicine as Associate Professor of Pharmacology and an Associate in Pediatrics. In 1995, he was promoted to Professor of Pharmacology. In 1999, Dr. Hines was recruited to the Medical College of Wisconsin as Professor of Pediatrics and Pharmacology and Toxicology, Associate Director of the Children’s Research Institute of the Children’s Hospital and Health Systems, and Co-Section Chief of Clinical Pharmacology, Pharmacogenetics, and Teratology. In addition, Dr. Hines was Adjunct Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and served as Co-Director for a collaborative NIEHS Environmental Health Sciences Center between the two institutions. In 2012, Dr. Hines accepted the position of Associate Director for Health at the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) in the Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In this position, he managed the Research Core Unit and the three NHEERL health divisions and their diverse research portfolios. He retired from the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2020.
Throughout his academic career, Dr. Hines’ research was supported by various organizations, including state health departments, private foundations, industry contracts and the National Institutes of Health. He is an Emeritus Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences, an Emeritus Member of the American Society for Pharmacology and Therapeutics, having served as a Councilor on their Executive Council from 2004-2007, and a retired member of the Society of Toxicology where he was elected to the Presidential Chain and served as President from May 1, 2019 through April 30, 2021. He has served on numerous Federal and State science advisory panels and as an Associate Editor or Editorial Board Member for nine peer-reviewed journals. He currently is a member of the Current Topics in Toxicology Editorial Board. He served as a member of the Health Environmental Sciences Institute Board of Trustees from 2002-2013 and the Emerging Issues Committee from 2014-2023, including Chair from 2020-2023. During his career, Dr. Hines approached research questions using a transdisciplinary strategy, assembling and leading research teams with expertise spanning from molecular biology and analytical chemistry to the clinical sciences. Dr. Hines has over 150 publications focused on mechanisms whereby exposure to environmental toxicants and/or drugs alters gene expression and the genetic/epigenetic basis for interindividual differences in exposure response. Over the last 13 years of his academic career, his research turned to elucidating how and through what mechanisms the human enzymes involved in toxicant and drug disposition change during early life stages and the interaction of genetic/epigenetic variation with this normal developmental process. The impact of this body of work has resulted in an h-index of 52 and led to numerous invitations to present his research at national and international meetings, as well as several visiting professorships at institutions around the country.
2023 EIC re-nominee
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.
Afton Chemical Corporation
Athena Keene currently manages the Toxicology and Hazard Communication teams at Afton Chemical Corporation as the EHS Advisor – Toxicology and Hazard Communication, and she has worked at Afton for nearly 12 years. She conducts risk assessments on fuel and lubricant additives using data generated from in vitro and in vivo testing as well as read across and quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) modeling data. She leads a team of toxicologists in preparing registration dossiers, so Afton’s products will be compliant with all international registration regulations including the EU REACH guidelines and EPA TSCA guidelines. Often, this team relies New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to avoid animal testing or justify read across between similar compounds. She coordinates all of Afton’s in vitro and in vivo testing with contract research organizations (CROs). She advises and coordinates testing to further develop physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models for manganese in support of a manganese-based fuel additive. Her work was recently published in Toxicological Sciences (doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfac123). She also serves as the Science Chair for the Health, Safety, and Environmental Committee of the International Manganese Institute (IMnI) as well as on various panels within the American Chemistry Council (ACC) including the Long Range Initiative (LRI) panel, the TSCA Section 5 Testing Consortium, and an ACC Committee to develop a NAMs 101 training course. She also serves on the HESI UVCBs and Multi-Constituent Substances Committee and the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity Committee.
Athena holds a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University, where her research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) focused the use of PAMAM dendrimers as a drug-delivery method. She completed her post-doctoral training at the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) focusing on the tissue distribution of gold nanoparticles, and she maintains an interest in nanotechnology including serving on the ECETOC “Grouping of Nanomaterials” Task Force. She maintains her DABT certification.
Givaudan Schweiz AG
Heike Laue is a Senior Research Scientist at Givaudan Schweiz AG, an international company based in Switzerland which is the global leader in the fragrance and flavor industry. She joined Givaudan in 2009. Part of the research of the In Vitro Molecular Screening (IMS) group is the development, implementation and application of NAMs as a screening tool to develop safe fragrance ingredients as part of Givaudan’s “Safe by Design Strategy” and for regulatory applications to reduce animal testing. As part of the environmental risk assessment, the in vitro bioaccumulation assays (OECD TG 319 A/B) and the in vitro RTgill-W1 assay (OECD TG 249) to assess acute fish toxicity are applied as alternative assays for screening and regulatory applications. The lab was also part of the ring trials resulting in the adoption of OECD TG 319 A/B and TG 249.
Another focus of the work is on the toxicology of fragrance molecules by studying the in vitro biotransformation in animal hepatocytes compared to humans and in vitro assays to study inhalation toxicity. Prior to Givaudan, Heike worked as a Senior Research Scientist and Group Leader in a biotechnology company focused on research and development of antimicrobial agents. She did post-doctoral research at the Danish Technical University on bacterial biofilms and at Stony Brook University / New York in biochemistry. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Konstanz in microbiology, microbial ecology and molecular medicine.
NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Indiana University
Dr. MacDonald Gibson is Professor and Department Chair in the Environmental and Occupational Health Department of the School of Public Health at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. She earned two PhDs in 2007 in Engineering and Public Policy and Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA.
Her research addresses news stories of health risks from toxic waste spills, polluted water supplies, hazy air, contaminated foods, and other environmental problems abound. It also involves sorting through the headlines to figure out what environmental risks really might be important to our health or our community’s health and figuring out how to decrease those risks can seem an insurmountable task. She seeks to illuminate what individuals, communities, and policymakers can do to make the biggest and most lasting improvements in public health by improving the quality of our environment.
Her students and she parse complicated environmental problems into manageable elements that can be modeled mathematically and re-integrated to inform environmental and public health policy decisions. They have worked across the globe, from the US to the United Arab Emirates. Their work examines environmental risks to health at the scale of communities, building models that integrate knowledge of how pollutants are distributed through communities, how people become exposed to pollutants and other environmental risks factors, and how these exposures, in turn, increase risks of illness or premature death. Their main tools are drawn from applied mathematics and statistics, but they also conduct field research. Her students have collected and analyzed water and air samples, administered surveys, and conducted focus group interviews, in order to develop the knowledge needed to understand environmental risks to public health and advance policies to reduce those risks. Given an important environmental policy question, they find the tools needed to analyze potential solutions.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Norbert Tavares is a Program Manager at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Previously, Dr. Tavares was a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow and Program Manager at the National Cancer Institute, at the National Institutes of Health. In his former and current roles, he identifies and supports emerging and innovative solutions to biomedical research problems and develops and manages interdisciplinary grant programs. Specifically, he supports the development and dissemination of single-cell biology methods and resources and its application to clarify the underlying mechanisms of disease. He is particularly interested in increasing the participation of individuals from understudied ancestries in biomedical research thereby improving the racial, ethnic, and ancestral diversity of openly available omics data. Dr. Tavares is a microbiologist by training and was a Ruth Kirchstein Fellow at the University of Georgia, where he completed his Ph.D. investigating the bacterial biosynthesis of coenzyme B12 and his postdoctoral work on Sirtuin-dependent post-translational modification. Prior to his graduate work, he worked on large-scale protein drug production at a biotech startup and in procurement for ESPN.
Corteva Agriscience
hesi@hesiglobal.org
Phone: +1-202-659-8404
Fax: +1-202-659-3859
740 15th Street NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20005
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