MENU2018 ASM Faculty Bios
Dr. Almalki is board certified in internal Medicine from Saudi council for health specialties, he completed a fellowship in medical toxicology at Emory university and Georgia poison center in Atlanta USA, and joined King Saud Medical city, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as a consultant physician and medical toxicologist, also Dr. Almalki is member of the medical toxicology development program, ministry of health, Saudi Arabia, a group of medical toxicologist running medical toxicology consultation and toxicology educational activities in the Kingdom, Dr. Almalki has presented at both national and regional conferences in the field of medical toxicology. He is a board member of the Middle East North Africa Toxicology Association.
Dr. Vikhyat S. Bebarta is a tenured Professor of Emergency Medicine (Medical Toxicology) and a tenured Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, CO. He is also a Colonel in the US Air Force Reserve, Office of the Chief Scientist, 59th Medical Wing, JBSA, Texas and former Medical Director and Flight Commander, Colorado Air National Guard and Medical Director and Flight Commander of the CERFP (CBRNE Enhanced Force Package) – Detachment 1 HQ. He has 4 combat deployments, serving as Chief of Emergency Medicine and as the Theater Consultant for Medical Toxicology each time. He served in several Joint DoD Leadership Positions relating to clinical research and to combat casualty care before transitioning to the University of Colorado. He serves as chair or member of several National DoD Combat Casualty Care Steering Committees and Leadership Panels, and has published over 135 publications, delivered 150 national invited lectures or keynote addresses, and received several federal NIH and DoD clinical research grants. 
Jeffrey Brent, M.D., Ph.D., is a Distinguished Clinical Professor of Medicine and Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado Schools of Medicine and Public Health. He did his fellowship in medical toxicology at the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, where he has been both medical director and fellowship director. He is a former President of the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and former Board member of the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT). Dr. Brent is the senior editor of Critical Care Toxicology: the Diagnosis and Management of the Critically Poisoned Patient, now going into its second edition. Currently he also serves as the Director of the ACMT’s Toxicology Investigators Consortium.
Keith Burkhart is a Senior Advisor for Medical Toxicology at US Department of Health and Human Services. He received his education from the Medical College of Pennsylvania followed by a residency at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine and a Fellowship at the Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Center. He is board certified in Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology.
Juan Colon spearheaded anti-drug interoperability and innovative initiatives at the New Jersey Fusion Center for over a decade, helping to make its efforts among the most innovative and effective in the nation. In early 2018, Colon joined Stewards of Change after retiring from the executive command of the NJ State Police and from his position as a commanding officer at the fusion center.Colon had 28 years of law enforcement experience before his retirement at the rank of Major. He served in diverse roles during his career. In addition to his work at the fusion center, he has operated in an undercover capacity, developed and implemented statewide data projects, and served as a drug policy advisor at the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. He also assisted in developing drug policies and practices to strengthen law enforcement and public health efforts.
He developed the Drug Monitoring Initiative (DMI), which is now nationally recognized as a best practice. This innovative approach leverages disparate data sets and information from law enforcement and healthcare entities. An evolution of DMI was his design of the integrated Drug Awareness Dashboard (iDAD), which is intended to provide role-based access in real time to all constituents requiring drug data.
The Office of the US Attorney General, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Centers for Disease Control, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the National Governors Association, and the Police Executive Research Forum have leveraged Colon’s expertise in this domain to present at national level conferences and panel discussions. Most of these entities have also included his data-collection and analytical methods in their publications.
In recognition of his collective efforts, he has received a Congressional Award, two New Jersey Attorney General’s Awards, and various New Jersey State Police commendations; in addition, he has been nominated for the distinguished Trooper of the Year award.
His undergrad degree is in public administration from Fairleigh Dickerson University, and he is working toward earning a master’s degree. His hobby is cycling and time trial racing.
Michael Cummins is a Special Agent and Senior Operations Manager of drug investigations at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI). Cummins began his career with OCI in 1999 serving in the Metro Washington Field Office investigating a variety of criminal schemes involving FDA regulated products. For the past five years, Cummins has served at OCI Headquarters managing and coordinating various investigative areas to include matters pertaining to the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Import Operations, cargo thefts and product tampering. Currently, Cummins is primarily responsible for pharmaceutical related investigations.Cummins began his government career as an auditor with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, Audit Services. Cummins also served as an auditor and auditor-in-charge for the U.S. Army Audit Agency and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of the Inspector General. Cummins then turned toward a law enforcement career with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of the Inspector General and was responsible for conducting internal investigations prior to beginning his career with OCI.
As the criminal investigative arm of the FDA, OCI’s mission is: to conduct and coordinate investigations of suspected criminal violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), the Federal Anti-Tampering Act (FATA), and other statutes including applicable Title 18 violations of the United States Code (USC); and to collect evidence to support successful prosecutions through the federal or state court systems as appropriate.
Brian Donnelly, PhD is Director of the Americas Region, Global Security, Pfizer Inc in New York, New York. He is currently responsible for coordinating investigations of counterfeit Pfizer pharmaceutical products in the United States and Canada.Prior to joining Pfizer, Dr. Donnelly spent 21 years as a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, during which time he was assigned to the FBI Laboratory and the New Haven Divisions. As a Special Agent, Dr. Donnelly was responsible for the investigation of several high profile cases including: the Michael Swango, M.D. medical serial killer investigation, the Yale University bombing investigation and he was the Connecticut case agent for the Amerithrax (anthrax mailings) investigation. He has received several honors and awards from the FBI, the Department of Veterans Affairs and a number of United States Attorneys Offices.
Dr. Donnelly received his PhD in the areas of Pharmacology and Toxicology from Saint John’s University, New York in 1990 and is also a registered Pharmacist in the state of New York. He has presented and published extensively in the field of Forensic Toxicology and lectures regularly to medical and law enforcement on the subjects of Health Care Serial Killers and Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Hakkinen is the Senior Toxicologist and the Toxicology and Environmental Health Science Advisor (to the Director) in the Division of Specialized Information Services of the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine. His job includes providing leadership in the development of new resources in exposure science, toxicology, risk assessment, and risk communication, and enhancements to existing resources in these fields. In addition, he is the project leader for the Chemical Hazards Emergency Medical Management (CHEMM) tool and the recently updated and enhanced ToxTutor educational resource. Further, he is an Adjunct Associate Professor in Preventive Medicine & Biometrics in the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) in Bethesda and a co-leader of the Environmental Health Sciences graduate level course offered by the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) at the NIH. Dr. Hakkinen earned a B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and received a Ph.D. in Comparative Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of California, San Francisco. He is a member of the Society of Toxicology, a Councilor of the International Society of Exposure Science, and a Fellow of the Society for Risk Analysis. Recent publications include a) Exploring Global Exposure Factors Resources for Use in Consumer Exposure Assessments and b) New Studies About Everyday Types of Chemical Exposures: What Readers Should Consider,
Marilyn Huestis, PhD, MS, AB
Senior Fellow, The Lambert Center for the Study of Medicinal Cannabis and Hemp, Institute of Emerging Health Professions, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA; Huestis & Smith Toxicology, LLC, Severna Park, MD
Professor Dr. Dr. (h.c.) Marilyn A. Huestis recently retired as a tenured senior investigator and Chief, Chemistry and Drug Metabolism Section, IRP, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, after 23 years of conducting controlled drug administration studies. She also was an Adjunct Professor, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD until 2017. Currently, she is a Senior Fellow at the Institute on Emerging Health Professions, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, on the Steering Committee of The Lambert Center for the Study of Medicinal Cannabis and Hemp, Thomas Jefferson Medical School, Philadelphia, PA, on the Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) Science Advisory Board, Senior Scientific Advisor of NMS Labs, Consultant to the US Department of Transportation, and President of Huestis & Smith Toxicology, LLC. Her research program focused on discovering mechanisms of action of cannabinoid agonists and antagonists, effects of in utero drug exposure, oral fluid testing, driving under the influence of drugs, and the neurobiology and pharmacokinetics of novel psychoactive substances. Professor Huestis’ research also explored new medication targets for cannabis dependence, including oral tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), Sativex, a 1:1 ratio of tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol. She has published 464 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters and more than 500 abstracts were presented at national and international meetings. Professor Huestis received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Mount Holyoke College (cum laude), a master's degree in clinical chemistry from the University of New Mexico (with honors), and a doctoral degree in toxicology from the University of Maryland (with honors). Professor Huestis received a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki in Finland in 2010. Other important awards include National Safety Council’s Borkenstein Award, to be given in February 2018, 2017 Sir Kenneth Standard Distinguished Lecturer for the University of the West Indies, 2016 Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Orator, Melbourne, Australia, 2016 Marian W. Fischman Lectureship Award from the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, 2016 Saferstein Memorial Distinguished Lecturer at Northeastern University, 2015 Excellence in Scientific Research, Women Scientist Advisory NIDA Investigator Award, 2015 Norman P. Kubasik AACC Lectureship Award, 2015 Distinguished Fellow from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), 2010 The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT) Alan Curry Award, 2008 American Association for Clinical Chemistry Outstanding Contributions in a Selected Area of Research Award, 2007 International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology (IATDMCT) Irving Sunshine Award, 2005 AAFS Rolla N. Harger Award, and 1992 Irving Sunshine Award for Outstanding Research in Forensic Toxicology. The journal Clinical Chemistry featured her as an “Inspiring Mind”. She currently serves on the Organization of Scientific Area Committee on Toxicology, World Anti-doping Agency’s Prohibited List Committee, Transportation Research Board Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs, and the National Safety Council’s Alcohol, Drugs and Impairment Division Executive Board. Professor Huestis served on the National Commission on Forensic Sciences, and currently is President of Huestis & Smith Toxicology, LLC, Senior Scientific Advisor to NMS Labs, and a consultant to the Department of Transportation, among other organizations. She is past president of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists, past Chair of the Toxicology Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and past president of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists.
Joselito Ignacio, MA, MPH, CIH, CSP, REHS
CBRN Science Advisor, Federal Emergency Management Agency, CBRN Office, Response Directorate, Department of Homeland Security
Joselito Ignacio represents and advises DHS/FEMA for response and recovery to CBRNE incidents-with special emphasis on chemical and biological incidents. Serves as a senior advisor to the Assistant Administrator for Response; supporting the Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center (IMAAC) on chemical and biological matters; coordinating, participating in, and advising interagency policy groups focusing on specific CBRNE response capability areas; representing FEMA on CBRN related White House policy commities and supporitng all FEMA CBRNE activities, including biological, chemical and radiological/nuclear threat response initiatives.
David Jett, PhD
Director, National Institute of Health CounterACT Program, NINDS Office of Translational Research
Dr. David A. Jett is Director of the NIH Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT) Program, a program supported by a specific Congressional appropriation to the NIH for the development of new drugs and diagnostic tools for treating victims of chemical exposures during an emergency. He also serves as Program Director within the Division of Translational Research at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). After receiving a Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Dr. Jett conducted post-doctoral research and subsequently joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health where he conducted research as a university professor for several years. Dr. Jett's scientific interest is in the impact of chemical agents on nervous system function, including the molecular and cellular mechanisms of cognitive and neural development. Specifically he has expertise and experience with pesticides and nerve agents. Dr. Jett is has authored many scientific articles and book chapters in the area of neurotoxicology and has chaired sessions and given keynote addresses at many national and international scientific meetings. He holds the position of Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Jett has served on White House and intergovernmental committees that set the nation's research priorities, as well as science advisory panels for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Defense. Dr. Jett's other major interest at NIH is training and programs designed to increase diversity in the neuroscience research workforce.
Ziad Kazzi, PhD
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Emory University; President, Middle East North Africa Clinical Toxicology Association (MENATOX)
Born in 1975 and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, Dr. Kazzi trained in Emergency Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta (2000-03) where he served as a chief resident before completing a subspecialty fellowship in Medical Toxicology at Emory University, Georgia Poison Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. He is board certified in both Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology. Dr. Kazzi joined the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) between 2005 and 2008 where he served as a Medical Toxicologist for the Regional Poison Control Center in Birmingham and the Alabama Poison Center. Currently, he is an associate professor at the department of Emergency Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia as well as the director of the International Toxicology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at Emory University. He is also the assistant medical director of the Georgia Poison Center and directs the Environmental and Occupational Toxicology clinic at Grady Health System.
As an emergency physician and toxicologist, Dr. Kazzi specializes in the recognition, triage, and management of poisonings and holds a deep interest in the areas of Radiation and International Toxicology. He is currently serving as a board member of the American College of Medical Toxicology and chairs its International Committee and the Clerkship Council for Medical Toxicology. Dr. Kazzi has extensively lectured at National and International conferences and developed several curricula and training programs in emergency preparedness and response. He is an active and founding board member of the Middle East North Africa Toxicology Association and currently serves as its president
Arthur L. Kellermann, MD, MPH
Dean, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Arthur L. Kellermann is an American physician, epidemiologist, professor and dean of the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Kellerman served as director of the RAND Institute of Health and founded the department of emergency medicine at Emory University and the Center for Injury Control at Rollins School of Public Health. His writings include 200 publications on various aspects of emergency cardiac care, health services research, injury prevention and the role of emergency departments in providing health care to the poor. Kellermann is known for his research on the epidemiology of firearm-related injuries and deaths, which he interpreted not as random, unavoidable acts but as preventable public-health priorities. Kellermann received a Bachelor of Science with distinction in biology from Rhodes College (1976), an M.D. from the Emory University School of Medicine (1980), and an M.P.H. from the University of Washington School of Public Health (1985).
Vice President, Technical Fellow, and Director, Public Health Business Area, Leidos, Inc; Middle East North Africa Clinical Toxicology Association (MENATOX)
Michael Levine, MD, FACMT
Assistant Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine; Chief, Toxicology Division, University of Southern California
Dr. Levine, a Southern California native, completed medical school in Chicago, and residency in emergency medicine at the Brigham and Women’s/Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. Following residency, he completed his medical toxicology fellowship at the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ. Currently, he is an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, and also continues to attend part time on the in-patient toxicology service at Good Samaritan in Phoenix.
Charles McKay, MD, FACMT
President, ACMT
After graduating from both Dartmouth College and Medical School, Dr. McKay completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Rhode Island Hospital. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at Denver General Hospital, and completed practice pathway preceptorships in Medical Toxicology at the Rocky Mountain and New York Poison Control Centers.
Dr. McKay is a medical toxicologist at Hartford Hospital and the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, where he is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine. He is a diplomat of the ABMT and the ABMS Toxicology Subboard. He is the Associate Medical Director of the Connecticut Poison Control Center and the Director of the Toxicology Fellowship at UConn. Dr. McKay also directs a toxicology consult service at Hartford Hospital and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC). As Medical Director of Occupational Health Services for Hartford Hospital and CCMC, he also evaluates questions of workplace safety and toxic exposure for 9,000 employees.
He has served on the ACMT Board of Directors since 2007 and is the Past Chair of the ACMT Practice Committee. Dr. McKay is active in biopreparedness efforts at the local and state level and has helped lead ACMT’s participation in the Department of Homeland Security’s Chemical Terrorism Risk Assessment (CTRA) process. Dr. McKay is also the National Coordinator of the ACMT-ATSDR Regional Consultation Network.
Dr. McKay seeks “to develop sustainable practice opportunities for medical toxicologists.” His interests lie in clinical patient care, occupational and environmental toxicology, biopreparedness, and training of residents and fellows. He also enjoys scuba diving and distance running.
Bruno Mégarbane, MD, PhD
Head, Department of Medical and Toxicological Critical Care, Lariboisière Hospital; President of the European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists (EAPCCT), Paris-Diderot University
Bruno Mégarbane, MD, PhD is professor of critical care medicine at Paris-Diderot University and directs a research team at INSERM UMRS-1144. He is the head of the Department of Medical and Toxicological Critical Care at Lariboisière Hospital, Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, in Paris, France. He is the current President of the European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists (EAPCCT). He conducted several clinical and experimental studies in clinical toxicology, mainly regarding mechanisms of opioid-related respiratory toxicity, prognostic factors of life-threatening poisonings, and management of refractory cardiotoxicant poisonings using ECMO. He is a member of the EXTRIP group and an associate editor for the two journals Clinical Toxicology and Annals of Intensive Care. He published more than 275 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is a fellow of the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) and member of the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology (AACT). He is an active member of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) and currently a board member of the French Society of Intensive Care Medicine (SRLF).
Lewis S. Nelson, MD, FACMT
Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Lewis S. Nelson, MD is currently Professor and Chair of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School, in Newark. He is a former President of the American College of Medical Toxicology and has served in various consultative roles with FDA, CDC, and DHS. He is an editor of Goldfrank’s Toxicologic Emergencies, now in its 10th Edition. The focus of his publications and presentations are medication-related adverse effects, chemical terrorism, and toxicity of abused drugs. Until recently, Dr. Nelson was the Director of the Fellowship in Medical Toxicology at New York University School of Medicine.
Dr. O’Connor currently serves as the Director of the University of Arizona College of Medicine- Phoenix, Medical Toxicology Fellowship. After completing her medical training in Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology at Indiana University School of Medicine she moved to Phoenix, where she works as a medical toxicologist for a busy admitting service at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix and Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Dr. O’Connor is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine- Phoenix. She is a member of the board of directors for the American College of Medical Toxicology. She is passionate about graduate medical education and the acute bedside care of poisoned patients, and is an enthusiastic advocate for the continued growth and evolution of medical toxicology as a subspecialty.
As a clinician, a researcher and an advocate, Dr. Paulson works to enhance children's health, and particularly to identify and mitigate the impact of environmental hazards on pediatric populations. He is a consultant to the American Academy of Pediatrics serving as the Medical Director for the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units – East and the Medical Director for the AAP Initiative on Climate Change and Health. He is also a consultant to others on issues related to children’s health and the environment. Dr. Paulson is a past chair the executive committee of the Council on Environmental Health of the American Academy of Pediatrics and served on the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee for the US EPA. In 2004 he was a Dozor Visiting Professor at Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Israel. He was a recipient of a Soros Advocacy Fellowship for Physicians from the Open Society Institute and worked with the Children’s Environmental Health Network, and has also served as a special assistant to the director of the National Center on Environmental Health of the CDC working on children’s environmental health issues.
Dr. Paulson received a bachelors degree in biochemistry with honors and with general honors from the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. He received an MD degree from Duke University in Durham, NC. He did his pediatric residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospitals and Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, MD. He also completed a fellowship in Ambulatory Pediatrics at Sinai Hospital.
Commander Ben Perman is the CBRN Subject Matter Expert at Coast Guard Headquarters in Office of Specialized Capabilities. He is responsible for developing Coast Guard policy and capabilities that support Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction operations. He is on leave from his civilian position with the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. where he is a Lead Senior Scientist. Dr. Perman recently worked in the FBI, Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, Biological Countermeasures Unit as a Senior Bioterrorism Subject Matter Expert. In this role, he advised the FBI on matters of emerging technologies and counter bioterrorism and biosecurity. Prior to his current assignments, Dr. Perman worked on incident response and physical security planning for several Department of Homeland Security National Laboratories including Plum Island Animal Disease Center, the National Biodefense and Countermeasures Center, and the National Bio/Agro Defense Facility. He was also a senior technical advisor to the Department of Defense Cooperative Threat Reduction Program in several republics of the former Soviet Union on matters of biosafety, biosecurity and maritime Weapons of Mass Destruction interdiction. Dr. Perman was trained in X—ray crystallography at the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins Medical School, specializing in technique development in ultra-fast time-resolved X-ray diffraction. 
Dr. Rose obtained his B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan in 2006. In 2010, he received his M.D. from Wayne State University School of Medicine, where he worked in basic neuroscience research with brain glia cells and inflammation. He went to Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina for his Internal Medicine Residency. He joined the University of Pittsburgh for fellowship in 2013 and joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in 2017.
Since coming to Pittsburgh, under the mentorship of Dr. Mark Gladwin, his major research focus has been developing an antidotal therapy for carbon monoxide poisoning. His work has led to publications in Science Translational Medicine and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Throughout his fellowship training, he simultaneously obtained an MBA degree from Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business. He helped to create a Biomedical Entrepreneurship MBA track in collaboration between CMU and the University of Pittsburgh Department of Medicine. Jason lives with his wife, Michaelene, and dog in Pittsburgh, PA. His main interests outside of medicine are working on his new house, training his dog, and trying to keep up with all the latest in college football (particularly the University of Michigan – Go Blue).
Steven Salzberg is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science, and Biostatistics at Johns Hopkins University, where he is also Director of the Center for Computational Biology and a member of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine. His group’s research focuses on the development of new computational methods for analysis of DNA from the latest sequencing technologies. Over the years they have developed and applied software to many problems in gene finding, genome assembly, comparative genomics, evolutionary genomics, and sequencing technology itself.
Their current work emphasizes analysis of DNA and RNA sequenced with next-generation technology. His blogs and other writing cover topics on the impact of science on society including the effects of pseudoscience, the problems of alternative medicine, the anti-vaccination movement, gene patents, and the influence of sports on higher education.
Dr. Schoch-Spana, a medical anthropologist, is a Senior Scholar with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She holds faculty positions at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Department of Anthropology at Texas State University, and the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). Her areas of expertise include community resilience to disaster, public engagement in policymaking, crisis and risk communication, and public health emergency preparedness.
Since 1998, Dr. Schoch-Spana has briefed federal, state, and local officials, as well as medical, public health, and public safety professionals, on critical issues in health security. National advisory roles include currently serving on the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Resilient America Roundtable of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), and the NASEM Standing Committee on Medical and Public Health Research during Large-Scale Emergency Events.
Dr. Schoch-Spana has led research, education, and advocacy efforts to encourage authorities to enlist the public’s contributions in epidemic and disaster management. Her studies have been influential in debunking myths about mass behaviors in the context of bioterrorism, reframing the management of catastrophic health events to include social and ethical-moral dimensions, and persuading leaders to share governance dilemmas with the public including how to allocate scarce medical resources in a disaster. She has chaired national working groups to produce peer-reviewed, evidence-based consensus guidance for authorities on how to partner with citizens and civil society in relation to bioterrorism response, influenza pandemic planning, and nuclear incident preparedness, and she has organized 3 national meetings on how to strengthen community resilience to extreme health events.
From 2003 to 2017, Dr. Schoch-Spana worked at the UPMC Center for Health Security; prior to that she worked at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies, starting in 1998. She received her PhD in cultural anthropology from Johns Hopkins University (1998) and a BA from Bryn Mawr College (1986).
Vivi Siegel, MPH, is the Associate Director for Communications for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice. In this role, she works with scientists and communicators to share information about air pollution and respiratory health; radiation, chemical exposures, natural disasters, and climate and health.
Her focus is on using risk communication principles to help stakeholders understand and deal with health uncertainties surrounding environmental events and exposures, and to take actions to protect themselves and others.
She has helped lead communications for a number of CDC’s emergency responses, including Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (2017), the Japan tsunami and nuclear disaster (2011), the multistate outbreak of fungal meningitis (2012), Hurricane Sandy (2012), and the Ebola response (2014). She has also participated in communications for CDC and ATSDR environmental health investigations around the country. Before working at CDC, Ms. Siegel worked as a newspaper reporter. She holds a BS in journalism from Northwestern University in Evanston, Il. and an MPH in environmental toxicology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Meghan Spyres attended medical school at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City and stayed in New York to complete an Emergency Medicine residency at Bellevue/NYU. She completed her Medical Toxicology fellowship training in 2016 at Banner—University Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona. She is currently Assistant Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine. Her research interests include rattlesnake envenomations, emerging drugs of abuse, Free Open Access Medical Education (FOAM), and the intersection of critical care and toxicology. She is co-founder of Women in Toxicology, a group that promotes women in academic medicine. 
Dr. Stavitskaya received her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 2011. She joined Division of Applied Regulatory Sciences (DARS) in Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), as a Computational Toxicologist in 2014. Dr. Stavitskaya has extensive research experience in the areas of medicinal chemistry and regulatory computational toxicology. Dr. Stavitskaya’s current focus is to improve FDA’s ability to predict drug safety issues and to expand the use of chemical informatics and predictive modeling in safety assessment.
Dr. Sullivan completed his medical school education at SUNY Upstate Medical University. After, he entered and finished a residency in Emergency Medicine at the same hospital. Dr. Sullivan then completed a medical toxicology fellowship at the SUNY Upstate Poison Control Center and SUNY Upstate Emergency Department. Dr. Sullivan is also board certified in Addiction Medicine.
Dr. Sullivan is currently the medical director of medical toxicology and the fellowship director of the medical toxicology fellowship at SUNY Upstate in Syracuse, NY. He also is the director of the Upstate Emergency Medicine Opioid Bridge Clinic, as well as the medical director for Syracuse Behavioral Health.
Dr. Sullivan currently is: a member of the Medical Advisory Panel to OASAS (Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Service); member of the New York DOH buprenorphine work group, and Emergency Medicine consultant SAMHSA
Luanne Thorndyke is Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
She leads an office responsible for all matters related to faculty, including sponsoring faculty/leadership development; efficiently and consistently administering academic affairs (appointment, promotion, tenure); stimulating faculty recruitment and retention, leading efforts to promote recognition and satisfaction; supporting faculty diversity and inclusion; and spearheading efforts to advance women and promote gender equity. Under her leadership, UMMS was one of five medical schools nationally to receive a $250,000 grant for innovative work in career flexibility for medical faculty from the American Council on Education and Alfred Sloan Foundation.
Prior to joining UMMS, she was Associate Dean for Professional Development at Pennsylvania State College of Medicine and Assistant Dean of Continuing Medical Education. She established the Penn State Jr. Faculty Development Program, an initiative nationally recognized as a model for faculty development and mentoring, also implemented at UMMS. A graduate of Duke University and University of Nebraska College of Medicine, Thorndyke has broad experience in academic administration, programmatic development, and clinical leadership. A board-certified internist, clinical interests include women’s health and geriatrics. Following residency training, she launched her career by establishing a community-based, primary care practice in Philadelphia that has continued for over 25 years. Scholarly interests include faculty development, mentoring, leadership and advancement of women, and faculty competencies. A highly sought after speaker, she has influenced many through numerous workshops, presentations, and mentoring/role modeling.
Thorndyke was elected Chair of the AAMC Group on Faculty Affairs (2012-13), and is also a member of the AAMC Group on Women in Medicine and Science, and the AAMC Group on Diversity and Inclusion. She was recognized by the American Medical Women’s Association with the Elizabeth Blackwell Award in 2012, the Individual Leadership Award from the AAMC Group on Women in Medicine and Science in 2013, and the 2015 Outstanding Mentor Award from the UMMS Women’s Faculty Committee. Most recently, she was awarded the prestigious 2016 Carole J. Bland Phronesis Award by the AAMC Group on Faculty Affairs. This award serves to honor members of the faculty affairs community who exemplify the spirit of phronesis through dedicated and selfless promotion of faculty vitality.
Jordan Trecki, PhD
Pharmacologist, Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section, Diversion Control Division, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Jordan Trecki, PhD is a pharmacologist in the Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section, Diversion Control Division, with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In his role with the DEA, Dr. Trecki specializes in novel psychoactive substances, including evaluation of their pharmacological properties, trends, detection, abuse liability, trafficking and status under the Controlled Substances Act. His most recent publications in Clinical Toxicology, The Journal of Emergency Medicine and the New England Journal of Medicine have focused on the severe adverse effects following the ingestion of various synthetic drugs. Dr. Trecki received his BS in biochemistry from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA, a MS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with a specialization in Biotechnology from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a PhD in pharmacology from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. Prior to joining the DEA, Dr. Trecki served as a neurotoxicologist with the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C.
Paul Wax, MD, FACMT
Executive Director; Clinical Professor, ACMT; UT Southwestern
Dr. Wax is the Executive Director of the American College of Medical Toxicology. He received his B.A from Dartmouth College, his M.D. from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, his Emergency Medicine training at the UCLA Hospitals, and his Medical Toxicology training at Bellevue Medicine Center / New York University. He is Board-certified in both Medical Toxicology and Emergency Medicine, and is a Fellow of the American College of Medical Toxicology.Along with his part time role as the Executive Director of ACMT, Dr. Wax is a Clinical Professor in Surgery (Emergency Medicine) at the University of Texas, Southwestern School of Medicine where he is a member of the Section of Medical Toxicology and Director of the Medical Toxicology Clinic. Before joining ACMT in 2008 as its Executive Director, and the University of Texas Southwestern in 2006 as a part-time faculty member, Dr. Wax had faculty appointments in the Departments of Emergency Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine from 1991-2001 and the University of Arizona School of Medicine from 2001-2006. Dr. Wax previously served on the Board of Directors of ACMT from 1998-2008 serving as ACMT President from 2006-2008. During this tenure he chaired the ACMT Education Committee from 1998-2002. From 2002-2006 Dr. Wax served as the National Director of ACMT's Consultation Network to support the ATSDR Regional Offices and was co-founder of ACMT’s Chemical Agent of Opportunity course. From 1997-2006 Dr. Wax also served as one of the American Board of Emergency Medicine’s appointee’s on the Medical Toxicology Subboard. During this time Dr. Wax served as Editor of the Medical Toxicology Board Certification Examination as well as Chairman of the Subboard, and was also the primary author of the 2004 Core Content of Medical Toxicology. Dr. Wax has also served as a consultant to the Centers for Disease Control NCEH’s Division of Laboratory Sciences and was a member of NCEH/ATSDR Board of Scientific Counselors from 2006-2008.
Robbert Zusterzeel, MD, PhD, MPH
Staff Fellow Medical Officer, Food and Drug Administration
Robbert Zusterzeel, MD, PhD, MPH is a leader in translational sciences regulatory research. In his current role as Staff Fellow Medical Officer in the Division of Applied Regulatory Science in FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) he is mainly involved in assessing cardiac safety of drugs across the translational research spectrum. He earned a medical degree (M.D.) and a Ph.D. in cardiology from Maastricht University, The Netherlands. Dr. Zusterzeel also completed a master of public health (MPH) in epidemiology at Harvard University. He has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles related to assessing the safety and effectiveness of drugs and medical devices and predicting individualized response to therapies.
