ACMT Staff Information
Paul M. Wax, MD, FACMT
Executive Director
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.
Tricia Steffey
Executive Assistant
Tricia Steffey began working with the American College of Medical Toxicology as Executive Assistant in March 2008. In this capacity, she performs numerous tasks to support the business operations of ACMT, as well as provide support to the Board of Directors and Membership of the College. She is also responsible for ACMT’s financial management, human resources, and grant compliance.
Tricia has several years experience working in the nonprofit arena. Prior to joining ACMT, she worked as Executive Assistant for the Scottsdale Prevention Institute and the Senior Board Coordinator for the Arizona Medical Board. She holds a certification in Accounting Technology Management from the Arizona Institute of Business and Technology in Tucson, Arizona. Tricia is a native of Arizona and currently resides in the Phoenix area with her husband, son, and two dogs.
Sharan Campleman, PhD, MPH, DABT
Program Manager, Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC)
Dana Karshenas, MPH, CHES
Program Manager, Communications and Grants Office
Dana is a Program Manager in the Communications and Grants Office of ACMT. She contributes her expertise to a range of ACMT endeavors, including managing ACMT’s Department of Homeland Security toxicology training program, guiding the development of the website and performance tracking databases for the PEHSU program, and researching and writing grant proposals. She is particularly interested in community-based environmental justice initiatives and efforts to reduce health disparities.
Dana received her MPH from the Department of Health Behavior at the University of North Carolina and is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES). Prior to earning an MPH, she completed both a BA and an MA in Russian and Eurasian studies, and spent four and a half years as coordinator of a Brooklyn-based NIH Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Program grant, which focused on building HIV/infectious disease research capacity in multiple countries of the Former Soviet Union. Despite her global background, she has contributed to a number of projects focused on domestic public health issues, including intimate partner and sexual violence prevention, smoking cessation, prevention of injury from opioid misuse, and women’s and adolescent health promotion. Dana is originally from northeastern Ohio, but so far her life has taken her to quite interesting places all over the map. At present, she is happy to call North Carolina her home.
Carrie Dickenson, MA
Senior Program Manager, Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSU)
Carrie Dickenson is the Senior Program Manager with the PEHSU program at The American College of Medical Toxicology. She has worked in Canada and the United States in a variety of research management and programmatic roles. Previously, she was the research coordinator for the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at the University of California San Francisco. Carrie has authored numerous publications in reproductive environmental health and has a Masters Degree in the History of Medicine.
Lizzy Nguyen, MPH
Assistant Program Manager, Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSU)
Lizzy joined ACMT in June 2015 as the the Program Coordinator for the PEHSU program. Her responsibilities include providing administrative, logistical, and database support to the PEHSU program. She brings in her experiences in program implementation and evaluation of maternal and child health programs. She's worked on projects such as program coordination and outreach for the Louisiana Healthy Homes and Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program and evaluation of Nurse Family Partnership and Parents as Teachers program with the Louisiana Public Health Institute. Prior to her public health career, she's spent time working in the lab at a fertility clinic.
She received her MPH with a concentration in Community Health Sciences at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She attended James Madison University and obtained her BS in Biology and Biotechnology. Originally from the Northern Virginia/DC area, she currently lives in New Orleans enjoying everything the city has to offer.
Adrienne Landry Dunavin, MA
Education Program Manager
Adrienne joined ACMT in February 2016. As the Education Program Manager, she is responsible for developing, overseeing, and leading education programs that align with ACMT’s strategic plan. She supports the work of ACMT's Education Committee with operational planning and event logistics.
Adrienne has a BA in History from the University of Kansas and an MA from Columbia University in Russian and East European studies. She has over a decade of experience in program management and event coordination, organizing conferences and high-profile diplomatic visits in the US and Europe.
Sandra Kirilovic
Membership and Program Coordinator
Sandra joined ACMT in June 2017 as the Membership and Program Coordinator. Her main focus is membership engagement and coordinating membership programs and activities (webinars, educational events, etc).
Sandra has a BA in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. She previously worked for a membership management software company, where she helped thousands of organizations better manage and communicate with their members. Sandra also has a background in data analysis, marketing, event planning and social media. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Sandra has recently relocated to the Phoenix area where she resides with her husband, cat and dog.
Tracy Kolian, MPH
Director of Strategic Innovation and Funding
Tracy M. Kolian wo
rks part-time as director of strategic innovation and grant management at ACMT. Tracy is a senior public health professional and worked at the national level for over a decade at the American Public Health Association and the Center for the Advancement of Health. In addition to her work with ACMT, Tracy is an independent consultant and supports public health clients advance their goals. Tracy has a BS in Toxicology from Northeastern University, an MPH from Tulane University, is a certified Toastmaster and a graduate of CDC’s Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute.
Shao Li, MPH
Toxicology Data Quality Associate, Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC)
Shao joined ACMT in October, 2018 as Quality Assurance Associate with ToxIc Registry program of ACMT. Shao received his MPH in Health Promotion and Program Planning from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY. He has years of collective experience in public health intervention, working for NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in Hepatitis prevention and outreach, and research coordination in Mount Sinai Health for cardiovascular clinical trials. Shao is now pursuing MBA in non-profit management and plus.
Karen M. Ferguson, CFRE
Chief Development Officer
Karen Ferguson is a development professional with an extensive background with for-profit and not for profit organizations.
As the Director of the Oswego Health Foundation, she successfully created a board and committee system; developed annual giving programs, special events, corporate and foundation grants program, planned giving program and finally a major gifts program. She was responsible for developing policies and processes; management of staff and office operations as well as authoring fundraising plans that were congruent to the health system strategic plan. Prior to that Karen served as the Executive Director for the Central New York Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. She began her not for profit career as the Branch Director for the Oswego office of the American Red Cross of Central New York. Her prior experience includes owning and operating her own businesses for 15 years with nearly 10 years of Human Resources experience where she was a certified instructor for the Savings and Loan Association.
Karen has served on many boards and committees. Most notably she has been a longtime member of the CNY Chapter of Association for Fundraising Professionals becoming a board member in January 2013 and is currently serving as the president of the chapter. Karen also served on the national AFP Member/Chapter Services Committee.
Karen is a graduate of SUNY Oswego with a B.S. in Business. In September of 2012, she completed the requirements and successfully earned her Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE), a credential she has since maintained.
Jessica Irving
Communications Manager
Jessica joined ACMT in March of 2020. She has broad expertise with graphic and web design, copy-editing and layout, video editing, and producing content for print, digital, and social media. Since 2006 Jessica has served a wide array of clients as a freelance web and graphic designer. She worked with three International Area Studies Centers at the University of Kansas in a similar capacity from 2009-2020.