Board of Directors
President ElectStephen Little, MSc.
President
John E. French, Ph.D.
Dr. French earned a Ph.D. in Comparative Biochemistry and Molecular Toxicology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Following post-doctoral studies in radiobiology in Bethesda, MD, he joined the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research of the USFDA.
Secretary
Dr. Boyer received her Ph.D. in Toxicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Under the mentorship of Dr. Marila Cordeiro-Stone she studied the effects of ultraviolet light and benzo(a)pyrene-diol-epoxide on DNA replication and cell transformation. As a postdoctoral fellow she furthered her research interests in DNA replication and mutagenesis in the laboratory of Dr. Thomas Kunkel at NIEHS from 1990-1995 studying the fidelity of DNA replication and the role of mismatch repair. She then worked in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UNC-CH until 2009 studying various topics including microsatellite instability and effects of autoimmune responses on kidney inflammation. Currently she is working in the UNC-CH School of Public Health in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering with Dr. Leena Nylander-French studying dermal toxicity of naphthalene and jet fuel. Dr. Boyer has been a member of GEMS since “sometime in the mid 80’s” and has served on the Board of Councilors from 2004-2007 and has been GEMS Secretary since 2007.
Treasurer
Cynthia Innes2010-2012 Councilors
Tom Hughes, US EPA
Raj Chhabra, NIEHS
2009-2011 Councilors
Dr. Muganda earned a B.S. degree in Biology (1976) from Lock Haven State College, and a M.Sc. degree in Biochemistry (1978) from Howard University. After receiving her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (1983) under the direction of Dr. Howard J. Edenberg at Indiana University School of Medicine, she joined the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Research Center as a postdoctoral fellow (under the direction of Dr. Eng-Shang Huang) in 1984. There she studied tumor virology and cancer molecular biology, with funding through the Institutional National Research Service Award fellowship, followed by a supplemental grant from the National Cancer Institute. Upon securing an Assistant Professor of Virology position at the University of Texas at El Paso in 1988, Peppy continued her NIH-funded research in tumor virology, focusing on viral-cellular interactions involving human cytomegalovirus and p53, proto-oncogenes, and casein kinase II. In 1995, Peppy accepted an Associate Professor of Biological Sciences position at Southern University, Baton Rouge, and was promoted to full Professor of Biological Sciences and Environmental Toxicology in 2000. In August 2007, Peppy joined the faculty at North Carolina A&T State University as Professor of Biology. Peppy’s current research, which was initiated upon receipt of NIEHS funding in 1999, focuses on the cellular and molecular toxicology of butadiene. This research, which is now funded by NIGMS, utilizes various (including genetic) approaches to deduce butadiene-induced p53-mediated apoptotic signaling pathways. Peppy is a chartered member (2006-2010) of the NIH National Center for Scientific Review CAMP Study section, and regularly reviews manuscripts for Toxicology In Vitro. She is a member of American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society for Microbiology, and the Genetics and Environmental Mutagenesis Society (GEMS).
Ram Ramabhadran, Ph.D.
Dr. Ramabhadran is the Branch Chief of the Cellular and Molecular Toxicity Branch of the Neurotoxicology Division (NTD) of the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratories (NHEERL) of the Office of Research Development (ORD) of US EPA. Following early training in physics, biophysics and radiological physics, he received his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Texas at Dallas, elucidating the molecular mechanism of growth inhibition induced by near ultraviolet radiation. After postdoctoral training at the Washington University in St. Louis in animal virology, he worked in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry until two years ago, when he joined the EPA. During his industrial career, Dr. Ramabhadran took a midcareer break and spent two years at the Rockefeller University in NY, in the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience with Dr. Paul Greengard. Throughout his career, Dr. Ramabhadran has held adjunct academic appointments at several leading academic institutions such as Rockefeller University, the Nathan Kline Institute of the New York University, and currently holds adjunct appointments in the Division of Neurology, Duke University School of Medicine and in the Curriculum in Toxicology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Over the last twenty years, Dr. Ramabhadran’s research has covered the molecular aspects of radiation damage, interferon action, biological drugs, viral gene delivery, and Alzheimer’s disease. More recently his research is focused on designing a novel molecular approach to rapid screening of environmental toxicants.
Stephanie L. Smith-Roe, Ph.D.
Dr. Smith-Roe received a B.S. in Zoology and Psychology with a specialization in Biochemistry in 1998 from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Stephanie began her scientific career in the field of behavioral neuroscience by studying neural substrates of learning, memory, and stress as an undergraduate at UW-Madison and later at Wisconsin Psychiatric Institute and Clinics. In 2006, Stephanie received her Ph.D. from the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at Oregon State University where she was supported as an NIEHS Trainee. For her dissertation, she studied gene-environment interactions by exposing mismatch repair (MMR)-deficient mice, a model for Lynch syndrome, to a DNA-adduct forming food-borne carcinogen. Stephanie joined William K. Kaufmann’s laboratory at UNC-CH in 2006 as a postdoctoral scholar and is supported by the NIEHS Environmental Pathology Training Grant. Presently, she is studying the role of two newly discovered proteins, Timeless and Timeless-interacting protein (Tipin), in DNA replication and intra-S checkpoint signaling in response to DNA damage (UV exposure). Stephanie is a member of the Environmental Mutagen Society (2002-present) and the Society of Toxicology (2002 – present) and is a recent member of GEMS. She served as the Pacific Northwest Association of Toxicology Student Representative to SOT in 2005 - 2006.
2008-2010 Councilors
Joel N. Meyer, Ph.D.Joel received his Ph.D. (Environmental Toxicology, 2003) from Duke University (Durham, NC), with a certificate from the Integrated Toxicology Program. He worked under the supervision of Dr. Richard Di Giulio, studying a population of Fundulus heteroclitus (Atlantic killifish) that had adapted to survival in a highly contaminated Superfund site. He investigated heritability of the resistant phenotype, mechanisms of resistance to toxicity (focusing on alterations in aryl hydrocarbon receptor pathway proteins and oxidative stress parameters), and costs associated with the resistant phenotype. Following completion of his Ph.D. studies, Joel moved to Dr. Bennett Van Houten’s DNA Repair and Mitochondrial Damage Group at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, NIEHS; Research Triangle Park, NC). While there, he adapted the Van Houten laboratory’s QPCR assay for DNA damage and repair to the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, and began a characterization of nucleotide excision repair in that organism. Joel was also exposed to and impressed with the potential of genomics and systems biology approaches to environmental mutagenesis and toxicology during his postdoctoral work. He started as an assistant professor at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University in 2007. There, he has initiated projects designed to 1) further investigate the importance of nucleotide excision repair in the life of C elegans, especially upon exposure to environmental genotoxins; and 2) investigate the effects of, and response to, mitochondrial DNA damage in C elegans. He has been a member of the Environmental Mutagen Society since 2003, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry since 1998, and has been active in GEMS and local chapters of the Society of Toxicology and Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Carol Swartz, D.V.M., Ph.D.Carol received her Ph.D. in 2004 from Texas A&M University, where she worked under the supervision of Dr. K.C. Donnelly of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Public Health and Dr. John Bickham of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (Dr. Bickham is currently Head of the Center for the Environment at Purdue University). Her graduate work involved a study of genetic effects ranging from direct DNA damage to population genetic shifts resulting from exposure to environmental contaminants in wildlife populations living at sites contaminated by industrial waste. She also earned a D.V.M. from Oklahoma State University in 1990 and a B.S. in Biochemistry in 1986 from OSU, where she worked with Dr. George Odell to characterize the protein components of spider venom. Carol is currently working with Dr. David DeMarini at the USEPA under a cooperative training grant with UNC. At EPA, she has studied the mutagenicity of sulfur-containing PAHs using the Ames Assay and has examined the influence of various gene deletions built into the Ames Salmonella strains on mutagenicity of several standard compounds. She also used microarray analysis to evaluate gene expression changes in Ames Salmonella bacteria under conditions of mutagenicity. Her latest research project involves determining the potential of zero-valent iron nanoparticles to cause heritable mutation in tandem repeat loci in mouse spermatogonia. Carol is a member of the EPA Networking and Leadership Training Organization where she serves as the secretary/treasurer. She is also involved in her sons’ Boy Scout Troop and high school PTSA in leadership roles. In these positions, she has enjoyed the opportunity to interact with colleagues and to help keep the organizations responsive to their membership, and she would welcome a similar role as a GEMS Councilor. She has been a member of EMS and SOT since 2004 and has been a GEMS member since 2002.
John David (JD) Wilson, M.S.
John David, better known as ‘JD’ by his friends and colleagues, received his Bachelor of Arts in Biology from UNC Chapel Hill in 1992, and he finished a Master of Toxicology degree at NC State in 2002. He completed the graduate degree while continuing to work full-time for GlaxoSmithKline, where he has been employed since 1992. For 9 years, ‘JD’ worked at GlaxoSmithKline in the toxicology labs and his primary responsibility was testing new drugs in the Ames assay. He was a Study Director (as defined under the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21 Part 58) for 6 years, and this involved conducting genetic toxicity assays in full compliance with US and international regulations. He also led an initiative to improve drug-related genotoxicity screening capabilities by validating scaled-down versions of the Ames test, such as using mini-well agar plates. In 2002, he moved to the Regulatory Affairs department and continues to support drug development efforts in his present role. In his current position, he is primarily a technical writer for regulatory submissions to US FDA and international authorities. ‘JD’ has accomplished work on several dozen major submissions and he has also supported clinical functions, including being an author and coordinator for Investigator’s Brochures. He has a continuing interest in the field of genetic toxicology, in particular as it relates to regulatory issues such as genotoxic risk assessment and genotoxic impurities. He is a current member of the Environmental Mutagen Society and has attended annual meetings in Minneapolis, St. Louis, San Francisco and New Orleans. He is a life member of GEMS.