Evaluation of a Site-Specific Risk Assessment for the Department of Homeland Security's Planned National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kansas (2010)

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Appendix A Committee Biosketches Ronald M. Atlas (Chair) is professor of biology and co-director of the Center for Health Hazards Preparedness at the University of Louisville. He received his B.S. in biology from the State University at Stony Brook and his M.S. and Ph.D. in microbiology from Rutgers University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he worked on Mars life detection. He has served as a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Advisory Committee, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Planetary Protection Board, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Scientific Working Group on Bioforensics, and the National Institutes of Health’s Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. He has been president of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and is co-chair of the ASM Biodefense Committee. His early research focused on oil spills, and he discovered bioremediation as part of his doctoral studies. He later turned to the molecular detection of pathogens in the environment, which forms the basis of biosensors to detect biothreat agents. Dr. Atlas has authored nearly 300 manuscripts and 20 books. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and has received the ASM Award for Applied and Environmental Microbiology, the ASM Founders Award, the Edmund Youde Lectureship Award in Hong Kong, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Guelph. He often advises the U.S. government on policy issues related to the deterrence of bioterrorism. Thomas W. Armstrong retired in 2008 from his position as senior scientific associate in the Exposure Sciences Group of ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc., where he had worked since 1989. Dr. Armstrong also worked with the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center as the lead investigator on exposure assessment for epidemiological investigations of potentially benzene-related or other occupational exposure-related hematopoietic diseases in Shanghai, China. Dr. Armstrong spent 9 years working for the Linde Group as the manager of loss control in the gases division and as a manager of safety and industrial hygiene. He conducted research on quantitative risk-assessment models for inhalation exposure to Legionella and remains professionally active on that topic. He has recently contributed to publications on mathematical models to estimate exposures to hazardous materials and methods of exposure reconstruction. He was a member of the Society for Risk Analysis and remains an active member of the American Industrial Hygiene Association. The American Board of Industrial Hygiene has certified him as an Industrial Hygienist. Dr. Armstrong has an M.S. in environmental health and a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Drexel University. 71 

EVALUATION OF THE NBAF SITE-SPECIFIC RISK ASSESSMENT 72 Michael S. Ascher is a graduate of Dartmouth and Harvard Medical Schools and was trained in internal medicine, infectious diseases, and immunology at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City. He has 30 years of experience in a variety of environments, including basic and clinical research on biothreat diseases in the Army, research and practice in infectious disease and academic medicine at the University of California (UC), Irvine, and laboratory and epidemiological practice and research in the state of California public health laboratory. From 2001 to 2003, he served as laboratory consultant to the secretary of health and human services and later in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. From 2003 to 2007, he worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) on host-response biomarkers of infection. In October 2007, he retired from LLNL; he now works part-time at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine on the BioPortal information-sharing infrastructure focused on global foot- and-mouth disease surveillance. He served on the National Research Council Committee on Biological Threats to Agricultural Plants and Animals. He serves as the senior medical adviser to the California Emergency Management Agency. He has over 100 publications. Mark T. Hernandez is a professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His research interests lie at the cusp of molecular biology and civil engineering, focusing on the characterization and control of biological air pollution, both natural and anthropogenic. Recent work has focused on engineering disinfection systems for airborne bacteria and viruses and on tracking bioaerosols through natural weather patterns and catastrophic events (such as Hurricane Katrina). He is a registered professional civil engineer and an active technical consultant in the commercial waste-treatment and industrial hygiene sectors. Dr. Hernandez serves as an editor of Aerosol Science and Technology and is the director of the Colorado Diversity Initiative. Dr. Hernandez received his Ph.D. (1992) and M.S. (1988) in environmental engineering and his B.S. (1986) in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Barbara Johnson is president of the consulting company Barbara Johnson & Associates, LLC. She is a registered biosafety professional and has over 15 years of experience in the U.S. government in biosafety, biocontainment, and biosecurity. She has managed the design, construction, and commissioning of a biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) aerosol pathogen test facility and launched the U.S. government’s first chemical and biological counterterrorism training facility. Her research includes biological risk assessment and mitigation, testing of the efficiency of respiratory protective devices, and testing of novel methods of decontamination against biological threat agents. In the private sector, she pioneered the development of the first joint biosafety and biosecurity programs between the United States and the former Soviet Union. Dr. Johnson has served as the president of the American Biological Safety Association and is coeditor of Applied Biosafety. She serves on the National Research Council committee that provides continuing assistance to the National Institutes of Health on preparation of risk assessments for the Boston University National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory. Dr. Johnson received her PhD in microbiology. 

APPENDIX A 73 Brendan McCluskey was appointed the executive director of the Office of Emergency Management and Occupational Health and Safety at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) in 2006 and directs security for the university’s BSL-3 laboratories. He had previously been deputy director of the Center for BioDefense (2001–2004) and acting director of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive Center for Training and Research (2004–2006) at the university. He has served as a member of the Governor’s Task Force on Campus Safety (New Jersey) since 2007. Mr. McCluskey is a Certified Emergency Manager and serves as chair of the Universities and Colleges Caucus of the International Association of Emergency Managers. In 2002, he was appointed an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UMDNJ, where he teaches courses in bioterrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and homeland security. Until 2009, Mr. McCluskey was also an assistant professor at Kean University, where he taught courses in public administration, bioterrorism, and public-health policy. Mr. McCluskey received his J.D. (2006) from Rutgers University School of Law and his M.P.A. (2001) and B.A. (1997) in biology from Kean University. Kishor C. Mehta is the P.W. Horn Professor of Civil Engineering at Texas Tech University (TTU). He is recognized nationally and internationally as an authority in wind loads on structures and wind engineering. He has devoted the last 38 years of his professional career to teaching, conducting research, offering short courses and seminars, and consulting for problems related to wind loads. Dr. Mehta served as director of the 10-year-long National Science Foundation–funded Cooperative Program on Wind Engineering (with Colorado State University) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology–TTU Cooperative Program Windstorm Mitigation Initiative. As chairman of the task committee on wind loads of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Committee A58 and of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Committee ASCE 7, he played a major role in the development of the wind-load provisions of ANSI A58.1-1982, ASCE 7-88, and ASCE 7-95. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Distinguished Member of ASCE. Dr. Mehta received his B.S.E. (1957) and M.S.E. (1958) in civil engineering from the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. (1965) in civil engineering from the University of Texas, Austin. Frederick A. Murphy is professor of pathology and McLaughlin Professor in Residence at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Previously, he was dean and Distinguished Professor of the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis. His expertise is in virology, emerging and re- emerging infectious diseases, the use of nonhuman primates in infectious-diseases research, and veterinary medicine; his interests also include public-health policy and comparative medicine. Dr. Murphy is a former director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is a recipient of the Presidential Rank Award and is a member of the German Academy of Natural Sciences. Dr. Murphy was elected a member of the Institute of Medicine for his research on the pathogenesis of viral disease. He is the author of nearly 500 articles. Dr. Murphy received his D.V.M. (1959) and his B.S. in bacteriology (1957) from Cornell University and his Ph.D. in comparative pathology (1964) from UC Davis. 

EVALUATION OF THE NBAF SITE-SPECIFIC RISK ASSESSMENT 74 Philip L. Paarlberg is a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University. His research interests include the economic impacts of livestock disease outbreaks, and he is a coauthor of several articles related to the potential revenue and welfare impacts of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the United States. His teaching responsibilities cover agricultural policy and international trade. He has had extensive experience from 1977 to 1985 in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS), where he analyzed international trade policy issues. In 1991–1992, Dr. Paarlberg was a visiting professor at the University of Goettingen. His awards include a USDA Superior Service Award, an award for superior research from ERS, an American Agricultural Economics Association award for his PhD thesis, and an outstanding award for the journal article in 2003 from the Southern Agricultural Economics Association. Dr. Paarlberg received his Ph.D. (1983) and M.S. (1977) in agricultural economics and his B.A. (1975) in history from Purdue University. Timothy C. Reluga is an assistant professor of mathematics and biology at Pennsylvania State University. His research focuses on the description, understanding, and prediction of the dynamics of biological systems. His core research interest is in population biology, but his work also encompasses topics in evolutionary biology, immunology, epidemiology, and computer science. His most recent work has focused on incorporating social and behavioral factors into theories of infectious-disease dynamics and management, and on using mathematical models to predict the biological and ecological transmission process of disease. He served on the National Research Council committee to review the health and safety risks of high biocontainment laboratories at Fort Detrick. Dr. Reluga received his Ph.D. (2004) in applied mathematics from the University of Washington and his B.S. (1998) in biology and mathematics from Tufts University. James A. Roth is the Clarence Hartley Covault Distinguished Professor in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine of the College of Veterinary Medicine of Iowa State University. He is the director of the Center for Food Security and Public Health at Iowa State University, and is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Epidemiology of the College of Public Health of the University of Iowa. Dr. Roth’s research interests are in evaluating cell-mediated immunity to bovine and porcine infectious agents and vaccines, and in developing a recombinant vaccine for Nipah virus. He has testified before Congress on biosecurity preparedness and efforts to address bioterrorism. Dr. Roth serves on the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity and served on the Interagency Weapons of Mass Destruction Counter Measures Working Group and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Agroterrorism Counter Measures Blue Ribbon Panel. He is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists. Dr. Roth received his Ph.D. (1981) and M.S. (1979) in veterinary microbiology and his D.V.M. (1975) from Iowa State University. 

APPENDIX A 75 Mark C. Thurmond is professor emeritus of veterinary epidemiology in the Department of Medicine and Epidemiology of the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis. He remains involved part-time as the co-director of the Center for Animal Disease Modeling and Surveillance and co-director of the FMD Surveillance and Modeling Laboratory, where he continues to pursue his research interests in infectious disease epidemiology and surveillance, particularly related to foot-and-mouth disease. His interests during the last 38 years of professional teaching, research, and service have included clinical medicine and clinical epidemiology, primarily related to infectious diseases of livestock, new methods in diagnostic epidemiology, and modeling and development of disease control and surveillance systems. Dr. Thurmond received his Ph.D. (1982) in dairy science - epidemiology from the University of Florida, and his M.P.V.M. (1975), D.V.M. (1972), and B.S. (1970) in veterinary science from UC Davis. Akula Venkatram is a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California, Riverside, where he has been since 1993. Dr. Venkatram’s research interests include the comprehensive modeling of systems governing air quality, theoretical aspects of small-scale dispersion, the application of micrometeorology to dispersion problems, and the development of simplified models for complex systems. His research group has conducted several field studies to collect data to develop dispersion models applicable to urban areas. Dr. Venkatram has led the development of comprehensive long-range transport models, including the Acid Deposition and Oxidant Model (ADOM), the Visibility and Haze in the Western Atmosphere (VISHWA) model, and the Simplified Ozone Modelling System (SOMS). Dr. Venkatram was a member of the committee that developed AERMOD, which is the air quality model recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for regulatory applications. Dr. Venkatram served on the Advisory Council of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (1993–1997) and was a member of the Risk Assessment Advisory Committee of the California EPA. He is the chair of the Airport Modeling Advisory Committee appointed by the Federal Aviation Administration. Dr. Venkatram is a former vice president of air sciences at ENSR Consulting and Engineering. He served as a research scientist at the Atmospheric Environment Service, Canada, for a year before joining the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto. Dr. Venkatram received his Ph.D. (1976) in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and his B.S. (1971) in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, India. 

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