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Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010 (2012)

Chapter: Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13166.
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Appendix D

Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff

Mary K. Walker, PhD (Chair), is Regents’ Professor of Pharmacology/ Toxicology in the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy. Her research interests focus on the mechanisms by which various ligands (including dioxin) for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) induce excessive or insufficient activation and thereby produce subtle changes in gene expression that lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood and on the structural, functional, and molecular changes in adult cardiovascular physiology in a genetic mouse model that lacks the AhR gene. Dr. Walker has written numerous peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters. She is a fellow of the American Heart Association, a member of the Society of Toxicology, a panelist on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board, and a reviewer for several journals and study sections. She served on the committee for Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2006.

Erin M. Bell, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Department of Environmental Health Sciences of the State University of New York’s School of Public Health in Albany. She received her undergraduate degree in biology with honors from Hartwick College and her MS and PhD degrees in epidemiology from the University of Massachusetts– Amherst and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, respectively. Between her master’s and doctoral studies, she was a Research Associate in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Medical Follow-up Agency. Her epidemiology research focuses on environmental exposures, particularly to pesticides, as they are related to reproductive, immune, and cancer outcomes. She previously served on the IOM committee for Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2008.

Scott W. Burchiel, PhD, holds the Nunzio and Sherolyn DeSantis Endowed Chair in Pharmaco-genomics and is Associate Dean for Research at the University of New Mexico (UNM) College of Pharmacy in Albuquerque. He has served at UNM in numerous capacities since receiving his PhD in pharmacology in 1977 from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. His con-

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13166.
×

tinuing research interests include the development of monoclonal antibodies for nuclear imaging, nanotoxicology, lymphocyte activation and signal transduction, and development of biomarkers for immunotoxicity. He has previously served on National Academies committees that produced Beryllium Alloy Exposures, Human Health Risks of Trichloroethylene, Jet Propulsion Fuel 8, and Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2008.

Rodney R. Dietert, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, with which he has been associated since 1991. He received his BS in zoology from Duke University in 1974 and his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin in 1977. Dr. Dietert has been director of graduate studies in immunology, a Senior Fellow in the Center for the Environment, Director of the Institute for Comparative and Environmental Toxicology, and Director of the program on breast cancer and environmental risk factors at Cornell’s Sprecher Institute for Comparative Cancer Research. His research on immunotoxicology has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Agriculture, the National Institutes of Health, and industry.

Naihua Duan, PhD, MA, is Professor of Biostatistics at Columbia University and Director of the Division of Biostatistics of the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City. He received a BS in mathematics from National Taiwan University, an MA in mathematical statistics from Columbia University, and a PhD in statistics from Stanford University. His research interests include health-services research, prevention research, sample design and experimental design, model robustness, transformation models, multilevel modeling, nonparametric and semi-parametric regression methods, and environmental exposure assessment. He previously served on the National Academies committees that authored Human Exposure Assessment to Airborne Pollutants: Advances and Opportunities; Organ Procurement and Transplantation: Assessing Current Policies and the Potential Impact of the DHHS Final Rule; Carbon Monoxide Episodes in Meteorological and Topographical Problem Areas; Assessing the Medical Risks of Human Oocyte Donation for Stem Cell Research; and Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2008.

Russ B. Hauser, ScD, MD, MPH, is the Frederick Lee Hisaw Professor of Reproductive Physiology and Professor of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology in the Department of Environmental Health and Department of Epidemiology, respectively, of the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Hauser received his MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and his ScD and MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. His research focuses on the effects of environmental chemicals on male and female reproductive functioning, pregnancy outcomes, and children’s health. Dr. Hauser is interested primarily in

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13166.
×

endocrine disruptors, and his current studies include investigations of possible adverse reproductive effects of exposures to pesticides or dioxins, phthalates, and bisphenol. He served as a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Gulf War and Health: Literature Review of Pesticides and Solvents.

Karl Kelsey, MD, MOH, is Professor of Community Health and Pathology and of Laboratory Medicine at Brown University. He received his MD from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in occupational health from Harvard University. Until 2007, he was on the faculty of the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School. He is interested in the application of laboratory-based biomarkers in chronic-disease epidemiology and tumor biology and in characterizing individual susceptibility to cancer. He is an author of more than 200 publications and has served on the National Academies Committees on Toxicity Testing and Assessment of Environmental Agents, on Copper in Drinking Water, on the Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs Uniform Case Assessment Protocol, to Review the Health Consequences of Service During the Persian Gulf War, to Conduct a Study on Curriculum Development in Environmental Medicine, and on the Health Effects of Mustard Gas and Lewisite.

Nancy I. Kerkvliet, PhD, is Professor of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Dr. Kerkvliet’s research is focused on using animal models to understand how chemicals of environmental concern alter immune function, primarily on understanding how activation of the AHR by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and other ligands suppresses immune responses. In 2007, Dr. Kerkvliet was the recipient of the Society of Toxicology’s Career Achievement Award in Immunotoxicology. She previously served on the Committee on Toxicology, its Subcommittee on Jet Propulsion Fuel 8, and the committees for the fifth, sixth, and seventh updates of Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam.

Stephen B. Kritchevsky, PhD, MSPH, is Professor of Internal Medicine in the Section on Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine and Director of the J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging of Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After receiving both his M.S.P.H. and his Ph.D. degrees in epidemiology from the University at North Carolina, Chapel Hill, he joined the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology and later the Department of Preventive Medicine of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Dr. Kritchevsky’s research interests are related to nutritional factors affecting the health and function of older adults including inflammation, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease.

Peter S. J. Lees, PhD, CIH, is a professor and director of the Division of Environmental Health Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13166.
×

School of Public Health. After receiving a BS in biology from the College of William and Mary, he worked as an environmental-assessment project manager and obtained his certification as an industrial hygienist. On completing his doctorate in environmental health engineering and industrial hygiene at Johns Hopkins University, he joined the faculty. He also serves as Deputy Director of the school’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research Center. He has been a member of numerous advisory panels, including the Department of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee for War-Related Illness and Injury Study Center, an Institue of Medicine Advisory Committee on a Medical Follow-up Agency study of exposure to warfare agents, and the National Research Council Committee to Review and Assess Industrial Hygiene Standards and Practices.

Linda A. McCauley, PhD, FAAN, RN, is Professor and Dean of Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta. Dr. McCauley has expertise in the design of epidemiologic investigations of environmental hazards and in occupational and environmental health nursing. Her work aims to identify culturally appropriate interventions to decrease the effects of environmental and occupational health hazards in vulnerable populations, including workers and young children. Dr. McCauley was previously the Associate Dean for Research and the Nightingale Professor in Nursing of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She received a bachelor of nursing degree from the University of North Carolina, a master’s degree in nursing from Emory, and a doctorate in environmental health and epidemiology from the University of Cincinnati. She became a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2008. She has previously served on IOM’s Committee to Review the Federal Response to the Health Effects Associated with the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Committee on the Effect of Climate Change on Indoor Air Quality and Public Health, in addition to the Veterans and Agent Orange committees responsible for Update 2006 and Update 2008.

James R. Olson, MS, PhD, is Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Research Professor of Social and Preventive Medicine, and Director of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences of the University at Buffalo–the State University of New York. Dr. Olson received both his master’s degree in pharmacology and his doctorate in pharmacology and toxicology from the Medical College of Wisconsin and was an National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences postdoctoral trainee and fellow at the Center in Environmental Toxicology at Vanderbilt University. His research focuses on the toxicity and mechanism of action of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, and polychlorinated biphenyls in laboratory animals and humans. Dr. Olson has been a reviewer for numerous journals, a member of many advisory and grant panels, and a contributor to several Environmental Protection Agency and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry summary documents.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13166.
×

Jeremy Shefner, MD, PhD, is Professor and Chair of Neurology and Associate Vice President for Clinical and Translational Research at Upstate Medical University–State University of New York, Director of the Clinical Neurophysiology Laboratory, and Director of the MDA/ALS Research and Treatment Center at University Hospital in Syracuse, New York. He is also cochair of the Northwest ALS Clinical Trials Consortium. He received a PhD in experimental psychology from the University of Illinois in 1976 and was a National Research Service Awards research fellow from 1976 to 1979. Dr. Shefner earned his MD at Northwestern University Medical School in 1983. He completed a fellowship in clinical neurophysiology and neuromuscular disease with the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where he participated in ALS clinical trials. In Syracuse, he established the multidisciplinary ALS clinic, which conducts both industry-initiated and investigator-initiated clinical trials. Dr. Shefner is the recipient of numerous research grants from National Institutes of Health and industry sponsors and the author of more than 100 original research articles and book chapters on neurophysiology. Dr. Shefner previously served on the Institute of Medicine committees that prepared Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in Veterans and Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2008.

Michael K. Skinner, PhD, is a Professor in the School of Molecular Biosciences at Washington State University. He received his BS in chemistry from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and his PhD in biochemistry from Washington State University, and he had a postdoctoral fellowship at the C.H. Best Institute at the University of Toronto. He has been on the faculty of Vanderbilt University and the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Skinner’s research is focused on how different cell types in a tissue interact and communicate to regulate gonadal growth and differentiation. His current research has demonstrated the ability of endocrine disruptors to promote transgenerational epigenetic disease phenotypes through abnormal germ-line programming in gonadal development. Dr. Skinner established and served as the Director of both the Washington State University and University of Idaho Center for Reproductive Biology and the Center for Integrated Biotechnology. In 2008, he stepped down from those directorships to focus on his research. His research has been highlighted in BBC and PBS documentaries and selected as among the top 100 discoveries in 2005 and 2007 by Discover. Dr. Skinner has served on numerous journal editorial boards and has more than 200 peer-reviewed publications.

Luoping Zhang, PhD, is currently an Associate Adjunct Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences in the School of Public Health of the University of California, Berkeley. She is Associate Director of the Genes and Environment Laboratory and the Benzene Health Effects Program. Dr. Zhang is also coleader and coinvestigator in the university’s Superfund Basic Research Program. She received her BS in physical chemistry from Wuhan University

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13166.
×

and her MS in biochemistry from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, both in Wuhan, China. She completed her PhD in biochemical toxicology at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada, in 1993. Dr. Zhang is recognized as a leading authority on fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) methods and is an innovator in developing new FISH assays. Dr. Zhang has collaborated with the US National Cancer Institute, the Chinese Center for Disease and Prevention, and other academic institutions in several large-scale molecular epidemiologic studies. Dr. Zhang’s major research focus is on applying biomarkers, molecular cytogenetics, and new genomic technologies to further the understanding of the causes and mechanisms of leukemia and lymphoma caused by environmental pollutants, and she has a developing interest in human stem-cell toxicology. She recently served on the National Research Council Committee on Tetrachloroethylene.

STAFF BIOGRAPHIES

Mary Burr Paxton, PhD, is a Senior Program Officer in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Board on the Health of Select Populations. Before joining IOM, she worked as a consultant on the regulation of toxic substances and managed the conduct and analysis of several epidemiologic studies on veterans’ health. She received an MS in biostatistics from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and a doctorate in genetics from the George Washington University. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology. Dr. Paxton has worked on several National Academies reports, including Issues in Risk Assessment; Environmental Neurotoxicology; Gulf War and Health: Insecticides and Solvents; Gulf War and Health: Fuels, Combustion Products, and Propellants; Asbestos: Selected Cancers; Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2004; Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2006; and Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2008.

Jennifer A. Cohen, MPH, is a Program Officer in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Board on the Health of Select Populations. She received her undergraduate degree and her MPH from the University of Maryland. She has been involved with the IOM committees that produced Organ Procurement and Transplantation; Clearing the Air: Asthma and Indoor Air Exposures; Veterans and Agent Orange: Herbicide/Dioxin Exposure and Type 2 Diabetes; Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2000; Veterans and Agent Orange: Herbicide/Dioxin Exposure and Acute Myelogenous Leukemia in the Children of Vietnam Veterans; Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2004; Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2006; and Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2008. She was also rapporteur for the IOM report Challenges and Successes in Reducing Health Disparities.

Tia S. Carter, MS, is a Senior Program Assistant in the Institute of Medicine Board on the Health of Select Populations. She earned her master’s in health-

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13166.
×

care administration from the University of Maryland University College. She received her undergraduate degree in community health from the University of Maryland, College Park. Before going to IOM, she worked at the Greater Washington Urban League in the Division of Aging and Health Services as the health-promotions coordinator, where she was responsible for health-promotion and disease-prevention education services and activities among the elderly. She has been involved with the IOM committees that produced Asbestos: Selected Cancers; Provision of Mental Health Counseling Services Under TRICARE; Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health; Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2004; Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2006; and Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2008.

Frederick (Rick) Erdtmann, MD, MPH, is Director of the Board on the Health of Select Populations and of the Medical Follow-up Agency of the Institute of Medicine. He earned his MD from Temple University School of Medicine, and he holds an MPH from the University of California, Berkeley. He completed a residency program in general preventive medicine at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in 1975 and is board-certified in that specialty. Dr. Erdtmann’s assignments with the Army Medical Department included being chief of preventive-medicine services at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, at Frankfurt Army Medical Center in Germany, and at Madigan Army Medical Center. He also served as division surgeon for the Second Infantry Division in Tongduchon, Korea. He later served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Clinical Operations in the Department of Defense’s TRICARE Region 1 before assuming hospital command at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in March 1998. After that, he was assigned to the Office of the Surgeon General as the Deputy Assistant Surgeon General for Force Development. In 2001, after 30 years of commissioned military service, Dr. Erdtmann joined the National Academies and assumed his present responsibilities.

Norman Grossblatt, ELS(D), is a senior editor at the National Academies. Before joining the National Research Council Division of Medical Sciences in 1963, he worked as an analyst in information storage and retrieval at Documentation Incorporated and as a technical editor at the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co., Nuclear Power Department, in Washington, DC. He received a BA in English from Haverford College. Mr. Grossblatt is a diplomate editor in the life sciences and was the founding president of the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences. He is a fellow of the American Medical Writers Association and a recipient of its President’s Award; a member of the Council of Science Editors and since 1997 the manuscript editor of its journal, Science Editor; and a member of the European Association of Science Editors. At the National Academies, he has edited more than 300 reports.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13166.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13166.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13166.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13166.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13166.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13166.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Biographies of Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides (Eighth Biennial Update) and Staff." Institute of Medicine. 2012. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13166.
×
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Because of continuing uncertainty about the long-term health effects of the sprayed herbicides on Vietnam veterans, Congress passed the Agent Orange Act of 1991. The legislation directed the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to request the Institite of Medicine to perform a comprehensive evaluation of scientific and medical information regarding the health effects of exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides used in Vietnam to be followed by biennial updates. The 2010 update recommends further research of links between Vietnam service and specific health outcomes, most importantly COPD, tonsil cancer, melanoma, brain cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and paternally transmitted effects to offspring.

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