SPEAKERS
Vicki Stone, PhD
TOPIC: Nanotechnology and health
AFFILIATION: Heriot-Watt University
Vicki Stone is Director of the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK. Vicki is also an Honorary Principal Scientist at the Institute of
Occupational Medicine. Vicki is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Royal Society of Biology and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She was the holder of the Royal Society of Chemistry Toxicology Award (2015-16) and the Editor-in-chief of the journal Nanotoxicology
( http://informahealthcare.com/nan ) for 6 years (2006-2011). Vicki has also published over 180 publications pertaining to particle toxicology over the last 25 years and was recognised (2015-2019) by Clarivate Analytics (formerly Thomson Reuters) as one of the top 1% of all researchers in the world for the most cited publications in the field of Pharmacology and Toxicology.
Vicki currently coordinates the EU funded projects www.h2020gracious.eu (as coordinator), and is a partner in three further EU projects
https://www.patrols-h2020.eu/ , https://www.biorima.eu/ and
https://www.icv.csic.es/docs/files/sunshine/SUNSHINE_PRESS%20RELEASE.pdf .
Vicki’s current research portfolio totals £2.25 million as funds to her institute, but extends to £34 million across the European partners. Historical funding totals an additional £2.8 million to institute.
Nathan Baker
Nathan Baker is the Chief Executive of the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) and Honorary Professor at DeMontfort University. Having had a portfolio career across public, private and not-for-profit sectors he has a broad understanding of transforming organisations into value-driven and sustainable places to work. As a research charity IOM seeks to protect and improve health through the workplace; across the whole asset lifecycle.
Robert McCunney, MD, MPH
TOPIC: Human Health
AFFILIATION: Harvard Medical School
Dr. McCunney is an internist who is also board certified in occupational and environmental medicine. He is a practicing physician in the Pulmonary Division of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and a member of the Harvard Medical School faculty. His clinical and research practice focuses on occupational and environmental illnesses. Dr. McCunney is former Director of Environmental Medicine at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As a visiting research professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, he regularly lectures and serves as a member of the residency advisory committee for occupational and environmental medicine residency program.
Dr. McCunney received a BS in chemical engineering from Drexel University, a MS in environmental health from the University of Minnesota, a MD from the Thomas Jefferson University Medical School and a MPH from the Harvard
School of Public Health. He completed training in internal medicine at Northwestern University Medical Center in Chicago.
Dr. McCunney is past president of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), the world’s largest professional organization of physicians specializing in occupational and environmental medicine. He has
edited five textbooks and over 115 peer-reviewed published articles and book chapters. Dr. McCunney is the Editor of all three editions of the textbook, A Practical Approach to Occupational and Environmental Medicine. He has received awards
from international, national and regional medical societies over his career for his work in occupational and environmental medicine.
TOPIC: IOM and particles; a long history in researched service and to protect human health
AFFILIATION: IOM
Dr. Chris Fanta, MD
TOPIC: Pulmonary Inflammation, asthma and exhaled nitic oxide
AFFILIATION: Harvard
Following graduation from Harvard Medical School, Dr. Fanta did his internal medicine residency training and pulmonary/critical care fellowship at the then Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. Thereafter he joined the faculty of what had become the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he has remained a member of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine faculty ever since. He directs the Partners Asthma Center and is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is co-director of the Severe Asthma Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and co-author of 2 books on asthma: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Taking Control of Asthma and The Asthma Educators’ Handbook.
Peter Møller, PhD
TOPIC: Genotoxicity
AFFILIATION: University of Copenhagen
Peter Møller received his PhD in genetic toxicology in 2000 and is currently professor in environmental health at University of Copenhagen, Denmark. His main topic of research concerns health hazards and
toxicological mechanisms of action of environmental exposures, including air pollution, nanomaterials and dietary factors. This includes the effect of exposure to environmental agents on pro-inflammatory responses, oxidative stress, DNA damage, DNA repair, cellular senescence and cardiovascular toxicity in various experimental model systems, including cell cultures, transgenic animal models, and molecular epidemiology.
M.Yong, MD, PhD
TOPIC: Meta -analysis of carbon black cohort mortality studies
AFFILIATION: University of Dusseldorf
Dr. Mei Yong is an epidemiologist and has researched in occupational epidemiology and risk assessment for over 20 years. She has defined large industry-based cohorts, applied epidemiological methods for the assessment of work-related factors in general, and of toxic substances in particular. Her current research activity focuses on exposure modelling and risk assessment on nanomaterials and poor soluble low toxic particulates.
Dr. Yong received a BS in Medicine from the Fudan University, a MS in epidemiology from the
University Bielefeld, a PhD. From the University Duisburg-Essen. She is a member of numerous
German and international scientific committees. She is a lecturer in epidemiology at the
University Mainz.
Peter Wick
TOPIC: NANOSCREEN
AFILLIATION: EMPA, Switzerland
Peter Wick heads since 2010 the research laboratory for Particles-Biology Interactions at the Federal Laboratories on Materials Science and Technologies Empa in St. Gallen. He got his PhD degree in 2002 at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. His general research interest is to study the interactions of nanomaterials with human tissues including barrier tissue in vitro and ex vivo with the purpose to obtain detailed mechanistic understanding about their uptake, accumulation, transport and effect on different types of cells or entire tissue. He has published more than 130 papers, is member of the advisory board of the Swiss Action Plan on Nanomaterials, member of the EDQM working group for NBCs, Editorial Board Member of Nanotoxicology, associated editor of the Journal NanoImpact, and coordinator of the Swiss National Contactpointnano.ch.
Ken Mundt, PhD
TOPIC: Role of epidemiology in human risk assessment
AFFILIATION: Ramboll
Dr. Kenneth A. Mundt is an epidemiologist with professional interest and experience in applying epidemiological concepts and methods to understand human health risks from environmental, occupational and consumer product exposures. He has designed, conducted and published numerous epidemiological studies, performed critical reviews and syntheses of the published literature, and is active in the development of methods for integrating evidence across lines of evidence including epidemiology, toxicology and exposure science.
Karin Sørig Hougaard,
PhD, MSc, BM, ERT
TOPIC: Reproductive and developmental toxicology
AFFILIATION: University of Copenhagen
Karin Sørig Hougaard (PhD, MSc, BM, ERT) is Senior researcher at the National Research Centre for the Working Environment and affiliate professor in Reproductive toxicology at University of Copenhagen – and a leading researcher in developmental and reproductive toxicity of particles. She has studied reproductive and developmental toxicology for more than two decades, in experimental animals and human birth cohorts. Most of her research focuses on the effects of airway exposure to nanoparticles on reproductive function in adult males and females, and on the potential programming of offspring organ function following maternal particle exposure during gestation, e.g. function of the central nervous, reproductive and immune systems, genotoxicity and toxicogenomics. During recent years the experimental studies have been supplemented by epidemiological research, where the extensive Danish population registries and birth cohorts as basis for study of the impact of the work environment on fertility and pregnancy outcomes. She teaches at universities, supervise PhD students and post.docs, and heads the postgraduate course “Occupational hazards and reproductive health” at the Nordic Institute Advanced Training in Occupational Health.
Alison Elder, PhD
TOPIC: Animal Studies
AFFILIATION: University of Rochester
Alison Elder, Associate Professor of Environmental Medicine at the University ofRochester, is an inhalation toxicologist with research interests that include the pulmonary, cardiovascular, and central nervous system inflammatory and oxidative stress-related effects of air pollution and engineered nanomaterials. Particle biokinetics and the impacts of age and other underlying vulnerabilities on response are also of interest. She directs the Inhalation Exposure Facility and the Toxicology PhD TrainingProgram at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Dr. Elder has authored numerous research papers in the field, as well as review articles and book chapters, and serves on several editorial boards. She also served for over 10 years on the Threshold Limit Value-Chemical Substances committee of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists.
Rodger Duffin, PhD
TOPIC: Inflammatory pathways in humans - a broader perspective
AFFILIATION: University of Edinburgh
Dr Rodger Duffin is Reader in Respiratory Medicine and head of the ELEGI/Colt
laboratory within the Centre for Inflammation Research at the University of Edinburgh He is a well-established expert in thoracic toxicology, particularly in relation to particle and fibre-mediated disease. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers, reviews and book chapters on the toxicology of pathogenic
particles and the processes of inflammation. His current research interests are focussed on the mechanisms controlling inflammatory processes from initiation to resolution and also understanding the potential toxicology surrounding environmental and occupational nanoparticle exposures.
Gunter Oberdorster, DVM, PhD
TOPIC: Does metrics-mass, size, surface, composition: What really matters?
AFFILIATION: University of Rochester
Günter Oberdörster, DVM, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester, has been the Director of an EPA funded University of Rochester Ultrafine Particle Center, PI of a Multidisciplinary Research Initiative in Nanotoxicology and Head of the Pulmonary Core of the NIEHS Center Grant. His research includes the effects and underlying mechanisms of lung injury induced by inhaled non-fibrous and fibrous particles, including extrapolation modeling and risk assessment. His studies with ultrafine particles and engineered nanoparticles influenced the field of inhalation toxicology, raising awareness of the unique biokinetics and toxicological potential of nano-sized particles. He earned his D.V.M. (1964) and Ph.D. (Pharmacology, 1966) from the University of Giessen in Germany. He has served on many national and international committees(*) and is recipient of several national and international scientific awards(**). He is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Aerosol Medicine; Particle & Fibre Toxicology; Nanotoxicology; Toxicology; Nanomaterials and the Environment, and was Associate Editor of Environmental Health Perspectives.
Kevin E. Driscoll, PhD
TOPIC: Particle induced inflation and lung cancer
AFFILIATION: Rutgers
Dr. Driscoll spent 30 years in Research & Development at the Procter & Gamble Company. As a basic research scientist, his laboratory studied molecular mechanisms of lung diseases and published over 150 technical papers. Subsequently, Dr. Driscoll created and led drug discovery and development organizations in P&G’s pharmaceutical and consumer health businesses. Most recently, he was a founding member of a joint venture between P&G and Teva Pharmaceuticals and led the JV’s global R&D, Regulatory and Medical organizations. Dr. Driscoll has a strong track record of bringing innovative healthcare products to market, including on key brands such as: Actonel, Prilosec, Vicks, ratiopharm, Metamucil and Swisse Vitamins.
Dr. Driscoll has served as an innovation and technology adviser to numerous companies, regulatory agencies and scientific organizations including: Board of Directors, Swiss Precision Diagnostics; Board of Trustees, BioStart; Board of Directors, BioOhio; US EPA and FDA; National Research Council; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA); UK Health Safety Executive; and the World Health Organization. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors for ALLOKSYS, a clinical stage pharmaceutical company.
Dr. Driscoll received a B.S degree in Zoology from Western Illinois University and, Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Environmental Health Science from New York University. He has held Adjunct faculty appointments in the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine; the University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry; and is currently an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University in the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy.
Otto Creuzenberg, PhD
TOPIC: Toxicokinetics of inhaled nanoparticles
AFFILIATION: Fraunhofer ITEM
Otto Creutzenberg, Ph.D. is Head of the Department of Inhalation Toxicology at the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine. Dr. Creutzenberg is a board-certified expert in toxicology and has published extensively on the toxicology and biokinetics of inhaled particles including crystalline silica, amorphous silica, zinc oxide, cerium oxide, barium sulfate and a variety of poorly soluble dusts. His seminal studies on lung particle burden, lung particle clearance and toxicity in rats contributed greatly to the current scientific understanding of the lung particle overload phenomenon. More recently, Dr. Creutzenberg’s laboratory has participated in research programs for the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAu; has led investigations on the toxicology and biokinetics of inhaled nanoparticles; and participated in the OECD Sponsorship Program on Nanomaterials. His research on nanomaterials has contributed to our understanding of the characteristics of these materials upon inhalation which impact their biokinetics. Dr. Creutzenberg earned a Ph.D. in natural sciences from the University of Munster, in the Institute of Biochemistry.
Uschi Graham, PhD
TOPIC: In Vivo processing of nanoparticles - influence on toxicity
AFFILIATION: Topasol LLC
Dr. Uschi M. Graham is currently Research Director at Faraday Energy in Lexington KY and since 2014 has been a Guest Researcher at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in Cincinnati, OH collaborating with the advanced Electron Microscopy Laboratory. She is an Associate in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Kentucky. She received her B.S. (Chemistry) at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, followed by a PhD from Penn State University, US. She performed a postdoctoral work at Tohoku University, Japan and has contributed to nanoparticle characterization in the field of catalysis since 2001. She coordinated efforts in the areas of nanomaterial synthesis including metals, metal oxides and metal carbides and assessed redox behaviors, stability, and catalytic activity of a broad range of ultrafine materials. She served as President of the Tri State Catalysis Society from 2007-2017. Since 2008 she has studied the uptake, translocation, and nanotoxicity of nanoparticles both in vitro and in vivo to verify potential bioprocessing effect. A large portion of these investigations focused on environmentally significant materials such as iron oxides and carbon materials. Dr Graham is part of the recently funded NIH study (1R01AG067497-01): Air Pollution and Alzheimer's Dementia - Neuropathologic and Olfactory Mechanisms in Multi-Ethnic Longitudinal Cohorts. She uses high resolution analytical imaging to understand particles-tissue interactions in the olfactory bulb and deeper brain regions to help identify potential risks for Alzheimer’s. Dr. Graham is the author of 8 patents related to nanomaterials and has more than 150 publications in referenced journals.
Roel Schins, PhD
TOPIC: Nanoparticle toxicology - Non-pulmonary effects
AFFILIATION: Leibnitz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine
Dr. Roel Schins leads a research group at the IUF - Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine in Düsseldorf, Germany. His research is aimed at understanding how particles can cause disease in humans and he has co-authored more than 170 scientific articles, reviews and book chapters in this context. Dr. Schins has served on various national and international scientific committees. His current research addresses mechanisms of toxicity of mineral dusts, ultrafine particles and engineered nanomaterials on the respiratory tract, the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system.
Alick Morris
TOPIC: Regulatory application of science
AFFILIATION: DG Employment
Alick Morris, European Commission, Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Alick has over seventeen years' experience working in DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion as a policy officer with responsibility for EU Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) policy on chemicals. He manages the tri-partite Working Party on Chemicals which is influential in providing policy advice to the Commission. His key tasks include working with stakeholders on a range of complex topics to develop and implement EU OSH policy.
Successful policy outcomes are achieved through close co-operation with Member States experts, social partners (employers and workers representative organisations) and scientific experts together with colleagues within the services of the Commission, Council, European Parliament and Agencies of the Commission such as ECHA and EU-OSHA..
Prior to joining the European Commission, he spent many years as a practicing occupational hygienist in the UK.
Thomas Kuhlbusch
TOPIC: Testing materials in world of reduced emphasis of animal testing
AFFILIATION: BAuA/OECD
Thomas Kuhlbusch, chemist by background, is Unit Head on Hazardous Substances Management at the Federal Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. He is also Professor at the University Duisburg-Essen for environmental engineering teaching sustainable nanotechnology. Over the last decades, his research focussed on particle measurement technologies and exposure assessment, both linked to environmental and health effects. He has been involved in harmonisation activities (DIN, CEN, OECD). Thomas Kuhlbusch chairs the secretariat of the Malta Initiative and coordinates the EU-Project (NanoHarmony) linking science and harmonisation to facilitate the assessment of nanomaterials. These activities interconnected with the NanoSafetCluster and various national, European and international projects have the aim to enable regulation to keep pace with innovation.
Paul W. Brandt-Rauf, MD, ScD
TOPIC: Medical publishing today
AFFILIATION: Dean Drexel University SPH
Dr. Paul W. Brandt-Rauf is currently Distinguished University Professor and the
inaugural Dean of the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems at Drexel University. He also holds appointments as Professor of Medicine, Environmental and
Occupational Health, Biological and Chemical Engineering, and Biodiversity, Earth and
Environmental Sciences. Dr. Brandt-Rauf received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, his M.D., and his master’s and doctoral degrees in Environmental Sciences from Columbia University. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the American College of Preventive Medicine, the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, and the Royal Society of Medicine. After completing his training, he joined the faculty of Columbia where he was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health as well as Professor of Medicine, Earth and Environmental Engineering, and International and Public Affairs. In 2008, he became Professor Emeritus at Columbia when he moved to the University of Illinois at Chicago as Dean of the School of Public Health. In 2017, he became Professor Emeritus at UIC when he assumed his current position at Drexel. Dr. Brandt-Rauf’s major research interest is environmental carcinogenesis, particularly the molecular biology and the molecular epidemiology of cancer-related proteins. He has also written extensively about ethical, legal and social issues in occupational/environmental health policy and practice. He has published over 260 journal articles and book chapters, and he has served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine since 1992. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and Engineers Without Borders-USA. He has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards and has served as an advisor and consultant to business, labor, academic and governmental organizations in the U.S. and around the world.
Dominique Lison, PhD
TOPIC: Macrophages, inflation and lung cancer
AFFILIATION: University Louvain
Dominique Lison holds a MD degree (1981) and a PhD in toxicology (1994).
He is full professor of toxicology at the University of Louvain (Brussels), and is a full member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine.
He is the director of the Louvain Centre for Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology (LTAP), which brings together some 30 researchers investigating the mechanisms of action of chemical substances. D. Lison currently investigates the toxicity of metals and particles, especially nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes and (nano)silicas.
He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers (h-Scopus index: 67), and is associate editor of Particle & Fibre Toxicology and Archives of Toxicology.
Jack R. Harkema,
DVM, PhD, DACVP, ATSF
TOPIC: Pulmonary cell proliferation - the missing link?
AFFILIATION: Michigan State
Dr. Harkema is a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University and the Albert C. and Louis E. Dehn Endowed Chair in Veterinary Medicine. As a board-certified veterinary pathologist, he has extensive experience in respiratory and toxicologic pathology of laboratory animals. Jack has been an academic and research mentor to numerous graduate and medical students, pathology residents, and postdoctoral fellows for over 30 years in the areas of inhalation toxicology and respiratory pathology. His personal research has focused on elucidating the biological mechanisms underlying airway injury, repair, and adaptation caused by inhalation exposures to air pollutants, allergens, and microbial toxins. His laboratory has developed animal models of human respiratory, cardiovascular, metabolic and autoimmune diseases that are used to 1) determine how pre-existing health conditions may affect an individual’s susceptibility to airborne pollutants and 2) preclinically test interventions to prevent or treat environmentally triggered illness. His research career has been fostered by a network of extensive and highly productive collaborations reflected in over 280 publications with coauthors from 20 units in his home academic institution and 115 extramural national/international laboratories. Dr. Harkema has been awarded career achievement awards from the Society of
Toxicology, American Thoracic Society, International Society for Aerosol Medicine, and the American Association of Aerosol Research. He received the Alumni Achievement Award in
2015 from the Faculty of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, and the Outstanding Mentorship Award from the Society of Toxicologic Pathology in 2018.
Stephanie Wright, PhD
TOPIC: Microplastics and Health: A new challenge for regulators and scientists
AFFILIATION: Kings College
Dr Stephanie Wright is a Lecturer in the Environmental Research Group (ERG), Imperial College London. She has 10 years’ research experience in the field of microplastics, specifically in exposure and biological impacts, which began with a PhD at the University of Exeter. She then joined the ERG, then at King’s College London, on an early career research fellowship on microplastics and human health, with an emphasis on airborne plastic pollution. She now holds a UKRI Rutherford Fellowship and leads the Microplastics team, whose interdisciplinary research addresses microplastic detection, characterisation and quantification in the atmospheric environment; optimisation of techniques for the detection of microplastics in biological matrices; and toxicological assessment of microplastics using in vitro models of the human airway.
Philip Harber, MD, MPH
TOPIC: Accelerated decline in lung function
AFFILIATION: University of Arizona
Dr. Harber’s research interests are in occupational pulmonary medicine, pulmonary epidemiology, respiratory physiology, and respiratory protection. He is also currently leading a project examining the unique occupational health aspects of the higher education and research (ERI) industry. Among others, he has conducted studies of respiratory morbidity in the carbon black production industry. He is currently a professor at the College of Public Health of the University of Arizona. Previously, he served as professor at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, where he was also the chief of the Division of Occupational-Environmental Medicine and director of the occupational medicine residency program. Dr. Harber has served in governmental and professional organizations such as the NIOSH Study Section, American Thoracic Society, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. He may be reached at pharber@arizona.edu.
Jürgen Nolde, PhD
TOPIC: The challenge to create particulate aerosols for acute toxicity testing – a systematic approach
AFFILIATION: DIR. Product Stewardship/Grace Europe Holding
Jürgen Nolde Phd in process engineering TH Darmstadt and Bergakademie Freiberg
Working sine more than 26 years at Grace GmbH, different positions within EHS and Product Stewardship, since July 2021 Director Product Stewardship EMEA, before 6 year for Metallgesellschaft, Frankfurt, Germany
Responsible for the global REACH and REACK like systems Member in different VCI and Cefic committees, including the Cefic Sector Group ASASP dealing with amorphous silica Steering Committee member of the silica REACH consortium SASforREACH and head of the Technical Working Group Responsible for several technical research programs within SASforREACH, i.e. the aerosol generation project in cooperation with TU Dresden (Prof. Stintz) and Fraunhofer, also for the development of a dynamic dissolution test equipment with Fraunhofer to simulate the dissolution of particles in the lung or the digestion system.
Len Levy OBE, PhD
TOPIC: The regulators dilemma - an introduction
AFFILIATION: Cranfield University
Professor Levy is currently Emeritus Professor of Environmental Health at the University of Cranfield. Prior to this he was Head of Toxicology and Risk Assessment at the UK Medical Research Council's Institute for
Environment and Health at the University of Leicester. He is an occupational and environmental toxicologist and holds a doctorate in experimental pathology from the Institute of Cancer Research in London and has held academic positions at the University of Aston and the University of Birmingham's Institute of Occupational Health and has published more than 350 papers on occupational carcinogenesis, occupational and environmental toxicology, risk assessment and risk
management and the regulatory aspects of environmental and occupational air standards. He has a particular interest in particle toxicology. He was also, until recently, Chair of the EU Scientific Committee on Occupational
Exposure Limits (SCOEL).
Martin Wiemann, PhD
TOPIC: Can we reduce animal testing? Tiered approach using in-bitro screening
AFFILIATION: Institute for Lung Health
Martin Wiemann, Prof. Dr. Chief Scientist, CEO of IBE R&D Institute for Lung Health gGmbH Martin Wiemann (*1960) studied zoology, botany and biochemistry at the Westfälische-Wilhelms-Universität,
Münster, Germany, where he received his PhD in Zoology in 1990. During his postdoc period, from 1990-1993, he worked in the laboratories of Dr. Günter Ehret, Dept. of Comparative Neurobiology, University of Ulm, and
in the Group of Dr. Floyd Bloom, Scripps Institute, La Jolla, Californa, before he became an assistant at the Institute of Experimental Epilepsy Research (Prof. Dr. Erwin-Josef Speckmann), Medical Faculty, Westfälische-
Wilhelms-Universität, Münster. From 1995-2006 he worked as an Assistant Professor in the lab of Prof. Dr. Dieter Bingmann, Institute of Physiology, University of Duisburg-Essen, and qualified for a full professorship with a German Habilitation (in 2000) which was devoted to the neuronal control of breathing. Since 2007 he
entered into the non-profit IBE R&D Institute of Lung Health gGmbH, and became its CEO and Chief Scientist in 2010. His current interest focusses on nanotoxicology, localization techniques for industrial and also biomedical nanoparticles, and in developing appropriate in vitro models such as the alveolar macrophage model.
Klaus Weber, PhD
TOPIC: Pathology to be reconsidered? Oral and inhalation studies
AFFILIATION: ANNAPATH
Klaus Weber was born in East Germany and became a veterinarian and a biologist. He was
working in toxicology laboratories in East Germany, and also, for several years in human
pathology. Thereafter, he moved to Switzerland and became global head of pathology at
RCC/Harlan Laboratories between 1991 and 2011. He founded already in 2004 the
company AnaPath GmbH in Switzerland, a holding covering up to ten independent
pathologists. After termination of his contract with Harlan Laboratories, he founded by the
end of 2012 a new company in Switzerland called AnaPath Services GmbH, functionally
active since spring 2013. The currently over 35 individuals of this company cover all subjects in the field of toxicologic pathology including necropsy at client sites and histotechnique as well as a number of sophisticated methods within a large network between industry and universities. Due to approximately 35 years of professional work, Klaus Weber has experience in all laboratory species including fish, frog and invertebrates. His area of work covers short and long term as well as oncogenicity studies with specialties in
neuropathology, inhalation pathology, bone marrow differentiation and various other topics.
Paul Schulte, PhD
TOPIC: Applying translation science approaches to protect workers exposed to nanomaterials
AFFILIATION: NIOSH
Dr. Paul Schulte is the Director of the Division of Science Integration and Co-Manager of the Nanotechnology Research Center at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Dr. Schulte has 40 years of experience in conducting research and developing guidance on occupational cancer, nanomaterials, risk communication, workplace well-being, and genetics. He also has examined the convergence of occupational safety and health and green chemistry and sustainability. He is the co-editor of the textbook, Molecular Epidemiology: Principles and Practices. Dr. Schulte has served as guest editor of the Journal of Occupational Medicine and the American Journal of Industrial Medicine and was on the initial editorial board of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. He is currently on the International Advisory Board of the Annals of Occupational Hygiene. Dr. Schulte has developed various frameworks for addressing the aging workforce, burden of occupational disease and injury, well-being of the workforce, and translation research and synthetic biology and occupational risk.