Member biographies of the Chemicals Management Plan Science Committee

Read general information about the Science Committee.

Dr. Miriam Diamond (co-chair)

Dr. Diamond is a professor in the Department of Earth Sciences and also the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto. She is cross-appointed to the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, the Dalla Lana Faculty of Public Health, the Department of Geography and Planning, and the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at Scarborough College. Dr. Diamond was the Co-chair of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment's Toxics Reduction Scientific Expert Panel and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment's Multi-Stakeholder Panel on the "Living List" of the Toxics Reduction Act. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, and is on the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. Dr. Diamond is a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Environmental Law Association and a member of the Science Advisory Board of Environmental Defence. Additionally, she is a Fellow of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, a Fellow of the Canadian Geographical Society, and was named Canadian Environmental Scientist of the Year in 2007 by that society. She was a member of the Government of Canada's Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) Science Committee during the first term (2013-2017). Dr. Diamond has a PhD in Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry from the University of Toronto, MScEng in Mining Engineering from Queen’s University, MSc in Zoology from the University of Alberta and a BSc in biology from University of Toronto. Read Dr. Diamond's declaration of affiliations and interests.

Mr. Mike Rasenberg (co-chair)

Mr. Rasenberg is the acting director of Information Systems at the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). Chemicals management has been the central theme of his work since 1999. Mr. Rasenberg has broad experience in this area, ranging from hazard, exposure and risk assessment of individual chemicals to leading activities to prioritize and address chemicals of concern or develop generic approaches and methods to assess chemicals. During this work, he has used and been exposed to alternative ways of hazard identification (alternative approaches). He has a leading role at ECHA in relation to the promotion and use of alternative test methods. Examples are the development of the Read-Across Assessment Framework and the work on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) Toolbox. He represents the European Commission at the bureaux of the OECD Working Party for Hazard Assessment. Mr. Rasenberg studied analytical chemistry and environmental chemistry at the Zuyd University of Applied Sciences in Limburg, the Netherlands. Read Mr. Rasenberg's declaration of affiliations and interests.

Dr. Jon Arnot

Dr. Arnot is the president of ARC Arnot Research & Consulting and an adjunct professor in the Department of Physical and Environmental Science and in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Toronto. He has 17 years of research experience in the development, application, and evaluation of databases, methods and models to assess the exposure, hazard, and risk of organic chemicals to humans and the environment. His research has focused on the application of high-throughput screening methods for prioritizing chemicals for risk assessment. He is the principal investigator or co-investigator of various international projects including collaborations in the United States (U.S.), Europe, and Canada. Dr. Arnot served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on incorporating 21st Century Science into Risk-Based Evaluations. He was the recipient of the James M. McKim III Innovative Student Research Award (2008) from the International QSAR Foundation to Reduce Animal Testing and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Best Student Paper Award (2009). Dr. Arnot holds a PhD in Environmental and Life Sciences from Trent University, an MSc from Simon Fraser University and a BSc from the University of Alberta. Read Dr. Arnot's declaration of affiliations and interests.

Dr. Niladri Basu

Dr. Basu is a professor in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at McGill University where he holds a Canada Research Chair in Environmental Health Sciences. He is jointly appointed in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences and the School of Human Nutrition, and is also a member of the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health and the McGill School of Environment. Prior to joining McGill in 2013, Dr. Basu was an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health where he now holds an adjunct professorship. He is an associate editor of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, is active within the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and is involved with the United Nations Global Mercury Partnership. Dr. Basu holds a PhD in Wildlife Biology from McGill University, an MSc from the University of British Columbia and a BSc from Queen's University. Read Dr. Basu's declaration of affiliations and interests.

Dr. Richard Becker

Dr. Becker is a senior director at the American Chemistry Council (ACC). He joined the ACC in 1999. Dr. Becker leads the ACC's Science and Research Division and directs the Long-Range Research Initiative, which focuses on catalyzing innovations for toxicity testing, exposure science, and safety assessments in the 21st century. Before joining the ACC, he served as a senior scientist with the State of California from 1987 to 1999. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology. Dr. Becker has been an active member of the Society of Toxicology for 25 years. He is also a member of the Society for Risk Analysis, the International Society for Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology and the American Chemical Society. Dr. Becker served on the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology of the National Research Council from 2014 through 2018. In recognition of his contributions to the field of risk assessment and the regulation of chemicals, Dr. Becker received the Arnold Lehman Award from the Society of Toxicology in 2015 in recognition of his contributions to the field of risk assessment and the regulation of chemicals. Dr. Becker holds a PhD in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of California and a BA in Chemistry from Swarthmore College. Read Dr. Becker's declaration of affiliations and interests.

Dr. Weihsueh Chiu

Dr. Chiu is a professor in the Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University. Before joining the university in 2015, he worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for over 14 years. Throughout his career, he has been involved in a diverse span of risk-related topics, such as defence against chemical-biological warfare agents, radioactive contamination in biosolids, human health risks from environmental chemical exposures, and the interface between science and policy. His recent research has focused on human health risk assessment, particularly with respect to toxicokinetics, mechanisms of toxicity, physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling, dose-response assessment, characterizing uncertainty and variability, systematic review, and meta-analysis. Dr. Chiu has served on a variety of expert advisory committees for U.S. federal, state, and Canadian government agencies, the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the World Health Organization, and the OECD. Dr. Chiu received an AB in Physics from Harvard University, a MA and PhD in Physics from Princeton University, and a Certificate in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Read Dr. Chiu's declaration of affiliations and interests.

Dr. Michelle Embry

Dr. Embry is the associate director of Environmental Sciences at the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI). Prior to joining HESI in 2006, she was an ecological risk assessor at the U.S. EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs. She has expertise in both human health and ecotoxicology, with an emphasis on integrated approaches and alternative methods. Her current project portfolio includes the Bioaccumulation and the Animal Alternatives in Environmental Risk Assessment technical committees, 2 of HESI's projects aimed at improving ecological risk assessment. Dr. Embry's work also includes the Risk Assessment in the 21st Century (RISK21) project, which developed a scientific, transparent, and efficient approach for human health risk assessment, including a web-based tool that has led to outreach and training activities on risk assessment approaches worldwide as well as a program on physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling applications in chemical risk assessment. In addition, she co-leads the Botanical Safety Consortium, an initiative aimed at developing tools to evaluate safety of botanical dietary supplements. She was an elected member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America Board of Directors (2014-2017), past-chair of the SETAC Global Partners Advisory Committee (2014 - 2017), and is a member of the SETAC Bioaccumulation and Animal Alternatives Advisory Group Steering Teams. Dr. Embry holds a PhD in Toxicology, as well as a BSc in Biology and Environmental Science & Policy from Duke University. Read Dr. Embry's declaration of affiliations and interests.

Mr. Geoff Granville

Following his retirement in 2006 from the position of toxicology and product stewardship manager at Shell Canada, Mr. Granville has worked as a private consultant with expertise in environmental and population health. At Shell Canada, his responsibilities centered on occupational and environmental health issues relating to chemical substances, including toxicity testing, health risk assessments, and regulatory compliance. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta and previously at the University of Toronto. In 1991, he took on the role of associate director within Health Canada's Environmental Health Directorate in Ottawa as part of a 2-year executive exchange program. Mr. Granville has participated on many committees; examples include membership of the Science Management Committee of the federal Toxic Substances Research Initiative, and participation as co-chair of the Alberta Human and Animal Health Team of the Clean Air Strategic Alliance. Mr. Granville was a member of the Government of Canada's Challenge Advisory Panel for the first phase of the CMP, from 2007 until 2011, and was co-chair of the CMP Science Committee (2013-2019). Mr. Granville has a BSc. in biochemistry and toxicology from the University of Surrey, United Kingdom. Read Mr. Granville's declaration of affiliations and interests.

Dr. Elaine Cohen Hubal

Dr. Cohen Hubal is a senior science advisor in the U.S. EPA’s Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment and has over 25 years of experience in the field of environmental health with broad scientific background in environmental science, human exposure, and chemical safety evaluation. Her primary research interests are in understanding complex systems at the nexus of the natural environment, built environment, and human health with an emphasis on impacts to vulnerable groups. She has served in a series of science leadership positions in the U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) and in her current capacity Dr. Cohen Hubal leads the ORD research efforts to advance models for estimating human exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). As the EPA Principal Investigator on an Interagency Agreement with Center for Disease Control/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, she investigates PFAS exposures in impacted communities. She is also focused on translating EPA exposure information and tools for use by multiple sectors to generate new insights, and working with stakeholders in government, industry and academia to access and apply EPA information and tools to inform decisions on chemicals and products. Currently Dr. Cohen Hubal is editor-in-chief for the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology and is a member of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control’s Green Ribbon Science Panel. She was a member of the Government of Canada's CMP Science Committee during its first term (2013-2017). Dr. Cohen Hubal holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University and a S.B. in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Read Dr. Cohen Hubal's declaration of affiliations and interests.