Mission & Officers

Dr. Margaret “Meg” Whittaker is the Managing Director and Chief Toxicologist of ToxServices LLC. Dr. Whittaker is one of the pioneers in the field of chemicals alternatives assessments and is a key contributor to advancing these methods around the world. Dr. Whittaker performs quantitative exposure and risk assessments for projects including California Proposition 65 safe harbor assessments, medical device extractables and leachables assessments, and cosmetics/personal care product assessments, among others. Dr. Whittaker also performs chemical hazard assessments and alternatives assessments to support the selection of safer chemicals and technologies. Dr. Whittaker is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology who earned a PhD in Toxicology from The University of Maryland, Baltimore and an MPH in Environmental Health from The University of Michigan. Dr. Whittaker is a UK/EuroTox Registered Toxicologist, as well as a Chartered Biologist and Fellow of the UK Royal Society of Biology. Dr. Whittaker has served as an officer on multiple SOT Committees, Specialty Section and Regional Chapters, including the Nominating Committee, Metals Specialty Section, Mixtures Specialty Section, Sustainable Chemicals for Contemporary Toxicology (SCCT) Specialty Section, and the National Capital Area Chapter of SOT. She has served as an SOT Roving Reporter since 2014. Dr. Whittaker is currently Vice President-Elect of OTA and is Past President of the SCCT.

Dr. Lacher is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Minnesota (UMN) Medical School and a member of the Cellular Mechanisms of Cancer Program at the UMN Masonic Cancer Center. Dr. Lacher’s research focuses on characterizing cell-type specific patterns of gene regulation following exposure to various inducers of stress. In addition to her commitment to research, Dr. Lacher is a dedicated educator. She is leading the Pharmacology Thread in the new bi-campus curriculum build, and in 2022 Dr. Lacher was Awarded the Basic Science Teacher of the Year by the Medical Students. Dr. Lacher serves as Chair of her Department’s BMS DEI committee, and serves as an elected member on the DEI Council of the UMN Medical School. Dr. Lacher is also involved in STEM outreach activities through the UMN Innovators of the Future, Bois Forte Community Based Science and QueerScience Programs. Dr. Lacher is a member of the Society of Toxicology and is a Founding Executive Board Member of the Special Interest Group, Out Toxicologists and Allies (OTA). She has served two terms as Secretary/Treasurer for OTA. She is also a member of Women in Toxicology (WIT), Hispanic Organization of Toxicologists (HOT) and the Northland Regional Chapter of the Society of Toxicology.

Dr. L. Cody Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Connecticut. He received his MS and PhD degrees in Toxicology from the University of Florida in 2013 and 2017, respectively, and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Rutgers University from 2017-2022. The overarching focus of his NIEHS R00 funded research is to investigate how inhalation of respiratory contaminants and pollutants causes lung disease. He is particularly interested in understanding how biological sex modifies these responses. He has published 20 articles and invited reviews and has received multiple awards for his research. His postdoctoral research was funded by an NIH F32 Postdoctoral Fellowship and an NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award. Dr. Smith has been actively involved in the Society of Toxicology (SOT) since 2012 serving in graduate and postdoctoral trainee leadership roles, most recently as Junior Councilor for the Northeast Regional Chapter. He has also organized and chaired sessions at the annual SOT meetings and participated in numerous mentoring initiatives including the SOT Undergraduate Education Program. Dr. Smith is committed to mentoring and training the next generation of diverse toxicologists and public health professionals. He will support the Society’s LGBT+ community by facilitating professional and social development opportunities, highlighting the achievements of LGBT+ members, and advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion across the broader SOT community.

Dr. Jess Plavicki is the Manning Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Brown University, where her lab uses the zebrafish model to study how toxicant exposures and genetic mutations disrupt the development of the brain and cardiovascular system. She received her doctorate in Neuroscience from the University of Wisconsin at Madison (UW-Madison) in the lab of Dr. Grace Boekhoff-Falk, where she identified novel functions for the homeodomain transcription factor distal-less in brain development. Given a long standing interest in environmental health sciences, she remained at UW-Madison for her postdoctoral training in developmental cardiotoxicity with Dr. Richard Peterson. She was awarded a NIEHS K99 Pathway to Independence Award in 2014 to study the effects of embryonic dioxin exposure on neurovascular development and began her lab at Brown in 2016. Dr. Plavicki is currently supported by a NIEHS Outstanding New Environmental Scientist Award and was previously a project leader on a NIGMS Phase II COBRE. She has served as an ad hoc reviewer for NIH study sections and special emphasis panels including Systemic Injury from Environmental Exposure, The Blood-brain Barrier, Neurovascular Systems and CNS Therapeutics, and Rapid Investigation of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). In addition, she has reviewed grants and fellowships for European Science Foundation and French National Research Agency. She has been a  member of the SOT since 2010 and has served the SOT in a variety of capacities including being part of the Molecular and Systems Biology Specialty Section (MSBSS) leadership team (VP-elect, VP, President, Past-president), performing a recurring role as poster judge of the Neurotoxicology Special Section, serving as a “Paper of the Year” judge for both MSBSS and the Reproduction and Developmental Specialty Section, and chairing multiple poster sessions and symposia. At Brown, Dr. Plavicki teaches Environmental Health and Disease, a course she redesigned to include an emphasis on health disparities and environmental justice. She was the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Advising and Mentoring in Biological Sciences in 2020 and is deeply committed to undergraduate education. If elected, Dr. Plavicki will work ardently to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the SOT. Outside of the lab, Dr. Plavicki enjoys running, weight training, gardening, photography, and cooking.

Dr. Muthumalage is an assistant professor in the School of Health Sciences Toxicology Program at Purdue University. His research focuses on the inhalation toxicity induced by exposure to environmental toxicants using in vitro and in vivo models under normal and preexisting disease conditions. Dr. Muthumalage’s current NIEHS-funded project focuses on inhalable menthol- and tobacco-flavored tobacco products-induced lung toxicity. His research aims to identify mechanisms and pathogenesis of acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pulmonary fibrosis. One of his primary interests includes immunometabolism in lung disease processes, specifically in T-cells. Dr. Muthumalage’s training has been in inhalation and immuno-toxicology, primarily studying the effects of tobacco smoke, secondhand tobacco smoke, and electronic cigarette aerosols. Further, his research expands to cannabis and other inhalable drugs-induced lung toxicity, especially the additive and synergistic effects of inhalable mixtures. Dr. Muthumalage is dedicated to training future toxicologists with the most up-to-date research techniques in pulmonary toxicity and improving human lung health by studying the exposome and targeted environmental stressors. He has been a part of the Society of Toxicology since 2010 and served in various capacities in specialty sections and regional chapters. He also served on the diversity and inclusion committee at the University of Rochester and now serves on the Access, Belonging, Inclusion, Diversity, Equality, and Support committee at Purdue University to enhance diversity and reduce disparities in toxicology and health sciences.

Dr. Brinkman, PhD, DABT, ERT (she/her) is Senior Manager of Toxicology at Central Garden & Pet, where she is responsible for safety and regulatory compliance of a wide variety of EPA- and FDA-regulated products. Dr. Brinkman received her doctorate in Molecular & Environmental Toxicology from the University of Wisconsin—Madison in 2015, became a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology in 2019, and was admitted to the European Register of Toxicologists in 2024. She is the author/co-author of seven peer-reviewed articles, the most recent of which was awarded the 2024 SOT Ocular Toxicology Specialty Section Innovation and Impact Award. Dr. Brinkman is also a Review Editor for the journal Frontiers in Toxicology. She has been a member of SOT since 2011, and has served the SOT in the following capacities: SOT Nominating Committee (2023–2025), where her goal was to ensure that SOT’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusiveness was reflected in the slate of candidates for SOT office; Executive Committee of the Midwest Regional Chapter of SOT (Secretary 2019–2021, President-Elect 2021–2022, President 2022–2023, Past President 2023–2024), where she promoted greater connectivity between toxicologists in the Midwest by organizing a joint risk assessment webinar with MRC/SOT and Midwest SETAC (Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry), as well as advocated for greater accessibility for trainees in the region by waiving all MRC/SOT student membership dues and regional meeting registration fees. Dr. Brinkman has been a member of Out Toxicologists and Allies since 2019 and would love the opportunity to give back to the community through service as a Councilor.

Dr. Drake Phelps is an ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow at the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure where he is working to develop a battery of assays for the rapid identification of immunotoxicants. Prior to this postdoctoral position, he was a Postdoctoral Scholar at East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine. He received his PhD from North Carolina State University in 2022. During his time as a graduate student at NC State University, Dr. Phelps worked as part of a team of graduate and undergraduate students to revive the University’s chapter of Out in STEM (oSTEM), which seeks to provide community and advocate for LGBTQ+ students and their allies in STEM fields around the world. From 2018 to 2021, he also was the Graduate Student Representative to the NC State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s PrideVMC chapter, which exists to foster community for LGBTQ+ veterinarians and their allies. Dr. Phelps has been a member of SOT since 2017 and is excited for this opportunity to network with and advocate alongside fellow LGBTQ+ toxicologists.

Catherine (Cat) Lucey is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University, where she studies the biogeochemistry and cardiovascular effects of chronic arsenic and uranium exposure as part of the Columbia University Northern Plains Superfund Research Program (CUNP-SRP). They graduated from Vassar College in 2019 with a degree in biochemistry and began the doctoral program in Fall 2021 after working as a next-generation sequencing research technician at the University of Pennsylvania. Cat has two manuscripts in preparation about dietary rice as an exposure source of arsenic and other metals, as well as one under review at ES&T about the isotopic behavior of uranium in vivo. Cat has served in a number of mentorship roles in the doctoral program, at many levels; they have served as a graduate student peer mentor, mentored two undergraduates through Columbia’s PrIMER (Program to Inspire Minority and Underserved Undergraduates in Environmental Health Science Research) program, and contributed a lecture on the scientific method for the CUNP-SRP’s Environmental heAlth sciences Research for Teachers and High school students (EARTH). She has been a member of SOT and OTA since December 2022.