Officers & Duties

Dr. Zane, MS, PhD, DABT, is the Executive Director of Nonclinical Safety and Pathobiology at Gilead Sciences where her current roles includes investigative toxicology and a focus in the virology therapeutic area.

Dr. Zane is an active member of the Society of Toxicology (SOT) where she served as the Past President of the Northern California Regional Chapter and is still active in the K–12 Student Outreach efforts. In addition, she served a 5-year term on SOT’s Committee on Diversity Initiatives (CDI). Dr. Zane is a current Board Member of the American Board of Toxicology.

Dr. Zane has 20 years of experience in the biotech industry. Prior to joining Gilead, she held positions at Intarcia Therapeutics, Genentech/Roche, Trinity Biosystems and Berlex Biosciences.

Dr. Zane received her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Physiology from University of California at Davis, MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and BA in Molecular and Cellular Physiology from University of California at Berkeley. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology. She is the first author of multiple patents, peer-reviewed publications, invited chapters/reviews and abstract/scientific presentations.

Dr. Zane’s professional membership for the advancement of women in science include Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, Genentech Women in Science and Engineering, Genentech Women Professional Business Women of California (PBWC) and Women at Gilead.

Dr. DeWitt is Director of the Pacific Northwest Center for Translational Environmental health Research and Professor of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at Oregon State University (OSU) she investigates effects of emerging environmental contaminants on the immune and nervous systems. She received doctoral degrees in Environmental Science and Neural Science from Indiana University-Bloomington in 2004 and completed postdoctoral training in ecotoxicology at Indiana University-Bloomington (2004) and in immunotoxicology at the US Environmental Protection Agency in cooperation with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2004–2008). Before moving to OSU in 2023, she was a Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. Dr. DeWitt serves/has served in numerous capacities, including as an advisory board member to state and federal agencies and entities, an editorial board member and/or associate editor for several toxicological journals, grant proposal reviewer for the NIEHS, CDMRP, and other agencies and entities, peer-reviewer for the ATSDR and US EPA, witness to subcommittees of the US House of Representatives, and expert witness for plaintiffs in cases involving per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. She is author/co-author of over 100 publications including peer-reviewed articles, commentaries, and/or book chapters. She has been a member of the SOT since 2005 and has served the SOT in the following capacities: Postdoctoral Representative, Program Committee Member, Awards Committee Member, Junior Councilor, Senior Councilor, Vice President, President, and Past President of the Immunotoxicology Specialty Section, Councilor, Vice President, President, and Past President of the North Carolina Regional Chapter, Research Funding Committee, Specialty Section Collaboration and Communication Group, Career Resource and Development Committee, FUTURE Committee, Membership Committee. In 2023 she also was presented with the SOT Public Communications Award, which was facilitated by the Women in Toxicology (WIT) Special Interest Group. She is also a member of the Immunotoxicology Specialty Section, the Pacific Northwest Regional Chapter, and WIT. One of Dr. DeWitt’s goals in running for the Vice President-Elect position is to ensure that SOT members know that WIT is a core group for growing deep network connections and gaining essential career development support and training. Another goal is to ensure that WIT members are unflagging in their support of women leaders within the SOT and work together to support the careers of the excellent women who comprise the WIT.

Dr. Reynolds is the Alonzo G and Virginia Gent Decker Endowed Professor and Chair of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major at Washington College, where she teaches undergraduate courses in biochemistry, toxicology, and cell & molecular biology. She is a passionate advocate for undergraduate education and expanding access to toxicology as a discipline.

Since joining the SOT in 2004, Dr. Reynolds has been deeply involved in advancing toxicology education and outreach. She has held numerous leadership roles within SOT, including Chair of the Undergraduate Education Subcommittee, the Education Committee, and the Faculty United for Toxicology Undergraduate Recruitment and Education (FUTURE) Committee. She has also been active in several regional chapters and served on the Committee on Diversity Initiatives and multiple education-focused work groups. Dr. Reynolds is a long-standing member of the WIT Special Interest Group and the Metals Specialty Section.

Her leadership and dedication have been recognized with the SOT Undergraduate Educator Award (2015) and the National Capital Area Regional Chapter’s Excellence in Service Award (2023). Dr. Reynolds has led collaborations with the North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research to produce a national toxicology webinar series and chaired the development of undergraduate-friendly modules for the ToxMSDT program, including work on updating ToxTutor.

Dr. Reynolds currently serves as Principal Investigator or Co-PI on two NSF-funded initiatives. One grant supports the development of a structured mentoring network to build faculty capacity for evidence-based instructional practices, and the other centers on a C. elegans-based course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) to enhance toxicology research opportunities for undergraduates.

Through her work, Dr. Reynolds remains committed to inclusive education, mentoring, and elevating the visibility of women in science.

Dr. Kim is currently the Head of Nonclinical Development at Evommune, Inc., a start-up company focusing on treating inflammatory diseases. She oversees and manages all aspects of nonclinical testing of small molecules in support of both discovery and development programs. Prior to joining Evommune, she worked at a number of pharmaceutical companies with roles of increasing responsibility, Allergan (acquired by AbbVie), Theravance Biopharma, RAPT Therapeutics (formerly FLX Bio), followed by Global Blood Therapeutics (acquired by Pfizer). She was responsible for developing nonclinical testing strategies and managing risk assessment in support of dermal, inhalation, ocular, and oral drug development in various therapeutics areas. After receiving a PhD in Toxicology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she completed her postdoctoral trainings at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and subsequently at a government agency, the US Environmental Protection Agency. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology.

Dr. Kim had served as a board member of Northern California Regional Chapter of SOT (2017–2022) and completed her term as the Past President (2021–2022). She also served positions with another society, American Colleague of Toxicology (ACT), Program Committee (2018–2020), Communications Committee (2018–2021), Newsletter Working Group (2018–2021), and Councilor (2024–present). She also served as an ACT representative on the Scientific Coalition Liaison (2021–2024) and is a member of ACT (2014–present), Society of Safety Pharmacology (2016–present), and Society of Toxicologic Pathology (2016–present). She is grateful for this opportunity to serve as the Secretary/Treasurer of the WIT.

Toufan Parman, PhD, DABT is the Senior Director of Nonclinical Safety Evaluations at Sangamo Therapeutics since February of 2021 where she leads the Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Pharmacokinetic Program. In this capacity she provides preclinical drug development strategy and safety assessment support for Sangamo’s wholly owned and partnered programs. Prior to Sangamo, she worked at SRI International (SRI) for 16 years where she managed the Mammalian Toxicology and Immunology Services group. At SRI, in addition to her management responsibilities, Dr. Parman was the Principal Investigator on four major NIH preclinical drug development and toxicology support contracts namely NICHD Biological Testing Facility (toxicology, and clinical manufacturing), NCI Pharmacology and Toxicology, NCI Prevent (toxicology, and immunology), and NCATS Support of the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (toxicology, and pharmacology). Under the NICHD contract she successfully moved two novel male contraceptives into clinical trials. Dr. Parman has over 20 years of experience in preclinical drug development translating novel therapeutics from discovery to clinic. She has managed, designed, developed, and conducted efficacy, general and reproductive toxicology, and PK studies as well as specialized mechanistic studies in various animal models for a wide variety of novel pharmaceutical products including but not limited to chemotherapeutic agents, anti-cancer vaccines, contraceptives, monoclonal antibodies, proteins, and gene and cell-based therapies. She has been certified by the American Board of Toxicology since 2007.

Dr. Parman believes in the mission of WIT which is to encourage women to pursue a career in toxicology and to mentor and provide leadership to support career growth of women in toxicology. Related to this, she has served as the Chair of K–12 outreach program for Northern California (NorCal) Chapter of SOT from 2011–2017 through which she worked with the Bay Area Girl Scouts and high schools to bring awareness to the science of toxicology to various age groups through hands on experiments, mentoring, and lectures for both students and parents. Dr. Parman has relevant past experience in successfully leading one of the largest and well-funded chapter of SOT. From 2013–2018, Dr. Parman served as the Treasurer, VP Elect, VP, President, and Past-President of NorCal SOT. With her past and current leadership experience Dr. Parman is committed to lead WIT to meet its objectives and mission.

Dr. Elizabeth Vancza is currently an Associate Director of Occupational Toxicology at Merck & Co., Inc., where she assists business operations in the areas of occupational toxicology, potent compound safety evaluation and awareness, product quality/safety, and hazard/risk assessment. She has been a toxicologist, working primarily in support of the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, for over 10 years. She received her PhD (2010) and MS (2006) in Toxicology (with respective concentrations in Inhalation and Immunotoxicology) from New York University, where she remains a guest lecturer in the areas of genetic susceptibility, genomics, and risk assessment. She joined SOT in 2004, and is a member of several specialty sections, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regional chapters, and the WIT special interest group. She was very active in SOT as a student, serving as the first IRSS representative (2005–2008), and she has continued her involvement by volunteering on several committees, including the OPHSS Paper of the Year (PoY)/Student Award Committees (2021–present), the PoY Committee for RASS (2014–2015, 2021), and the Proposal Review Committee for RSESS (2013–2017; Committee Chair 2015–2017). She also served a 2-year term as Councilor (2016–2018), followed by a 3-year term as VP/President/Past President (2019–2021), for the Northeast (NESOT) Regional Chapter. She is a strong advocate for students and trainees, participating in multiple mentoring & outreach efforts, such as SOT’s Mentoring Breakfast, the ToxScholar program, and most recently appearing as a guest on SOT’s Adverse Reactions Podcast. She would love the opportunity to get more involved in the WIT community, particularly helping with efforts to enhance participation and interest of the NextGen of women in STEM fields.