Executive Committee

Kymberly M. Gowdy, President

Dr. Gowdy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Ohio State University, where she examines mechanisms of how air pollution increases susceptibility and severity of infectious and inflammatory lung diseases. Specifically, her research examines how danger-associated molecular patterns generated in the lung after air pollution exposure shape the innate immune response. She received her doctorate in Immunology and Toxicology from the North Carolina State University in 2008 and was a postdoctoral fellow at Duke University from 2008–2011 and the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences from 2011–2014. Dr. Gowdy is the author/co-author of 50 publications including peer-reviewed articles, reviews, and book chapters. She has been an active member of SOT and the Inhalation Respiratory Specialty Section since 2007. She has previously served SOT as the Councilor for the Inhalation and Respiratory Specialty Section, Councilor for the Cardiovascular Specialty Section, and President for the North Carolina Society of Toxicology.

Laura Van Winkle, Vice President

Dr. Laura S Van Winkle is a Professor of Respiratory Toxicology in the School of Veterinary Medicine Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology at UC Davis. She received a BS with honors from UC Santa Barbara in Pharmacology and worked in the biotech sector for several years before earning her Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from UC Davis. Following completion of her American Lung Association Research Training Fellowship, she joined the faculty at UC Davis in 1997. Her laboratory is at the Center for Health and the Environment where she is the Director of the Cellular and Molecular Imaging Core and Associate Director of the Center. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT) and is a current member of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Environmental Occupational and Public Health planning committee. She has published over 95 research articles in the fields of inhalation toxicology, developmental lung biology, chemical bioactivation, and lung injury and repair. Her research has focused on the interaction of environmental pollutants and specific lung regions, such as the distal conducting airway epithelium of the lung, and how that contributes to lung remodeling across the lifespan. Currently, she is the Chair of the UC Davis Graduate Group in Pharmacology and Toxicology and Director of the UC Davis NIEHS T32 for Advanced Training in Environmental Health Sciences. Her research lab has mentored over 115 diverse undergraduate and graduate students in STEM. She has served on many NIH Study Sections, including SIEE as a standing member, and as an Associate Editor for the SOT society journal Toxicological Sciences. She was the recipient of the SOT Inhalation and Respiratory Specialty Section Young Investigator Award and the Women in Toxicology Mentoring Award and has previously served IRSS as a councilor and as secretary/treasurer. She has been a full member of SOT since 1998.

Christopher A. Reilly, Vice President-Elect

Dr. Larson-Casey is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Her research focuses on environmental mediators that influence monocyte and macrophage functions which contribute to lung injury. Currently, she is investigating the role of air pollution mediating acute exacerbations of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (AE-IPF). Dr. Larson-Casey received her doctorate from the University of North Dakota in 2012, where she first developed her interests in environmental toxicity, studying the effects of heavy metals promoting bladder carcinogenesis. Continuing her interests in environmental toxins, her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Iowa and UAB from 2012-2016 was dedicated to understanding the mechanism(s) that modulate macrophage activation after asbestos exposure and the association to the pathogenesis of asbestosis. Dr. Larson-Casey has served on the Systemic Injury by Environmental Exposure (SIEE) study section through the NIH Early Career Reviewer Program and has published 28 peer-reviewed articles including first author manuscripts in Immunity, Journal of Clinical Investigation, FASEB Journal, and American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. As a member of SOT since graduate school, she was awarded the Graduate Student Achievement Award in 2012 from the Women in Toxicology (WIT) Special Interest Group. She is actively involved in SOT. She currently serves on the WIT Program Committee and Awards Committee and has chaired several poster sessions at SOT. One highlight from last year’s meeting was being crowned champion at the ‘Tox Showdown’!

Jennifer L. Larson-Casey, Secretary

Dr. Larson-Casey is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Her research focuses on environmental mediators that influence monocyte and macrophage functions which contribute to lung injury. Currently, she is investigating the role of air pollution mediating acute exacerbations of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (AE-IPF). Dr. Larson-Casey received her doctorate from the University of North Dakota in 2012, where she first developed her interests in environmental toxicity, studying the effects of heavy metals promoting bladder carcinogenesis. Continuing her interests in environmental toxins, her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Iowa and UAB from 2012-2016 was dedicated to understanding the mechanism(s) that modulate macrophage activation after asbestos exposure and the association to the pathogenesis of asbestosis. Dr. Larson-Casey has served on the Systemic Injury by Environmental Exposure (SIEE) study section through the NIH Early Career Reviewer Program and has published 28 peer-reviewed articles including first author manuscripts in Immunity, Journal of Clinical Investigation, FASEB Journal, and American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. As a member of SOT since graduate school, she was awarded the Graduate Student Achievement Award in 2012 from the Women in Toxicology (WIT) Special Interest Group. She is actively involved in SOT. She currently serves on the WIT Program Committee and Awards Committee and has chaired several poster sessions at SOT. One highlight from last year’s meeting was being crowned champion at the ‘Tox Showdown’!

Marie McGee Hargrove, Treasurer

Dr. Marie Hargrove is a Human Safety Project Expert within the Product Safety group at Syngenta Crop Protection located in Greensboro, North Carolina focusing as an expert in regulatory toxicology where she focuses on leading projects for new active ingredients. Dr. Hargrove has extensive expertise in preparing and presenting scientific findings and positions to regulatory and business stakeholders along with interacting with regulatory agencies within North America. Within Syngenta, she also serves on the inhalation (IHL) technical committee where she manages inhalation toxicology studies, fostering collaborations with CROs and working with external stakeholders including serving as a representative on the Crop Life America Inhalation subgroup focusing on identifying new approach methods for inhalation risk assessment. Recently, she and the IHL committee were awarded a grant from the American Chemistry Council Long-Range Research Initiative to continue further optimization and evaluation of the EpiAirway™ assay based as a New Approach Methodology (NAM) to Waive Acute Vertebrate Inhalation Toxicity Testing for Formulated Products. Prior to joining Syngenta, Dr. Hargrove obtained her PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology at East Carolina University. Following her PhD, Dr. Hargrove completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the US EPA National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Cardiopulmonary and Immunotoxicology branch under the direction of Dr. Stephen Gavett. During her postdoc, she directed and managed numerous in vivo toxicological studies which characterized respiratory and systemic effects of known criteria air pollutants in models representative of susceptible populations. To date, she has authored/co-authored 20 peer-reviewed publications which include articles and co-authored the case study on the use of an Integrated Approach for Testing and Assessment (IATA) for New Approach Methodology (NAM) for Refining Inhalation Risk Assessment from Point of Contact Toxicity of the Pesticide, Chlorothalonil recently accepted by OECD. She has been an active member of SOT and NCSOT since 2012 and joined the IRSS in 2014. Dr. Hargrove is a graduate of the Pharmacology and Toxicology program at East Carolina University. She is excited about the opportunity to serve in the IRSS. She would like to contribute by building and/or enhancing relationships with the current membership and the executive committee and work to increase membership across sectors by encouraging colleagues within her organization, collaborators and members of external industry groups to become active members of the IRSS.

Melanie L. Doyle-Eisele, Past President

Dr. Doyle-Eisele is the Senior Director of Laboratory Animal Sciences and a Senior Scientist at Lovelace Biomedical (Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute) where she oversees the execution of core life sciences research, responsible for technical guidance, resource, and budget allocation, operational flow and compliance, integration with appropriate subject matter experts, and interfaces with Sponsors/Clients for model development, evaluation, and drug testing. In addition to testing facility management responsibilities and serving on Lovelace committees (Radiation Safety Chair and IACUC committee), she conducts research, performs studies, and leads programs in drug development, and medical countermeasures (CBRNE), biomarkers, ADME, pharmaceutical and environmental exposures. She received her Doctorate from UNC-Chapel Hill from the School of Public Health in 2006, Masters from UNC in 2003, and began a postdoctoral position before heading to New Mexico in 2007 to further her scientific journey. Dr. Doyle-Eisele has been a member of SOT since 2007. She has served as officer the Mixtures Specialty Section, Inhalation and Respiratory Specialty Section, and Mountain West Regional Chapter. In addition to SOT activities, she is actively involved in review panels for several focus areas and has authored or co-authored more than 60 peer reviewed publications, completed more than 500 regulated studies, and has led studies as part of approval for several approved Investigational New Drug (IND) or Emergency Use Authorization (EUA, National Stockpile) applications to the regulatory agencies.

Patricia Silveyra, Councilor

Dr. Silveyra is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Indiana University Bloomington School of Public Health, where she conducts research on sex differences in lung disease and sex-specific mechanisms of lung inflammation triggered by environmental exposures. Dr. Silveyra is an Argentine-American scientist who received her doctorate from the University of Buenos Aires in 2007 and was a postdoctoral fellow at Penn State College of Medicine from 2008–2011. Dr. Silveyra has served on the LIRR, SIEE, and IRAP NIH study sections, and on multiple international review panels for federal and foundation programs. She is on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, and Frontiers in Pharmacology-Respiratory Pharmacology. She is author/co-author of over 50 peer-reviewed publications, 2 books and 7 book chapters. She has been a member of the SOT since 2017 and has participated in multiple mentoring events, served as poster session leader and speaker at SOT meetings, and has mentored trainees and junior faculty that are SOT and HOT members. She has also recently established an alliance between SOT and SACNAS members to increase participation of URM trainees in activities organized by the society.

Katie E. Zychowski, Councilor

Dr. Zychowski is an Assistant Professor in the University of New Mexico-Health Sciences Center where she studies biological mechanisms of inhaled exposures such as metal-based particulate matter and woodsmoke. She received her doctorate in Toxicology from Texas A&M University in 2014 and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of New Mexico from 2014-2018. Dr. Zychowski has served as an ad hoc member of several study sections for both NIH/NIEHS and CDC/NIOSH. In addition, she has also peer-reviewed toxicological profiles for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). She has authored 29 peer-reviewed publications and 2 book chapters. She has been a member of the SOT since 2010 and has served the SOT as a member of the Committee for Diversity Initiatives (2010–2014), the Cardiovascular Toxicology Specialty Section (CVTSS) Postdoctoral Representative (2016–2018), the CVTSS Treasurer (2020–2022), and was the inaugural recipient of the IRSS Don E. Gardner Education Award

Nikaeta Sadekar, Councilor

Nikaeta Sadekar, PhD, is a Senior Scientist leading the Local Respiratory Toxicity Safety Assessment and its research program at the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM). She obtained her MS in Pharmacotherapeutics (2010) and is formally trained in toxicology in the doctoral program (2017) at St. John’s University. She specialized in non-clinical safety assessment for respiratory toxicology during postdoctoral (2018) training at RIFM. Her professional skillsets include human health risk assessment, and her current research interests are associated with developing alternative methods to animal studies using in vitro and in silico tools. Dr. Sadekar is engaged in various collaborations across the scientific community for developing the RIFM Respiratory Science. Communicating scientific projects to a broad audience is part of her role and responsibilities at RIFM. She has co-authored many peer- reviewed publications and serves as a peer reviewer for scientific journals Drug and Chemical Toxicology, Toxicology Research and Applications, Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, and Critical Reviews in Toxicology. She has also served as a peer reviewer for the US EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (2020) and on the Scientific Advisory Panel for the FIFRA EPA (2018). Dr. Sadekar is an active member of the Society of Toxicology (SOT). She has previously served as a Postdoctoral Representative (2018) and a Councilor (2019) for the Ethical, Legal, Forensic, and Societal Issues Specialty Section (ELFSI). She has volunteered on the awards committees for the Women in Toxicology (WIT) Special Interest Group and Regulatory and Safety Evaluation Specialty Section (RSESS) and participated in the Mentoring Breakfast activities. Dr. Sadekar was the Newsletter Editor for the American Society for Cellular and Computational Toxicology (ASCCT) from 2019-2021 and is currently a member of the Board of Directors.

Todd Stueckle, Junior Councilors

Dr. Stueckle is a Research Biologist in the Health Effects Laboratory Division at NIOSH in Morgantown, WV, where he uses both cell and animal models to investigate ultrafine particle toxic responses, including lung inflammation, fibrosis, and cancer. He is currently also investigating the effects of firefighting foam and PFAS exposure on firefighter health. He received his doctorate in Biology from West Virginia University in 2008 and was a postdoctoral fellow at West Virginia University and NIOSH from 2009-2013. He possesses broad training with research experience in marine biology, pesticide ecotoxicology, heavy metal toxicology, lung cancer drug development, and nanotoxicology. Dr. Stueckle has served as an Assistant Coordinator and now Coordinator/Co-Chair of the Chronic Disease Program at NIOSH and the National Occupational Research Agenda since 2018. He has mentored 20 trainees, ranging from undergraduate to post-doctoral fellow, and holds two Adjunct Assistant Professor positions at West Virginia University. He is the author of 46 peer-reviewed publications and over 100+ conference presentations and abstracts. His research in occupational lung disease has received awards from several SOT Specialty Sections, NIOSH, and CDC. He has been an SOT member since 2012 and has served SOT in the following capacities: AESOT Councilor; AESOT President-Elect, President, Past President; AESOT Vice President; AESOT RC4 Liaison; AESOT FUTURE Liaison; ToxScholar; NAMSS Councilor; and Session Chair for several Nanotoxicology Sessions.

Emma Karey, Postdoctoral Representative

Emma Karey obtained her doctorate in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of California at Davis in 2018, where she characterized the autonomic mechanisms underlying cardiovascular dysfunction induced by environmental tobacco smoke. Upon graduating, she joined the Department of Environmental Medicine at NYU Langone as a postdoctoral researcher working with Drs. Terry Gordon and Michael Weitzman to evaluate the health effects of alternative tobacco products (ATPs), including electronic cigarettes and hookah water pipes. Over the past three years, Dr. Karey has identified novel respiratory effects — ones associated with ATPs that have not been observed with more traditional combustible-tobacco products. She also spearheaded a study that found unique behaviors among ATP users that might explain these differences in respiratory toxicity. This past year, Dr. Karey coauthored several additional publications, including a comprehensive review of e-cigarette toxicity and multiple epidemiological papers identifying novel associations between vaping, inflammation, and mental health. Most recently, she has found respiratory inflammation in children passively exposed to vaping emissions in the home, providing some of the first data to suggest that secondhand e-cigarette exposures may cause harm.

Marissa Guttenberg, Graduate Student Representative

Ms. Guttenberg is a 5th year PhD candidate at Duke University in the Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program. In Dr. Robert Tighe’s Lab, Ms. Guttenberg researches mechanisms of innate immune activation that drive ozone-induced acute lung injury. Her experience with toxicology stretches back to her undergraduate career in a public health-oriented lab, where she served as a program ambassador during outreach events designed to increase public awareness of toxicology. As a graduate student, Ms. Guttenberg serves the Duke University PhD community through her work in the Nicholas School of the Environment PhD advocacy council and in leadership positions to improve campus wide PhD experiences. This includes organizing and hosting events tailored to networking, PhD development, as well as mental health awareness. In addition, as an active member of SOT since 2019, she has participated in various events including those held by the IRSS board and the North Carolina Chapter of the Society of Toxicology. Finding particularly great value in these lectures and events, she would plan to increase the awareness of these events in the graduate student community. In addition, Ms. Guttenberg would plan to organize and facilitate events that further opportunities for engagement between more senior and junior IRSS members. She looks forward to the opportunity to serve the IRSS community as a Graduate Student Representative on the IRSS Executive Committee.