Officers

Dr. Damani Parran is a Senior Toxicologist at EHS Support LLC, where he leads the Product Stewardship and Toxicology Services. In this role, he works as part of the core technical team within the Sediment and Risk Assessment (SRA) Service Line and provides environmental and human health toxicology support to projects across multiple service areas and industries. He earned a doctorate in Toxicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2002 and was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Virginia Tech from 2002-2005. His graduate and post-graduate research focused on the impact of environmental toxins, including heavy metals and pesticides, on neurodevelopment and neurofunctions. Dr. Parran is also a board-certified toxicologist, earning his Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT) certification in 2007. In addition, he earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2020 with a concentration in Sustainable Enterprise and Entrepreneurship. In addition to his academic background, Dr. Parran gained industry experience as a Senior Research Scientist in Colgate-Palmolive’s Product Safety group from 2005-2009. He was also the Regional Product Stewardship and Regulatory Affairs Manager at AkzoNobel / Nouryon Chemicals from 2009-2022. As part of this role, he led teams to support AkzoNobel’s / Nouryon’s sustainability goals resulting in top honors in Dow Jones’ Sustainability Index and Gold Level Ecovadis status. Dr. Parran has authored/co-authored numerous publications, including peer-reviewed articles on heavy metal exposure and book chapters on the subjects of pre-clinical toxicology and fetal drug exposure. Dr. Parran has been a member of SOT since 1997 and was previously the Vice President-Elect of the Sustainable Chemicals through Contemporary Toxicology Specialty Section.

Dr. Sara Farahmand is a board-certified toxicologist with over 13 years of experience in the Consumer Product Goods industry. She is currently the Director of Toxicology, Product Safety and Regulatory at the Honest Company where she leads a team of toxicologists and regulatory specialists and supports safety and regulatory programs for a diverse portfolio of products including cosmetics, OTCs, supplements, and baby products. She leads and conducts chemical and product human health risk assessments including alternatives assessment, as well as product safety claim substantiation. She has served as the Regulatory Toxicologist/Safety Manager in other multinational companies (including Edgewell Personal Care, Clorox, Procter and Gamble, Avon, and Georgia Pacific). Dr. Farahmand held two postdoctoral fellowship positions—at the Department of Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco, and at the College of Pharmacy, University of Cincinnati, where her research was focused on developing in vitro and in silico models of skin absorption. She received her doctorate in Pharmaceutical Sciences from University of Tehran, Iran.

Dr. Farahmand has served the Dermal Toxicology Specialty Section (DTSS) since 2018 as Councilor, Vice President-Elect, Vice President, and President. During her tenure at the DTSS, she established the webinar program for the Specialty Section and initiated the social media and mentoring committees. Currently, she is the Past President and Councilor of the DTSS. With her leadership role in the clean beauty industry, Dr. Farahmand is passionate about working with the group of brilliant scientists at the SCCT and advancing SCCT’s mission, especially on raising awareness about sustainable chemicals, and promoting toxicological-based research to support new product development and informed substitution, as well as initiating/participating in the Specialty Section’s mentoring program. 

Dr. Farahmand lives in the Bay Area with her husband, son, and 3 cats. In her free time, she volunteers at the Northern California chapter of the Association for Women in Science as she enjoys supporting other women scientists achieving their goals. She was the 2022 recipient of the “Sherrie Wilkins Award,” a distinguished professional award from the Association for Women in Science. The award is presented to a woman who promotes career development for women scientists and is committed to mentorship.

Dr. Jennifer Y. Tanir is a Senior Sustainability Scientist at ToxServices, where she manages programs including GreenScreen Certified®, ChemFORWARD SAFER™, Cradle to Cradle Certified®, ToxServices’s ToxFMD Screened Chemistry® Library, and chemical hazard assessments by GreenScreen® for Safer Chemicals and ChemFORWARD. Jennifer joined ToxServices in 2019 with almost 20 years of green and sustainable chemistry-related experience working in industry (DuPont), non-profit organizations (American Chemical Society’s Green Chemistry Institute and the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute), and consulting (Toward Safer LLC), with a focus on project management and stakeholder collaborations. Jennifer has a Ph.D. in polymer/organic chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and B.S. in chemistry from the University of Richmond. She has served in leadership roles in several professional organizations, including the Association for the Advancement of Alternatives Assessment (Secretary/Treasurer), Chemical Society of Washington (President), National Capital Area Chapter of the Society of Toxicology (SOT) (Councilor), and the Sustainable Chemicals through Contemporary Toxicology (SCCT) Specialty Section of SOT (co-founder and inaugural President). Jennifer is the co-author of over 20 publications and has been a member of SOT since 2012. If elected as Vice President-Elect of SCCT, she aims to engage with SOT members, students, and the next generation of leaders working at the interface of toxicology, safer chemicals, and sustainability, to expand the reach of SCCT’s mission and objectives.

 

Dr. Colleen McLoughlin is the Director of Toxicology at Enhesa in the Sustainable Chemistry business unit. She leads the Toxicology Team at Enhesa, working with major consumer products brands conducting chemical hazard, risk, and alternatives assessments, as well as product certifications. She received her doctorate in Biomedical Engineering from Virginia Commonwealth University where her dissertation research focused on immunotoxicity testing of a polymer used in tissue engineered constructs and development of a novel drug delivery system. Subsequently, Dr. McLoughlin was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Morgantown, WV. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology and a European Registered Toxicologist (UK Registry).

Dr. McLoughlin is an active member of the Society of Toxicology and Association for the Advancement of Alternatives Assessment (A4) and a mentor in the Toxicology Mentoring Skills Development Training Program. In A4, she is a member of the Executive Council and co-chair of the program committee. She has been a member of SOT since 2009 and has served SOT in the following capacities: Student Representative of the National Capital Area Regional Chapter (2010-2012), Postdoctoral Assembly Board Vice Chair (2013-2014), Postdoctoral Assembly Chair (2014-2015), and the Presidential Chain of the National Capital Area Regional Chapter (Vice President 2021-2022, President 2022-2023, Past President 2023-2024).

Dr. Brittany Baisch is a board-certified toxicologist in the crop protection industry. She is currently the Regulatory Toxicology Lead at Enko Chem, Inc., a crop health startup that is using target-based design to discover novel and sustainable chemistry to combat pest resistance and new crop diseases. Previously she was the Research Fellow – Toxicology for Henkel's North American laundry and home care products and previously the Senior Toxicologist at The Kraft-Heinz Company. Dr. Baisch earned her PhD and MS in Toxicology from the University of Rochester and has BAs in Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Spanish from Western Connecticut State University.

Dr. Baisch is very active in the Society of Toxicology and has held several appointed and elected positions. She is currently the Past President of the SOT Women in Toxicology (WIT) Special Interest Group. Dr. Baisch previously served as Secretary/Treasurer for Women in Toxicology with excellence, increasing the visibility of younger women in science by supporting the publication of many articles in the WIT newsletter. She also managed the WIT budget, which is one of the largest Component Group budgets within SOT. Dr. Baisch also served as the Secretary/Treasurer of the newly formed Exposure Specialty Section and a Councilor of the Ethical, Legal, Forensics, and Societal Issues Specialty Section. She completed an appointment to the former SOT Education and Career Development Committee (ECDC), actively leading efforts to facilitate collaborations, mentorship, and opportunities for scientists via the Global Senior Scholar Exchange and New Experiences in Toxicology and Supplemental Training Experience programs. She also actively served on committees to update the SOT Job Bank and to modify and execute the triannual toxicology salary survey. She also served on the former SOT Committee on Diversity Initiatives Undergraduate Peer Mentoring Program and various scientific program and award review committees. As an established toxicologist, Dr. Baisch has won several awards from her employers for leadership, exceeding expectations for technical acumen and teamwork, and for delivering projects ahead of schedule. Within SOT, she was awarded Paper of the Year and 1st place abstract from the Nanoscience and Advanced Materials Specialty Section, and the Leadership Award and student travel awards from the Graduate Student Leadership Committee. Dr. Baisch is a strong supporter of the trainees and is dedicated to increasing opportunities for career development of trainees. She also aims to exercise her key learnings from serving on SOT committees and through her sustainability work throughout her career to build and grow membership, funding, programs, and outreach activities for the SCCT Specialty Section.

Dr. Iyer is the Senior Municipal Toxics Reduction Coordinator at the San Francisco Environment Department (SFE), where she oversees implementation of the City’s Green Purchasing and Integrated Pest Management Programs. She received a doctorate in Environmental Health Sciences/Toxicology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2010, and was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health from 2010-2012. Dr. Iyer was a Toxicologist with California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment from 2012-2022, where she worked on the Biomonitoring California Program and on integrating new approach methodologies into risk assessment practice. Dr. Iyer has served as a reviewer of the National Academies’ report, “The Chemistry of Fires at the Wildland-Urban Interface.” She has authored nine scientific publications, two reports summarizing toxicological research on chemicals of concern for the Biomonitoring California Program, and four chemical-specific fact sheets intended for a non-scientific audience. She has been a member of the SOT since 2004. She has not yet served the SOT through an officer position. After studying molecular mechanisms of chemical toxicity for nearly 20 years, Dr. Iyer’s research interests have shifted upstream towards promoting safer, sustainable alternatives that will prevent the introduction of harmful chemicals into the supply chain and marketplace. Dr. Iyer is also interested in harnessing the power of new approach methodologies to evaluate chemical hazards. That is why she is interested in getting involved with the SCCT Specialty Section, and is interested in running for this position. Dr. Iyer’s current role at SFE involves regular interaction with San Francisco City Department staff, who are end users that stand to benefit from using products containing safer chemical ingredients, and she regularly interacts with vendors from which the City of San Francisco procures goods and services, who are among the business sector we can collaborate with to offer products containing safer chemical ingredients. Because of this, Dr. Iyer’s role offers a pathway for translating the work achieved through SCCT into practice.

Dr. Kel DeShong is a Toxicologist at SRC, Inc. and specializes in hazard assessment of new chemicals, which she finds to be technically challenging as well as impactful and rewarding. Dr. DeShong is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT) as of November 2023. She earned her PhD in Toxicology from the University of Rochester Medical Center in 2019 and has been an active member of SOT since 2015, including volunteering for Continuing Education courses, judging award submissions for the Risk Assessment Specialty Section, and contributing to #YouTox efforts. With a special interest in alternative methods and sustainability, she has participated in and received awards from the In Vitro & Alternative Methods Specialty Section, Mechanisms Specialty Section, and others. Dr. DeShong is known for her initiative, mentorship, and conscientiousness and is excited to become further involved in the Sustainable Chemicals through Contemporary Toxicology Specialty Section and contribute to its core objectives.

Dr. Ogunsuyi is a researcher at The Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria, where he carries out research in neurochemistry and neurotoxicology of natural products as it relates to pathogenesis and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. He received his doctorate in Applied Biochemistry from The Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria in 2021 and was a postdoctoral fellow at Biochemical Toxicology Lab, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil in 2023. Dr. Ogunsuyi has served on the mentoring board at the African Young Scientist. He is author/co-author of 89 Publications including peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, as well as two patents. He has been a member of the SOT since 2020.