Mission/Officers

Dr. Sebastian Medina is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Health Sciences Center (HSC). He attained a PhD with distinction in Biomedical Sciences with a concentration in Pharmaceutical Sciences under the mentorship of Dr. Scott Burchiel at the UNM HSC. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship under the mentorship of Dr. Ke Jian “Jim” Liu at the UNM HSC prior to transitioning to New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU). Dr. Medina’s major research interests are in the toxicology of environmental metals and their impacts on human health. He is particularly interested in understanding mechanisms of metal-induced toxicity to hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, including the hematotoxicity of inorganic and organic arsenicals. His other major research interests are in elucidating mechanisms of immune dysregulation produced by metal and other toxicant exposures. Dr. Medina is primary author or coauthor of ~20 peer-reviewed articles and/or book chapters. He has received multiple awards for his research and scholastic achievements including, the Gerald Yost Outstanding Graduate Student Award from the Mountain West Society of Toxicology (MWSOT). Dr. Medina has been an active member of the Society of Toxicology and Stem Cells Specialty Section since 2016, including having served as the Graduate Student Representative of MWSOT (2016-2018), Postdoctoral Representative (2018-2021), and Vice President-Elect (2024-present). He is currently Principal Investigator of a National Institute of a General Medical Sciences SuRE Research Award (R16) and former Program Director of two USDA-funded programs focused on increasing the number of students from traditionally underserved populations graduating with degrees in life sciences.

Dr. Xian Wu is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University. He holds a PhD in Toxicology from the University of Georgia, where he specialized in neurotoxicity screening using human pluripotent stem cell–derived neurons and astrocytes. Dr. Wu has extensive postdoctoral experience, having served as a postdoctoral fellow at the NIEHS and an ORISE fellow at the US FDA. His primary research focuses on the effects of environmental toxins on human health, particularly through the use of stem cell–based models to investigate developmental neurotoxicity and cardiotoxicity. His other research interests include chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity and the use of epigenetic regulation as a strategy for heart regeneration. Dr. Wu is the primary author or coauthor of approximately 25 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He has received multiple awards for his contributions to toxicology, including the Society of Toxicology Best Postdoctoral Publication Award, the Excellence in Research Award from the Stem Cells Specialty Section, and the Fellows Award for Research Excellence from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Wu has been an active member of the Society of Toxicology (SOT) since 2014 and has served as the Postdoctoral Representative (2019–2020) and Secretary/Treasurer (2024–2025) of the Stem Cells Specialty Section. He is also actively involved in mentoring and service activities, contributing to various academic committees and editorial boards.

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Dr. Gao is a Research Biologist in the Office of Applied Research and Safety Assessment (OARSA) of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) at the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) where he is the principal investigator for the stem cell research program and for the toxicogenomics research program. His research focuses on toxicity testing and safety assessment of chemicals related to food, cosmetics, and dietary supplements using stem cell-based in vitro models and transcriptomics technologies. He received his doctorate in biotechnology from Jiangnan University (China) in 1995 and was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (1997-1999) and at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (1999-2005). Dr. Gao has served on a review panel for the Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) of the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and on expert peer reviewer panels for the Office of the Chief Scientist Grants Program of the US FDA. He has also reviewed research proposals for the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR).
Dr. Gao has published 56 original research papers, 6 review articles, and contributed 7 book chapters. He has been a member of SOT since 2013 and has served as co-chair for an SOT FDA Colloquium on Emerging Toxicological Science.

Dr. Erik J. Tokar is the Leader of the Stem Cells Toxicology Group in the Mechanistic Toxicology Branch, Division of Translational Toxicology at NIEHS. He received his PhD in Cancer Biology from Michigan State University and completed a Postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute at NIEHS, where he studied the role of stem cells and cancer stem cells in carcinogenesis. As head of the Stem Cell Toxicology Group, he develops and uses 2D and 3D (i.e., organoids) models to investigate the involvement of pluripotent stem cells in the pathogenesis of diseases associated with exposure to environmental chemicals. He has trained numerous students and fellows, served on several Postdoctoral science advisory and Doctoral supervisory committees, and served as an expert scientific reviewer on several toxicology-related funding applications and risk assessment documents. He has nearly 100 publications and serves as Associated Editor or on the Editorial Review Boards for multiple scientific journals. Since joining in 2006, Dr. Tokar has remained active in the Society of Toxicology (SOT). He has held positions in the Stem Cells Specialty Section (SCSS) (co-founder; Secretary/Treasurer; President), Metals SS (Postdoctoral Representative; Councilor; President) and the North Carolina Chapter of SOT (Councilor; President). He has also organized and/or presented in several SOT Annual Meeting sessions including symposia and Continuing Education Courses.

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