Are Nanomaterials Safe? Getting a Handle on Nanotoxicity and Risk

Speakers

Günter Oberdörster, PhD

University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry
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Günter Oberdörster is professor of environmental medicine in the Department of Environmental Medicine and head of the Division of Respiratory Biology & Toxicology at the University of Rochester. He also serves as director of the University of Rochester Ultrafine Particle Center. Oberdörster is known for his research on the effects and underlying mechanisms of lung injury induced by inhaled non-fibrous and fibrous particles, including extrapolation modeling and risk assessment. His research on with ultrafine particles influenced the field of inhalation toxicology, raising awareness of their unique toxicological potential. He has extensive expertise in the toxicology and health effects of air pollutants, their risk assessment, and toxicokinetics.

Oberdörster earned his DVM and PhD (Pharmacology) from the University of Giessen in Germany. He has served on many national and international committees.

Andrew D. Maynard, PhD

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
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Andrew Maynard serves as the science advisor to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. He is internationally recognized as a research leader and lecturer in the fields of aerosol characterization and the implications of nanotechnology to occupational health. He trained as a physicist at Birmingham University in the UK, and after completing a PhD in ultrafine aerosol analysis at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University (UK) joined the Aerosols research group of the UK Health and Safety Executive. In 2000 he moved to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the USA, where he focused on addressing nanoparticle exposure in the workplace.

Maynard's expertise covers many facets of aerosols and health implications, from occupational aerosol sampler design to state-of-the-art nanoparticle analysis, as reflected in over 70 publications. He has represented NIOSH on the Nanomaterial Science, Engineering and Technology subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council (NSET), and cochaired the Nanotechnology Health and Environment Implications (NEHI) working group of NSET. In addition, Maynard was chair of the International Standards Organization Working Group on size selective sampling in the workplace. Maynard holds an associate professorship at the University of Cincinnati, and is an honorary senior lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, UK. He is a regular international speaker on nanotechnology, and frequently appears in print and on radio and television.

Wendy R. Sanhai, PhD

U.S. Food and Drug Administration
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Wendy Sanhai is senior scientific advisor in the Office of the Commissioner at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She is responsible for developing and implementing scientific initiatives and strategic alliances under the agency's Critical Path Initiative. Sanhai also serves as FDA's chair for the Nanotechnology Sub-Committee of the Interagency Oncology Task Force and as FDA's Federal Liaison on numerous consortia and committees. She has received numerous awards and commendations.

Prior to her current appointment, Sanhai was the director of Public-Private Partnerships at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) and was the senior Foundation officer responsible for creating, implementing, managing and evaluating all new and existing programs in clinical research, education and training. In this role, she served as the chief scientific liaison to the NIH, other Federal agencies, including the FDA and the CDC, academia, industry, and non-profit organizations.

Sanhai has a PhD in biochemistry and structural biology from the School of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo.

Sheila Sperber Haas

Sheila Sperber Haas is a freelance science and health care writer living in New York City who writes about issues ranging from molecular biology and immunology to complementary and alternative medicine. Her varied projects include Dermatology Focus, bringing the forefront of molecular investigative dermatology to a clinical readership.