Appendix F

Committee Biographical Sketches

Georges C. Benjamin, M.D., MACP, FNAPA, FACEP(E), Hon FRSPH, Hon FFPH (Chair), has served as the executive director of the American Public Health Association, the nation’s oldest and largest organization of public health professionals, since December 2002. Well known as a health leader, practitioner, and administrator, he is a former secretary of health for the State of Maryland. Dr. Benjamin is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He is board certified in internal medicine, a master of the American College of Physicians, a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, and a fellow emeritus of the American College of Emergency Physicians. He serves on several nonprofit boards, including for Research!America, the University of Maryland Medical System, and the Reagan–Udall Foundation. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

John G. Benitez, M.D., M.P.H., is the medical director of emergency preparedness at the Tennessee Department of Health. Dr. Benitez’s interest in disaster preparedness developed while a faculty member at three universities: the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Rochester, and Vanderbilt University. Dr. Benitez attained his B.A. degree from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville; his M.D. from Southern Illinois University, Springfield; and his M.P.H. from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. His surgical residency was served at Southwestern Michigan Area Health Education in Kalamazoo; his hyperbaric medicine mini-fellowship at St. Luke’s Hospital, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and his clinical toxicology fellowship at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. His

medical education fellowship was completed at EMF/Southwestern Medical Center at the University of Texas, Dallas. Dr. Benitez has seen the impact that certain disasters can produce on labs, animals, supplies, infrastructure, and data storage. Of course, there is a human impact too. Because of this interest as well as a more generalized interest in emergency preparedness, Dr. Benitez is now the medical director of emergency preparedness at Tennessee’s state health department. Prior to becoming the medical director of emergency preparedness, Dr. Benitez was appointed a professor of clinical medicine at Vanderbilt University, where he still is appointed as an adjunct professor in the same department. He was also an associate professor of clinical emergency medicine, community and preventive medicine, environmental medicine, and pediatrics at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, where he worked as the managing director of the R. A. Lawrence Poison and Drug Information Center. From 2000 to 2008, he also was the director of the Finger Lakes Regional Resource Center (the regional health care emergency preparedness center) at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He has also served as the medical director of the Pittsburgh Poison Center and of the multidisciplinary M.P.H. program in the Graduate School of Public Health, both at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Benitez has authored or co-authored at least 43 refereed articles, invited articles, abstracts, and chapters.

Andrew C. Cannons, Ph.D., is the laboratory director and responsible official for the Florida Department of Health Bureau of Public Health Laboratories–Tampa. Licensed as a clinical laboratory director in the state of Florida, he oversees all public health testing at the laboratory and is the administrator of the Public Health Laboratory Preparedness Program in Florida. Prior to his appointment as laboratory director, Dr. Cannons was the scientific director for the University of South Florida Center for Biological Defense from 2002 to 2012. He serves on a number of national committees, including Association of Public Health Laboratories’ Public Health Preparedness and Response and the Biosafety and Biosecurity committees. Dr. Cannons has been involved in national security special events requiring additional public health preparedness and response, including Super Bowls and the Republican National Convention in August 2012. Dr. Cannons has established strong working relationships with the Regional Domestic Security Task Force, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI, the Department of Defense, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Prescott Deininger, Ph.D., is the director of the Tulane Cancer Center at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Dr. Deininger received his A.B. in chemistry from the University of California at Santa Cruz in

1973 and carried out doctoral studies with Carl Schmid at the University of California (UC) at Davis on the sequence organization of the human genome, obtaining his Ph.D. in 1978. He carried out postdoctoral studies with Theodore Friedmann at UC San Diego, working on sequencing the polyoma genome, followed by a year with Frederic Sanger at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, studying the Epstein-Barr virus. In 1981 he took a faculty position in biochemistry and molecular biology at the Louisian State University Medical Center, where he reached the rank of professor in 1990. He spent a year on sabbatical in 1989 with Charles Stiles at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard School of Medicine. He also served as the founding director of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics at the Ochsner Medical Foundation. He took the position of associate director of the Tulane Cancer Center at Tulane University Health Sciences Center in 1998, the interim director in 2007, and the director in 2009. Dr. Deininger has published over 100 papers on the subject of the human genome. He also serves as an executive editor of Analytical Biochemistry, serves on the boards of several other journals, and has served on grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and the National Science Foundation.

Bradford S. Goodwin, Jr., D.V.M., DACLAM, is retired from his positions as professor and executive director at the Animal Research Facilities at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC-H). Dr. Goodwin was certified by the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM) in 1984, and his primary expertise involves the design, management, and operation of research vivaria in support of laboratory animals used in biomedical research and teaching. This specialty of veterinary medicine required years of postdoctoral training and the successful passing of the ACLAM board certification examination. From 1989 to January 2015, Dr. Goodwin directed all aspects of the animal care and use program at UTHSC-H and ensured compliance with the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act and recommendations of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Full accreditation by Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (APALAC) International was also maintained successfully during his 26 year tenure at the UTHSC-H. In addition to his former faculty position at UTHSC-H, Dr. Goodwin continues to provide consultation to numerous organizations and companies at the national and international levels. Dr. Goodwin has also taught laboratory animal medicine at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine for the past 15 years to veterinary students interested in the specialty of laboratory animal medicine. Dr. Goodwin served on the AAALAC International board of directors and recently retired as secretary of its executive committee. Previously, Dr. Goodwin served on the Council

on Accreditation for 12 years, serving as section leader and vice president of the council. Dr. Goodwin is now a council member emeritus. Dr. Goodwin also served for a total of 34 years in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps and retired as a Colonel in 2002.

Alexander Isakov, M.D., M.P.H., is the executive director of the Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response and a professor of emergency medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. His professional experience includes service as an officer in the U.S. Navy, consulting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), deploying with the National Disaster Medical System, and providing leadership in emergency medical services and disaster response. Dr. Isakov is the founding executive director of the Emory Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR), which reports to university executive leadership and which serves as the center for Emory enterprise-wide planning for and coordinated response to catastrophic events. CEPAR partners with the community to address all hazards, including natural disasters, human-caused catastrophic events, and public health emergencies. Dr. Isakov is often invited to chair and participate in emergency preparedness and response programs regionally, nationally, and internationally. He is on the faculty of the National Ebola Training and Education Center and also on the national faculty of the Joint Counterterrorism Awareness Workshops. He was recently appointed to the American College of Emergency Physician’s Epidemic Expert Panel. He has previously served the Institute of Medicine as a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Certification of Personal Protective Technologies. He led the Academic–Community Partnership for Sustainable Preparedness and Response Systems project of the Emory Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, which explored the relationship between academic institutions and the public health preparedness, and emergency management communities. He has provided consultation for the CDC, the World Health Organization, and the U.S. Agency for International Development on projects related to emergency response.

Lisa Grant Ludwig, Ph.D., is a professor in the Program in Public Health at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), and was the first director of public health graduate programs at UCI. She is a member of ACEHR, the Advisory Committee to the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. Dr. Ludwig was a member of the U.S. National Committee for Geodesy and Geophysics and of two National Academy of Sciences–appointed delegations to international general assemblies. She is known for her knowledge of public health, natural disasters, and the geological sciences. Dr. Ludwig served as the president and a member of the board of directors of the Seismological Society of America. She was the vice

chair of the board of directors and leader of the Earthquake Geology Group for the Southern California Earthquake Center and an associate director for the California Institute for Hazards Research MRP of the University of California. She earned a B.S. in applied environmental earth science from Stanford University. At Caltech she earned dual M.S. degrees in geological sciences and environmental engineering science and a doctorate in geology with geophysics. Dr. Ludwig’s research addresses natural hazards and disasters from a geologic perspective, with emphasis on earthquakes. Earthquakes are a major threat to public health globally, and locally in California. She focuses on defining the potential for large earthquakes and working collaboratively on developing forecasts, hazard models, and effective responses. Results of her work are applied for disaster preparedness planning, structural design, land-use planning, seismic hazard assessment, and public education about earthquakes.

Kirk Pawlowski, M.Arch., received his master of architecture degree from the University of Oregon in 1984 and is an academic health and life sciences architect practioner, a former principal at the Portland, Oregon–Seattle, Washington firm SRG Partnership, and a former university architect. As the assistant vice provost for capital resource planning at the University of Washington, Mr. Pawlowski’s responsibilities included chairing the University of Washington’s (UW’s) Environmental Stewardship Implementation Work Group and developing the recommendations for the UW President’s Climate and Seismic Resilient Committee. Mr. Pawlowski also led the UW’s Energy Future initiative as a critical component of the university’s climate change and carbon reduction plan, and he was responsible for the development and management of the UW 10-year capital plan. As the executive director for capital planning and development at Washington State University (WSU) and Oregon State University (OSU)—the land grant universities of the Pacific Northwest—Mr. Pawlowski guided development of 800,000 gross square feet of new state-of-the-art biomedical research facilities on the WSU Pullman, Washington, campus, including the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine Global Animal Health facilities, in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Most recently at Oregon State University, Mr. Pawlowski led the development of the university’s first 10-year capital plan, including a seismic-resilience capital investment program for research and instructional facilities and the creation of OSU development standards for marine biological research facilities located in tsunami-inundation zones on Oregon’s Pacific Ocean coastline. Mr. Pawlowski also served as the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) director of planning and real estate, and he guided development of clinical and research facilities while establishing structural and nonstructural seismic performance standards for new buildings and

renovations on OHSU’s Marquam Hill and South Waterfront campuses as well as the Oregon Primate Research Center.

Chris D. Poland, M.S., a consulting engineer, is the past chair of the advisory committee to the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program and the current chairman of the Advisory Committee on Structural Safety of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Facilities. As chair of the 100th Anniversary Earthquake Conference in San Francisco in April 2006, he shared the stage with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senator Dianne Feinstein in an internationally covered event that brought the nation to think proactively about earthquake danger. He served as the chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers Seismic Rehabilitation of Existing Buildings Standards Committee, completing both ASCE 31 and ASCE 41 standards for the evaluation and rehabilitation of existing buildings that are used worldwide. He served on the board of directors for SPUR, co-chaired its Resilient City Initiative, and led the publication of “The Disaster Resilient City.” He also served on the board for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and co-chaired the San Francisco Lifelines Council with City Administrator Naomi Kelly. Mr. Poland was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2009. He is also a fellow of the American Council of Engineering Companies and of the American Society of Civil Engineers Structural Engineering Institute. He is an honorary member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute and the Structural Engineers Association of California. Mr. Poland received his M.S. in structural engineering from Stanford University in 1974. His structural engineering career spans 40-plus years and includes new design work, seismic analysis and strengthening of existing buildings, structural failure analysis, and historic preservation.

Neil Rambo, M.Libr., is the department chair and director of the Health Sciences Library at the New York University (NYU) School of Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center. Prior to joining NYU in 2010, Mr. Rambo served in a variety of leadership roles at the University of Washington (Seattle) Libraries and the Texas Medical Center Library in Houston. The NYU Health Sciences Library was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and was successfully reinvented as a virtual service. Much of Mr. Rambo’s career has been focused on promoting emerging roles for health sciences libraries and librarians, in support of both the mission of academic medicine and the public health and community settings. He has written and spoken widely on the subject of the library’s role in research data management. Mr. Rambo is president of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries.

John A. Rock, M.D., M.S.P.H., is the founding dean and senior vice president for health affairs at the Florida International University (FIU) Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. Prior to his appointment at FIU in 2006, he held numerous academic and administrative appointments, including director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Emory University School of Medicine, and chancellor and professor of obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and public health at Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Sciences Center. While at Emory University, Dr. Rock raised the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s National Institutes of Health ranking from 66th in the nation to 18th. At LSU he established a School of Public Health, significantly increased the health services and research funding, provided disaster management leadership during Hurricane Katrina, and had management oversight of Louisiana’s statewide Charity Hospital System. In addition to his administrative leadership posts, Dr. Rock has written 20 books, contributed to 78 others, and written more than 200 juried and nonjuried articles.

Leonard Taylor, Jr., M.B.A., M.F.A., R.A., is the senior vice president of operations and support services at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). Mr. Taylor, a licensed architect, received his M.F.A. with a concentration in architecture and urban planning from the Yale School of Architecture and his M.B.A. from the George Washington University. Mr. Taylor is currently responsible for executive leadership of nonclinical support operations at UMMC, a 750-plus–bed tertiary and quaternary hospital that is home to the University Hospital, the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center (a National Cancer Institute–designated cancer center), the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center and the University of Maryland Hospital for Children. UMMC is also the center for clinical research for the University of Maryland Medical School. Mr. Taylor manages the multiyear strategic and annual $40 million-plus institutional capital program for facilities and medical equipment. He leads the management of the Environment of Care for Joint Commission Compliance and oversees all operations within the environment of care, including safety, security, fire and life safety, medical equipment management, utility management, environmental services, and emergency management. He is the executive sponsor of the award-winning UMMC sustainability program which is greening the operating rooms and the supply chain and reducing waste across hospital operations. Prior to his role at UMMC, Mr. Taylor was the director of the Office of Research Facilities Development and Operations at the National Institutes of Health.

Catherine Vogelweid, D.V.M., Ph.D., DACLAM, is currently a clinical professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathology at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri–Columbia. She is a diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine and served as the director of the Laboratory Animal Resource Center at the Indiana University School of Medicine from 1993 to 2004. In 1996 she agreed to serve as the regional coordinator for laboratory animals in the Indiana state disaster plan. During her tenure as the director of the Laboratory Animal Resource Center, she participated in the design and construction of three new animal facilities and in the renovations of several others. Her focus and efforts in disaster education were centered solely around research animals until 2004, when she accepted a teaching position in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri. She joined Missouri’s veterinary disaster response organization, the Missouri Volunteer Veterinary Corps. Today she teaches two courses about disasters and emergency response and continues to give seminars and presentations to audiences ranging from veterinarians to members of the general public. “Animal Issues in Disasters” is an online course that provides general information about the impacts of disasters on animals and whose course assignments require students to undertake personal planning and disaster preparedness actions. “Animals in Emergencies and Basic Emergency Response Training for Veterinary Students” is a required course for all second-year veterinary students. Her research focuses on disaster preparedness and response planning and disaster-resistant facility construction. Her teaching focuses on general veterinary pathology, veterinary virology, research ethics, veterinary emergency and disaster response, and the ethics of the use of animals in biomedical research.