Education Course
Advanced Comprehensive Toxicology

Speaker Bios

Simon Authier, DVM, MSc, MBA, PhD, DSP

Dr. Simon Authier obtained a doctor in veterinary medicine degree from the University of Montreal and specialized in nonclinical studies after completing a PhD in preclinical pharmacology. He then completed an MBA in corporate finances and management. Dr. Authier is a Director of Scientific Operations at Charles River Laboratories Laval, where he overviews the work of a team of scientists and veterinarians specializing in preclinical research. He has been an invited speaker at various scientific conferences, including the American College of Toxicology, the Safety Pharmacology Society, the Japanese Society of Safety Pharmacology, the American Association of Laboratory Animal Science, and the US Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Authier is also an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at University of Montreal, where he is involved with clinical immunology and pharmacology, and he has authored +100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. To date, Dr. Authier has provided scientific overview for more than 1,100 preclinical studies. He is currently an ACT Councilor and has collaborated as an elected member of the ACT Education Committee, and over the years, he has volunteered and participated in various ACT initiatives, including educational sessions.

Leanne Bedard, PhD, RAC, DABT

Leanne received her PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Queen’s University (Kingston, ON, Canada). Leanne began her career in pharmaceutical research at Merck Frosst in Montréal where she contributed to the discovery of PIFELTRO™, now marketed for the treatment of HIV. Leanne then joined AstraZeneca R&D Montréal as a DMPK Drug Design Leader. For the past decade, Leanne has worked as a consultant in nonclinical drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics and toxicology. Leanne has also served as a Nonclinical Pharm/Tox Reviewer to Health Canada. Leanne is currently President of the Roundtable of Toxicology Consultants. She recently authored the book chapter on Toxicokinetics for the revised 7th Edition of Hayes’ Principles and Methods of Toxicology.

William Brock, PhD, DABT, ATS

Dr. Bill Brock received his PhD in toxicology from the University of Kentucky (1983), and did a postdoctoral fellowship at UK. From his postdoctoral fellowship, he joined DuPont’s Haskell Laboratory and spent 17 years in various research, testing and management roles. Subsequently, Bill joined Unilever, a worldwide consumer product company, and then the international consulting firm Environ. In 2004, he became an independent toxicology consultant. He is the Director of Toxicology for Otsuka Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Brock provides pharmacology and toxicology research and testing advice for early- through late-stage pharmaceutical development for worldwide regulatory submissions. Furthermore, he provides scientific and regulatory consulting advice and safety and risk assessments to clients in the chemical, medical device, food and consumer product industries. His primary research interests include human health risk and exposure assessments with an interest in the mechanisms of toxicity associated with human exposures to xenobiotics. Dr. Brock has authored or co-authored more than 50 publications, and has authored or coauthored several book chapters and is a co-editor on two toxicology and regulatory books. He has served as a member and in a leadership capacity for several national and international toxicology organizations. Dr. Brock is currently an expert reviewer for IPEC’s Excipients Panel.

Dr. Brock is a Diplomate of ABT, a Fellow of ATS, and has served as a Board member and President for both ABT and ATS. Dr. Brock has served in various leadership capacities or as a member of various professional organizations and committees for the ACT, SOT and others. Dr. Brock is an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Toxicology, and a reviewer for Food and Chemical Toxicology, Toxicological Sciences, Toxicology and Industrial Health, Current Eye Research and other leading toxicology journals.

Lydia Cox, PhD, DABT

Lydia is the Director of Regulatory Affairs at Nichino America, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nihon Nohyaku Co. Ltd., Japan’s first and oldest agrochemical manufacturing company. In her current role, she leads the regulatory affairs team based in Wilmington, DE and is focused on the development, registration, and stewardship of products for the crop protection sector in the US and Canada. She has a BS in animal science from Cornell University and a PhD in toxicology from University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After completing her postdoctoral training at New York University’s Institute of Environmental Medicine in Tuxedo, New York, Lydia joined DuPont’s Haskell Global Centers for Health and Environmental Sciences. While at DuPont, she worked in various roles as a toxicologist including study director and monitor for mammalian studies, group leader in genetic toxicology, and toxicology liaison to provide strategic guidance for registration and stewardship initiatives. She has also worked as a toxicology consultant for Critical Path Services in Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania for projects in the industrial chemical, medical device, and cosmetic sectors. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology.

Gregory L. Finch, PhD, DABT

Dr. Greg Finch is currently an independent research toxicologist following his retirement from Pfizer’s Drug Safety Research and Development group in Groton, CT. He earned his PhD in Chemical Ecology from the University of California, Davis, and then joined the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in Albuquerque, NM. Dr. Finch’s research at Lovelace focused on the use of animal models to characterize respiratory tract responses to inhaled materials, the disposition of these materials from the respiratory tract, and application to human health risk assessment. He subsequently joined Pfizer, where his research initially focused on inhaled drug development and in characterizing the safety and fate of inhaled macromolecules in the lung. He was part of a team that gained regulatory approval for the first inhaled insulin drug product. Dr. Finch has been a Drug Safety team leader in numerous projects in oncology, respiratory, and antiviral therapeutic areas, and has participated in advancing several drugs through registration. He conducted due diligence reviews of potential licensing candidates and safety evaluations of novel drug development technologies. Dr. Finch represented Pfizer in several external pharmaceutical industry groups. He is a member of the Society of Toxicology and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (1990–2025), with service on the ABT Board of Directors. He currently contributes to the advancement of toxicological science by volunteering for special projects (ABT, ACT) and as a journal reviewer.

Mary Beth Genter, PhD, DABT, ATS

Dr. Mary Beth Genter has been an academic toxicologist since completing graduate studies in the Integrated Toxicology Program at Duke University and postdoctoral studies at the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology in 1990. Dr. Genter’s background is in neurotoxicology, and she has a special interest in the olfactory system, both as a target for toxicant-induced damage and as a route of drug delivery. Prior to joining the University of Cincinnati Department of Environmental Health, Dr. Genter was employed by the North Carolina State University Department of Toxicology, where, among other responsibilities, she served as the toxicologist for the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. She also served as a member of the North Carolina Secretary’s Scientific Advisory Board on Toxic Air Pollutants. Dr. Genter has published over 70 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and served as an advisor for the USEPA during the reevaluation of the IRIS naphthalene document. Dr. Genter is a diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (ABT; 1992–present) and served on the ABT Board of Directors (2004–2008). She was named a Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Scientists in 2012. She is currently (2008–present) Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Toxicology, the official journal of the American College of Toxicology, where she also serves as a Councilor. Dr. Genter is also a member of the Toxicology In Vitro Editorial Board, and a reviewer for approximately two dozen papers for other journals per year. Dr. Genter serves on the Council of the Society of Toxicology (2016–2019) and recently completed a term on the National Toxicology Program Board of Scientific Counselors (2013–2017). She is a member of the American College of Toxicology, the Society of Toxicology, the Association for Chemoreception Sciences, and Sigma Xi.

Debie Hoivik, PhD, DABT

Dr. Hoivik received her PhD in toxicology from the University of Connecticut and conducted her postdoctoral research at Texas A&M. She spent eight years at GlaxoSmithKline in a variety of roles in Medicine Safety where she was responsible for the nonclinical product development strategy and execution as well as regulatory interactions and submissions for new therapeutic entities. Dr. Hoivik joined Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals in 2005 and she was the Director of Toxicology Operations. She is currently at Akebia Therapeutics. Dr. Hoivik has authored five invited book chapters, 24 peer reviewed manuscripts, and 25 abstracts. She has served ACT in a variety of roles (e.g., Councilor, Secretary, Continuing Education Committee, Nominating Committee, Program Committee); she is currently Co-Chair of the SOT Education Committee; served on the SOT Communication Committee; and she is currently the President of the Northeast Society of Toxicology. Dr. Hoivik has also served on multiple pharmaceutical consortiums and workgroups. She has been a member of the Editorial Review Board for the International Journal of Toxicology since 2004 and serves as a reviewer for Toxicological Sciences. Dr. Hoivik was certified by the American Board of Toxicology in 1999.

Mark S. Johnson, PhD, DABT, ATS

Dr. Johnson currently serves as the Director of Toxicology, US Army Public Health Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD where he is responsible for the operational and technical arm of the Army Surgeon General and the Assistant Secretary of the Army for toxicological matters. He has worked extensively in the evaluation of the toxicity of military unique compounds and development and evaluation of a phased approach to the gathering toxicity data for new compounds under development. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and technical reports and serves on several NATO and EPA panels. He has been a member of Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) since 1997 and currently serves on the Board of Directors for SETAC North America. He is the past chair of Ecological Risk Assessment World Interest Group, and a member of the World Science Committee for SETAC and SETAC North America. Dr. Johnson is also a member of the International Board of Environmental Risk Assessors (IBERA). He has been a member of the Society of Toxicology since 2009.

Dr. Johnson is a Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences, Chair of the Tri-Service Toxicology Consortium (TSTC), past Steering Committee Chair of the Joint Army-Navy-NASA-Air Force (JANNAF) Subcommittee on Safety and Environmental Protection, and Past-President of the American Board of Toxicology (ABT).

Thomas A. Lewandowski, PhD, DABT, ERT

Dr. Tom Lewandowski is a toxicologist and chemist working in Gradient’s Seattle, Washington office. He received his PhD in toxicology from the University of Washington School of Public Health. He also holds an MPH in environmental health from the University of Michigan. Dr. Lewandowski has over 30 years of experience in the areas of risk assessment, product safety evaluation, pharmacokinetics, and metals toxicology. Current areas of particular interest include skin sensitization, cannabinoids, and chemical alternatives assessment. He is board certified as a toxicologist in both the US (DABT) and Europe (ERT). He is also a fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences (ATS). He was previously an Associate Professor of environmental health at Brooklyn College/The City University of New York where he taught courses in environmental health, human physiology, and sustainability. He is currently an affiliate faculty member at the University of Washington School of Public Health where he lectures on metals toxicology and risk assessment. He is the author of numerous publications related to risk assessment methods (in particular the use of computational models). He is a member of the OARS WEEL committee, which reviews toxicology data to develop workplace exposure guidelines for new chemical agents. He is also currently an officer of the SOT Dermal Toxicology Specialty Section.

David McMillan, PhD, DABT

Dr. McMillan graduated from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, and received his PhD in Toxicology from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Vermont Medical Center in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Dr. McMillan joined the US Food & Drug Administration in 2016 and is now a Senior Toxicologist in the Division of Pharmacology/Toxicology for Infectious Disease, assigned to the Division of Antivirals. He became a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology in 2018.

Amy L. Roe, PhD, DABT, ATS

Dr. Roe has over 23 years of experience as a practicing toxicologist in government, pharmaceutical and consumer product industries, through positions at both the FDA and The Procter & Gamble Company. Her professional experience is in general, descriptive, and regulatory toxicology as well as specialized expertise in drug/xenobiotic metabolism and pharmacokinetics. Her industry experience is quite broad and includes toxicology support of drugs, medical devices, herbal/dietary supplements, foods, and water filtration devices. As a project leader, she has led multi-disciplinary drug development teams. Dr. Roe is a board-certified toxicologist (DABT) and a Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences (ATS). She is well-recognized externally in her field as evidenced by her service on a number of professional boards and committees including the USP Dietary Supplement Admission Evaluation & Labeling Expert Committees and Probiotic Expert Panel, SOT Regulatory & Safety Evaluation Specialty Section (Past President), Food Safety Specialty Section (Vice President-Elect) and an NIH/NCCIH Expert Advisory Panel related to natural product-drug interactions. Dr. Roe is on the Steering Committee of the Botanical Safety Consortium (BSC), a public-private consortium led by FDA and NIEHS and serves as co-chair of the hepatotoxicity/ADME sub-committee of the BSC. She serves on the Editorial Board of Applied In Vitro Toxicology and Toxicological Sciences.

Leslie Recio, PhD, DABT

Dr. Leslie Recio is the Chief Scientific Officer at ScitoVation. Current research studies are focused on integrating gene expression profiling with apical endpoints assessed in rodents, hepatocytes and human cell lines toxicology models. Dr. Recio received his MS and PhD from the University of Kentucky conducting his doctoral research in mammalian cell mutagenesis at the Biology Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and in 1986, Dr. Recio was a postdoctoral fellow at CIIT. Dr. Recio has authored or co-authored 80 peer reviewed publications in the areas of mutagenesis, toxicogenomics and regulatory based genotoxicity assessment. In 2010, Dr. Recio was appointed to the SOT Council on Diversity Initiatives. In 2011, he was elected as the 2012 president of the Hispanic Organization of Toxicologist. Dr. Recio was on the 5th International Working Group for Genotoxicity Testing in focused on integration of genotoxicity with standard rodent toxicology testing. In 2012, Dr. Recio was appointed to the OECD Genetic Toxicology Expert Group charged with revising OECD test guidelines for regulatory genetic toxicology testing in mammalian cells. In 2012, Dr. Recio was named Director of Genomics for ILS Genomics. He is part of an ILSI/HESI Genomics Committee collaboration developing methods for gene expression profiling from FFPE tissues using microarrays and next generation sequencing technologies. Dr. Recio currently serves on the Editorial Boards for Toxicological Sciences and Mutation Research—Reviews in Mutation Research.

Robert Roy, PhD, DABT, ATS

Dr. Robert Roy retired from 3M as a Corporate Staff Scientist in July 2023. At 3M, he supported the global toxicology efforts of many of 3M divisions. Some of these activities included the placing, monitoring and evaluation of both short-term and longer-term toxicity studies, the preparation of human health risk/safety assessments for industrial and consumer products, the derivation of health-based OELs, NSRLs/MADLs, DNELs/DMELs and ADIs. Dr. Roy was the Chair of the 3M OEL committee for over 25 years. He is a Diplomate of the ABT, a Fellow of ATS and a member of SOT and ACT. Dr. Roy teaches and advises graduate students at the University of Minnesota where he is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health (Toxicology Graduate Program). He serves on the editorial boards of four toxicology journals, is actively involved in development and presentation of CE toxicology courses, is a 25+ year member of the national OEL-developing Workplace Environmental Exposure Levels (WEEL) Committee, is a member of the NIOSH Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC) and serves/has served on several ACC, University of Minnesota, AIHA, ATS, ECETOC-sponsored committees and work groups. In 2023, Dr. Roy started his own consulting firm, Northland Toxicology Consultants, LLC, that focuses on providing toxicology services/support for the industrial chemical, consumer product, pharmaceutical and medical device sectors.

Katie Sokolowski, PhD, DABT

Dr. Sokolowski is a Principal Toxicologist at Denali Therapeutics. She has six years of experience in drug regulation as a senior toxicologist in the Division of Pharmacology/Toxicology for Neuroscience supporting the Clinical Division of Anesthesia, Addiction Medicine, and Pain Medicine (DAAP) in the Center for Drug Development and Research (CDER). She is an active member of the Neurotoxicity Assessment Subcommittee and the Extractable and Leachable Subcommittee at CDER, spearheaded the intramural DABT study group at FDA, and developed lectures for the Education Subcommittee of the Pharmacology/Toxicology Coordinating Committee. She is a member of the Society of Toxicology (SOT), the American College of Toxicology (ACT), and the Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP). Within ACT, she is a member of the Early Career Professionals and co-chaired symposium, workshops, and continuing education courses. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Neuroscience at Children’s National Medical System, Washington, DC, holds a PhD in toxicology from the Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology (JGPT), Rutgers University/UMDNJ, and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology.