Kathleen "Katie" G. V. Melville, PhD has an 18-year career working in health, risk, and crisis communication for state, local, and federal public health agencies and serving as consultant on various public health projects. Katie is passionate about supporting those who are interested in pursuing careers in the field of public health. She knows first-hand the challenges and rewards of working in public health and loves to share what she knows with those who are both new and seasoned professionals.

Dr. James is a distinguished leader in public health, toxicology, and environmental toxin detection, with a career spanning academia, federal service, and groundbreaking research. As a Senior Executive Service (SES) – retired member, she served as Deputy and Acting Chief Learning Officer of the Veterans Health Administration, overseeing the training of the largest integrated healthcare network in the United States. Her leadership focused on aligning clinical training with research and policy to improve healthcare delivery, with particular emphasis on women’s health and equity.

Kyle Winkler is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) and Certified Safety Professional (CSP) with extensive experience in occupational safety and health within academic and research settings, specializing in exposure assessments, industrial hygiene, and emergency response. He is actively involved in professional organizations such as the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), regularly contributing to industry conferences and educational sessions. In addition to their responsibilities as an industrial hygienist, Mr.

Dr. Czarny received her MS degree in biotechnology and a PhD in clinical molecular genetics. Her master’s research project was focused on gene response to corticosteroid-induced apoptosis. During her PhD, she was a recipient of the Finnish CIMO scholarship to support her study of genetic changes affecting skeletal development in patients with bone dysplasias at the Department of Biochemistry, Collagen Research Unit, University of Oulu, Finland, in the laboratory of Dr. Leena Ala-Kokko. She completed her post-doctoral training in the laboratories of Dr. Leena Ala-Kokko and Dr.

Dr. Bullock has practiced professionally and held academic and instructional positions for 38 years. His breadth of education, experience, and professional certifications have served the public, industrial, and commercial sectors, in the health, safety, exposure assessment science, and emergency response disciplines.

Dr. Lu Yuan, CSP, is Corporate EHS Manager of Performance Contractors, Inc. Before joining Performance Contractors in December 2023, he was Professor of Occupational Safety, Health, and Environment at Southeastern Louisiana University. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences of the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Dr. Yuan has been extensively involved in occupational ergonomics and safety research in construction and other industrial sectors.

Jeffrey M. Elder, MD serves as the Chief Medical Officer at University Medical Center New Orleans (UMC), New Orleans' Level 1 Trauma Center, where he continues providing medical care as an emergency medicine physician. Dr. Elder also serves Associate Chief Medical Officer for Emergency Management for LCMC Health, an eight-hospital system serving the greater New Orleans area including UMC. He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine in the LSU Health Section of Emergency Medicine and Co-Director of the Division of EMS and Disaster Medicine. Dr.

Aaron Miller, PhD, MPH is currently the Deputy County Manager for Arlington, VA, with oversight responsibility for Public Safety (Public Safety Communications & Emergency Management, Police Department, and Fire Department) and the Department of Technology Services (DTS). In this role, he provides leadership, coordination, and direct oversight for public safety, information technology, and innovation, comprising a total of 1,032 FTEs and $170+ million in annual general fund expenditures, and further serves as a senior member of County leadership team. Dr.

Dr. Jani’s research and practice focuses on the operationalization of science and policy at the nexus of public health, public safety, and medicine (often referred to as heath security).