Robert H. Donkers has been counselor for environmental affairs at the European Commission Delegation in Washington DC since October 18, 2003.  From April 1999 until his current appointment, he served as deputy head and head of the Chemicals Unit in the Directorate General Environment in Brussels, where his responsibilities included coordinating the development of a new EU chemical policy and legislative framework (aka REACH).  He was also the chief EU negotiator on the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS).  Before joining the Commission in 1990, Mr. Donkers held several positions in the Dutch administration including deputy director for International Environmental Affairs in the Environment Ministry and EU environment counselor for the Netherlands in Bruessels.  He holds a master’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in public and international law from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Henry Falk, MD, MPH, serves as director, Coordinating Center for Environmental Health and Injury Prevention (CCEHIP), at one of four Coordinating Centers at CDC. Prior to becoming director of CCEHIP, he served as director for both the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) from 2003, when these two entities consolidated to form NCEH/ATSDR, until February, 2004.While at NCEH, Dr. Falk led the center's national effort to prevent and control environment-related diseases, illness, and deaths. He also served NCEH for 14 years as director of the Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects. At ATSDR, which was created by the 1980 Superfund legislation, Dr. Falk led the federal agency, whose mission is to protect public health from hazardous releases of toxic substances from 1999 to February 2005.His work includes contributions to the federal responses to Three-Mile Island, Mount St. Helens, Hurricanes Hugo and Andrew, and the September 11th attacks. During the 1980's, Dr. Falk was instrumental in developing the injury prevention programs at CDC. He has also authored or coauthored more than 100 publications in a variety of subjects, including vinyl chloride-induced liver cancer, prevention of lead poisoning, and the health effects of environmental hazards.Doctor Falk earned his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1968. He received a master's degree from the Harvard School of Public Health in 1976, and he is board-certified in pediatrics, public health, and general preventive medicine.

Lonnie King, Ph.D. was appointed dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, effective July 1, 1996, and became the college's 11th dean since it was established by the Michigan legislature in 1910. As dean, he is the chief executive officer for academic programs, research, the teaching hospital, diagnostic center for population and animal health, basic and clinical science departments, and the outreach and continuing education programs. He has brought the Center for Integrative Toxicology to the college and is a designated leader for counter-bioterrorism activities at the college and is involved in re-establishing public health programs at Michigan State University. Prior to this, Dr. King was Administrator for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), U.S. Department of Agriculture, inWashington, DC. Before beginning his government career in 1977, Dr. King was in private veterinary practice for seven years in Dayton, Ohio, and Atlanta, Georgia. As a native of Wooster, Ohio , Dr. King received his Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees from The Ohio State University in 1966 and 1970, respectively. He earned his Master of Science degree in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota while on special assignment with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1980. He also received his master's degree in public administration from American University in Washington, DC in 1991. Dr. King has a broad knowledge of animal agriculture and the veterinary profession through his work with other governmental agencies, universities, major livestock and poultry groups, and private practitioners.    

Floyd J. Malveaux, MD, PhD is the Executive Director of the Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc. (MCAN). Dr. Malveaux is a nationally recognized expert on asthma and allergic diseases and the former Dean of the College of Medicine and Professor of Microbiology and Medicine at Howard University. Dr. Malveaux led Howard’s participation in several multi-million dollar initiatives to identify and address risk factors that contribute to increased asthma morbidity among inner-city children and to develop effective, community-based interventions to reduce and prevent asthma among at-risk populations. In addition, Malveaux has worked extensively to address health disparities and improve the quality of health care and health outcomes, especially among low-income, urban and underserved populations. Dr. Malveaux is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, fellow of the American College of Physicians and of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. He is active in numerous professional organizations and is, or has served as, a member of the Board of Directors of the American Lung Association; the National Allergy and Infectious Diseases Advisory Council; chairman of the Committee of Underrepresented Minorities, American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology; the Board of Trustees of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health; and the HHS/APHA Steering Committed of the Initiative to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. He has held a number of positions with the National Medical Association including member of the Board of Trustees (1988 – 1994) and was first chair of the Allergy/Immunology Section. Dr. Malveaux was founder and president of the Urban Asthma and Allegory Center in Baltimore from 1986 to 1989.  Dr. Malveaux is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health, the Vivian B. Allen Foundation Fellowship, the Clemens von Pirquet Research Award from the Georgetown School of Medicine, the Outstanding Faculty Research Award from Howard University and the Legacy of Leadership Award from Howard University Hospital.

Marguerite Pappaioanou, DVM, Ph.D., is a Professor, Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, Joint Appointment, College of Veterinary Medicine, at University of Minnesota.  Her research interests include: Developing a program of research and teaching in infectious diseases, with an emphasis on emerging zoonotic infectious diseases, in collaboration with the School of Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, other relevant university colleges and departments, the Minnesota Department of Health, and other partners.  She earned her B.Sc. at Michigan State University, Lansing, MI; her D.V.M. at Michigan State University, Lansing, MI; her M.P.V.M. (Masters in Preventive Veterinary Medicine), University of California, Davis, CA; and her Ph.D. (Comparative Pathology: Major in Epidemiology, Minor in Medical Statistics and Parasitology), University of California, Davis, CA.

Mark Pokras, DVM,  is on the Executive Committee, Consortium for Conservation Medicine, based at Wildlife Trust, an Associate Professor, and Director of the Wildlife Clinic and Center for Conservation Medicine, Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine, Massachusetts.  Dr. Mark Pokras has worked in ornithology, marine biology and environmental conservation before graduating from Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine in Massachussetts.  He has been recognized for his work in education, wildlife rehabilitation, and wildlife health, and has been published extensively in these areas.  As a cofounder of the Center for Conservation Medicine, Dr. Pokras is strongly committed to building cross-disciplinary research and educational bridges to address health and conservation issues.  His research interests include surgical anatomy of birds and reptiles, wildlife as indicators of environmental health, and clinical uses of allometric scaling.

Dr. Denise Reed, Ph.D. is a professor at University of New Orleans.  Her research focuses on various aspects of sediment dynamics in coastal wetlands, with emphasis on sediment mobilization and marsh hydrology, both natural and altered, as factors controlling sediment deposition. She has participated in numerous research projects concerning marsh and estuarine sediment dynamics on the Gulf and Pacific coasts of the US as well as in Europe and South America. She has also worked closely with the development of restoration plans in for coastal Louisiana for the last 5 years. She moved to the Department of Geology at the University of New Orleans in 1998 and current research includes sediment dynamics and restoration in Louisiana, the Columbia River estuary and the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta.  Dr. Reed earned her  B.A. in Geography at University of Cambridge, England, 1980 and her Ph.D. in Geography at the University of Cambridge, England.  

Barbara Smisko has twenty years of experience in environmental, health and safety and is the Director of National Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S) at Kaiser Permanente.  Her areas of expertise include environmental management, injury and illness prevention and management, industrial hygiene management, EH&S training and recruiting.  In her role as Director NEH&S, Barbara is responsible for Environmental Stewardship.  Prior to Kaiser Permanente, Barbara was hired as part of the first Corporate Environmental Safety department at United Airlines, where she was a Senior Staff Representative - Environmental Compliance.  Prior to United Airlines, Barbara worked in consulting for six years, first with IT Corporation, coordinating their regional EH&S Training programs, and then with ENSR Consulting and Engineering as a project manager.  She has an M.S. in Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco, an M.S. in Education from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and a B.S. in Education from Southern Illinois University, complemented by a Certificate of Hazardous Material Management from the University of California.  Barbara is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Professional in Disability Management (CPDM), Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), Certified Professional In Healthcare Risk Management (CPHRM) and a Certified Healthcare Environmental Manager (HEM).