Tim Barton
Director of Research Safety, University of Tennessee
Mr. Barton is the current chair of the Board of Directors. He received a Bachelor of Science in
Environmental Sciences from the University of Massachusetts, at Amherst, and Master of Science
degrees in both Secondary Education and Environmental and Occupational Health Science. He is a
Certified Industrial Hygienist and Certified Safety Professional.
Mr. Barton is the Chief Safety Officer and Director of Research Safety Affairs at the University of
Tennessee Health Science Center. Prior to that he was at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the
New York University Langone Medical Center. His experience also includes environmental consulting,
work as an environmental laboratory technician, and a experience as a high school science teacher
covering classes in chemistry, biology and forensic science. He is a member of the Campus Safety Health
and Environmental Management Association (CSHEMA) and American Industrial Hygiene Association
(AIHA) and is past President of the Midsouth Local Section of the AIHA.
Janet Baum
Program Co-Director, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Born in Chicago, IL
Professional Lab Design Experience:
Author of 10 major peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals
Co-author and Contributor to 18 published books on laboratory health, safety, and design.
Lab design consultant
HERA Lab Planners, Inc. Founder and Principal, St. Louis, MO
HOK, Inc., Senior Vice President and Global Director of Science and Technology Facilities, St. Louis, MO
Payette Associates, Inc., Principal, Boston, MA
Harvard University, School of Medicine, Facilities Planning Department, Laboratory Architect
Education Experience:
Harvard University, School of Public Health, Dept EPCE, Program Co-Director, and Instructor
Washington University in St. Louis, Graduate School of Architecture, Lecturer
Architect Registrations: NCARB
8 state registrations
Lou DiBerardinis
Director, Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) MIT Office
Mr. DiBerardinis received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University and a Master of Science Degree in Industrial Hygiene from Harvard University. He is a Certified Industrial Hygienist and Certified Safety Professional .
Mr. DiBerardinis is the Director, Environment, Health and Safety at MIT. Prior to that he was at Polaroid Corporation and Harvard University .
Mr. DiBerardinis is a visiting lecturer at Harvard University School of Public Health where he currently teaches in several graduate courses and continuing education programs. He is the author of numerous technical publications and co-authored the text “Guidelines for Laboratory Design: Health and Safety Considerations” and is editor of the "Handbook of Occupational Safety and Health", both published by John Wiley and Sons. He served as chair of the ANSI Z9.5 subcommittee on Laboratory Ventilation from 1984 to 2006.
Christina McKeon
EHS Manager, Boston Museum of Science
● Accomplished EH&S professional with experience in corporate, nonprofit, research, manufacturing, facility construction, start-ups, all levels of academia, and government agencies within North America and abroad.
● Provide Federal, State and local safety and environmental plan development, employer/employee
instruction, safety audits/inspections.
● Strategic leader with proven track record of building and leading effective safety teams, driving
change initiatives, and implementing EH&S and Sustainability strategies.
● Known for dynamically facilitating both small and large groups, simplifying the complex and tailoring
presentations to the participant’s learning styles.
Specialties: Safety Training - Lab Safety, Chemical Hygiene Officer/OSHA Lab Standard, Lab Waste Management, HazWOPER, Effective Program Planning, Biosafety, Leadership in Safety and MORE. Safety Consultation - Audits, Inspections, Program Development, Regulatory Compliance, Lab Facility Design & Construction.
Jaclyn Graves
Northeast Regional EHS Manager, Verativ
Jaclyn served as the director of risk management at McDaniels College in Maryland for many years before becoming the northeast regional EHS manager for Verativ. She is very active as the chair of the LSI communications committee.
Anne Hawkins-Badge
Doctor of Health Science, Montcalm Community College, Industrial Safety Faculty
Anne Hawkinsbadge, DHSc is the Assistant Director of EHS at CITI Program. She focuses on developing content related to environmental, health, and safety practices and compliance.
She received her doctorate in Health Science from Nova Southeastern University, her MSPH in industrial hygiene, and graduate certificate in disaster management from Tulane University, her MA in public health from Central Michigan University, her BS in mechanical engineering technology, and her BS in biochemistry from Saginaw Valley State University. She is a certified safety professional, certified healthcare safety professional, certified healthcare emergency professional, and a chemist with the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. Her EHS experience over the past 20 years includes positions in automotive manufacturing, healthcare, academic, insurance, chemical manufacturing, and pharmaceutical. She has been a volunteer member of the LSI Board of Directors for the past three years.
Sara Johnson
HSE Advisor, AkzoNobel
Jim Kaufman Ph.D.
VP Education, Laboratory Safety Institute
Dr. Kaufman has retired from his position as Professor of Chemistry at Curry College near Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to Curry, he was a research chemist at Dow Chemical. While there, he became increasingly involved in lab safety activities and authored Laboratory Safety Guidelines, which has become the world's most widely distributed lab safety publication. Dr. Kaufman is regarded as the nation's foremost authority on safety instruction in academia. He is the author-narrator of the ACS Audio Course on Laboratory Safety and Editor of Waste Disposal in Academic Institutions, Lewis Publishers, as well as the "One-Day Lab Safety Audio Seminar" and "Two-Day Lab Video Short Course."
Additionally, Dr. Kaufman is a past chair of the International Council for Associations of Science Education (ICASE), Committee on Safety in Science Education.
Smitha Rayadurg
Biosafety Officer, University of Arkansas
Smitha Rayadurg has hands-on experience with biosafety program management (BSL2 & BSL3), export control compliance and veterinary medicine. She developed training modules for biosafety, lab safety, and animal biosafety (BSL1, BSL2, BSL3, animal biosafety & export control compliance), which were presented to a wide spectrum of personnel from principal investigators to housekeeping. Inspected for BSL2 & BSL3 labs and labs that work with select agents and toxins.
Specialties:
- BSL3/ABSL3 operations and Program management.
- Risk Assessment in the areas of Biosafety, Biocontainment, Biosecurity, Animal Biosafety, Chemical Safety, Radiation Safety, Industrial Hygiene, Occupational Health & Export control.
- Biomedical Research protocol review (IBC, Human Gene Therapy, IACUC, IRB, & Export control) for regulatory compliance for Infectious diseases, Recombinant/Synthetic nucleic acids, Select agents, Dual-use potential, Clinical Trials & Human Gene Therapy.
- Research experience in Molecular biology, Microbiology, Epidemiology & Diagnostics of a Zoonotic Parasitic disease, and Amino Acid Nutrition.
- Teaching experience: Biological Science subjects (Human Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Clinical Nutrition, Biotechnology, Molecular Biology - lectures & lab).
Roser Rovira
EHS Site Manager, Merck
Roser Rovira received a Master in Organic Chemistry from the Universitat de Barcelona and a Master in Health and Safety from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Roser Rovira is the EHS Site Manager at the Merck Cambridge site in Massachusetts. Prior to that she was EHS Officer at Wellesley College and EHS Director at a multi-site company in Barcelona. Her experience also includes content creator at Johns Hopkins CTY and interpreter at Boston Children's Hospital. She writes Children's books to fight Ageism.
Catherine Situma, Ph.D.
Manager, Safety & Health, Auburn University
Nathan Watson
President & CEO, SciShield
Nathan Watson is the President and Chief Executive Officer of SciShield, a provider of integrated safety and research management software solutions. Prior to founding SciShield in 2003, he spent twelve years as a bench researcher and laboratory supervisor at the University of California San Francisco and Dartmouth Medical School studying the molecular underpinnings of cellular differentiation and metabolism of brain tumors. He serves on the Board of Directors of The Laboratory Safety Institute and the UC Center for Laboratory Safety.
Mr. Watson currently serves as Treasurer of the Board of Directors for the Laboratory Safety Institute.
Advisors
W. H. (Jack) Breazeale Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, Francis Marion University, Florence, SC
Dr. W. H. (Jack) Breazeale was the chair of the chemistry and physics department at Francis Marion University for almost 30 years. At Francis Marion, he made health and safety an integral and important part of science education. On retiring and moving to Charleston, he taught chemistry part-time at the College of Charleston.
Dr. Breazeale is a past chair of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Chemical Health and Safety, and the Board - Council Committee on Chemical Safety. He is a past chair of the ACS National Chemistry Week Committee, a member of the ACS Committee on Committees, and a member of the ACS Insurance Board.
He is also a member of the Laboratory Safety Institute’s (LSI) Board of Directors. He is an excellent presenter/teacher and has been a senior instructor on the institute’s faculty for 16 years.