Toxicology and Safety Evaluation Division
Officer Candidate Biographies
2003

Chair-Elect:

Nancy Rachman, Ph.D.

Nancy J. Rachman is a Principal Scientist in Exponent's Food and Chemicals practice and is based in Washington, D.C. Dr. Rachman has nearly 20 years of corporate and consulting experience in risk assessment and regulatory affairs. Dr. Rachman has worked on matters relating to products of biotechnology, food ingredients, additives and contaminants, dietary supplements, naturally occurring substances, pathogens, pesticides, and water. Her regulatory experience includes the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act; the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; the Food Quality Protection Act; California's Proposition 65; and various environmental statutes including the Toxic Substances Control Act, Superfund and the Endangered Species Act. Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Rachman was Assistant Vice President for Global Regulatory Affairs of American Cyanamid Company's Agricultural Products Division.

Ph.D., Biology (Neurophysiology and Behavior), Princeton University, 1979 M.S., Zoology, Rutgers University, 1971 B.A., Psychology, New York University (cum laude), 1969

Phi Beta Kappa

Experience Directed the development of risk assessment approaches for direct and indirect food additives, including an antibiotic resistance marker used in the production of a genetically modified food, as well as impurities and contaminants in foods and dietary supplements. Assessed potential exposures and compliance with California Proposition 65 warning labeling requirements, for agricultural chemicals, building materials, cleaning products, consumer and personal care products, food ingredients and impurities, industrial chemicals and paints. Advised on regulatory strategies and managed the preparation of petitions and Notifications for direct and indirect food additives and medical foods, and evaluations of the scientific literature to support Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) determinations for additives and ingredients, including, for example, nutraceuticals, preservatives, and probiotics. Designed and implemented a risk-based corporate environmental management program for a US-based multinational producer of fresh and processed foods. The company's agricultural production operations subsequently achieved ISO 14001 certification. Analyzed the potential risks posed by pesticides used by a major food conglomerate to workers, residents in communities adjacent to production operations, and consumers. Evaluated the regulatory vulnerability of current EPA-registered products of a chemical company targeted for acquisition, and estimated the potential costs to achieve premarket approval of the company's key new R&D leads.

Expert Panels National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2000-2002, Technical Advisory Committee for development of EPA's Aggregate and Cumulative Exposure and Risk Assessment Model (Lifeline™ Project), 1999, EPA-USDA Tolerance Reassessment Advisory Committee (TRAC), a multistakeholder group advising the agencies on implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), 1997-1999

Professional Affiliations American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Chemical Society, American Public Health Association, Institute of Food Technologists, International Association for Food Protection, Society for Risk Analysis

Secretary-Treasurer:

Julie A. Nordlee, M.S.

Julie Nordlee is a Professional Member of IFT and a member of the TaSED since 1988. She is a Clinical Studies Coordinator in the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Nebraska Department of Food Science and Technology and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and the University of Nebraska. She served on the TaSED Executive Committee from 1993-1996 and organized the division Graduate Paper Competition, begun in 1997 - she also serves as the Graduate Paper Chair for the Competition. Julie has served as the TaSED's representative to the Technical Program Subcommittee for the past 7 years and has been the Secretary/Treasurer of TaSED for 4 years.

Executive Members-At-Large:

George Burdock, Ph.D.

George A. Burdock, Ph.D. is a principal in the toxicology consulting firm, Burdock Group, located in Vero Beach, Florida. Dr. Burdock is an internationally recognized authority on the safety of food ingredients, personal care products and dietary supplements. He has more than 20 years of experience dealing with regulatory issues related to product safety and risk assessment. He has over forty publications in scientific journals and has published three books, two editions of Fenaroli's Handbook of Flavor Ingredients and the Encyclopedia of Food and Color Additives. He is co-author of the chapter "Food Toxicology" in the current edition of Casarett and Doull's textbook "Toxicology." He is also author of the chapter "Flavor Regulation" in the second edition of "Nutritional Toxicology" in the Target Organ Toxicology Series. His is the author of "Status and safety assessment of foods and food ingredients produced by genetically modified microorganisms," in the second edition of Biotechnology and Safety Assessment. His experience includes Director of Scientific Affairs for the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers' Association (FEMA). Dr. Burdock is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology and a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, the Society for Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, the Society of Toxicology (Associate Member), the American College of Toxicology, the American College of Nutrition and the Institute of Food Technologists.

Lauren Jackson, Ph.D.

Dr. Lauren Jackson is a Research Food Technologist at the Food and Drug Administration/National Center for Food Safety and Technology (FDA/NCFST) located in Summit-Argo, IL. Dr. Jackson received her B.S. in Food Science from Cornell University in 1984 and her M.S. (1986) and Ph.D. (1990), both in Food Science, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since joining the FDA/NCFST in 1991, she has authored/co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed publications and six book chapters. Dr. Jackson has organized/chaired four symposia at American Chemical Society national meetings, organized workshops for the NCFST and served as editor for three books in the area of food chemistry.

Dr. Jackson's area of expertise is on processing and its effects on food constituents and chemical contaminants. Her main focus has been on understanding the effects of processing on the formation and destruction/removal of natural toxins, such as mycotoxins, and chemical contaminants, such as heterocyclic aromatic amines, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and acrylamide, in food. Dr. Jackson's work on heterocyclic aromatic amines and mycotoxins resulted in her receiving the American Chemical Society Young Scientist Award and the FDA Outstanding Achievement Award, in 1998 and 1999, respectively. Dr. Jackson is actively involved in several committees for the American Chemical Society/Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and also serves as a committee member for the USDA NC-213. She is also a member of the AOAC Presidential Task Force on Food Allergens and is an active member of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) and IFT.

Heather Koshinsky, Ph.D.

Heather Koshinsky is the CEO of Investigen, a small biotechnology company in the San Francisco Bay Area that develops products for the detection and identification of microorganisms including food and water borne pathogens. Her Ph.D. was obtained in 1994 and focused on determining the mechanism of action of the trichothecene T-2 toxin. Dr. Koshinsky's academic and business experience make her very well suited to help the Toxicology and Food Safety Division meet it's objectives. Under Dr. Koshinsky the team at Investigen has developed a service for the detection of genetically modified content in food, feed and commodities and 7 completed products to date. She is active in the review, critique and advice through all stages of research and development. This experience will assist the Division in meeting its objectives of identifying, stimulating research, and presenting, discussing and evaluating the results of the research in areas of concern. As a Board Member of ACET, a non-profit incubator of biotechnology companies, she supervises and assists biotechnology companies in developing their products and becoming profitable. This experience will assist the Division in focusing on the most efficient path to meeting its objectives. As an Assistant Professor at the Department of Applied Microbiology and Food Science, at the University of Saskatchewan, Heather amended the curriculum of many classes to include sections on biotechnology. This experience will assist the Division in meeting its objectives of establishing criteria for education in food toxicology and in designing a food safety and toxicology curriculum. Dr. Koshinsky speaks publicly on issues of biotechnology. In running Investigen Dr. Koshinsky regularly brings together groups of advisors for discussion. Dr. Koshinsky is on the Advisory Board of BioTechnicaAmerica 2003 and assists them with planning and execution of this large meeting. These experiences will assist the Division in meeting its objective of developing programs, symposia and roundtables on special topics and to update member awareness. Dr. Koshinsky obtained a Ph.D. in Applied Microbiology from University of Saskatchewan, and a Certificate of Business Administration from University of California, Berkeley Extension.

I hope that this brief description will demonstrate that I have the skills and experience to help the Toxicology and Food Safety Division meet its objectives. While the description is very business-focused teaching is one of my great passions. I look forward to the opportunity to serve you, the TaSED, and IFT.

Lucyna Kurtyka

Lucyna Kurtyka joined ILSI in July 2000 as Senior Science Program Manger, where she manages projects related to the development, distribution, and safety of foods produced by modern biotechnology (undertaken by the ILSI International Food Biotechnology Committee) and projects focusing on natural toxins and pesticide residues in foods (undertaken by the ILSI N.A. Technical Committee on Food Toxicology and Safety Assessment). She has closely collaborated with ILSI branches, scientists from regulatory agencies from around the world and from scientific organizations in organizing a series of training and educational workshops in Asia and Latin America related to safety assessment, and sampling and detection methods of biotechnology-derived foods.

Lucyna has been working with volunteer scientific committees for over ten years. Before joining ILSI, Lucyna worked as Research Associate and then as Program Officer at the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council's Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources. She managed projects within the area of food and fiber system, agricultural research, natural resource management, and international trade and economics. Prior to that, Lucyna oversaw a USAID-funded program of advanced enterprise and economic development that focused on small and medium-sized businesses in Russia, including projects conducted in agricultural sector concentrating on improving technology, production, and marketing systems. For four years, Lucyna managed the Official Methods Program at the AOAC International. There, she oversaw the validation and approval process for analytical methods published in the Official Methods of Analysis that served as standards for regulatory purposes in areas such as food safety, nutrition, agricultural commodities, pesticides, and environmental quality. She interacted with many international organizations, such as Codex, International Dairy Federation (IDF), Nordic Committee on Food Analysis (NMKL), Collaborative International Pesticides Analytical Council (CIPAC), and ISO, to facilitate international methods adoption, harmonization of standards, protocols and procedure affecting analytical laboratories.

Lucyna holds an M.S. degree in food technology from the Agricultural University in Krakow, Poland. She and her husband, Bogdan, have been living in the United States since November 1988.