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Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health

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The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (also referred to as the Advisory Board or the Board) was established by the President on December 7, 2000. The Advisory Board:

  • Contains individuals from the public that represent a balance of scientific, medical, and worker points of view.

  • Gives advice to the Department of Health and Human Services on its activities under the Act.

  • Includes a balance of perspectives from scientists, physicians, and workers.

The Advisory Board operates under the specific guidelines of public laws. The specific information on how the Advisory Board operates can be found in:

Responsibilities

The Advisory Board provides advice to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on:

  1. The development of the final rules on:

    • The methods used for completing radiation dose reconstructions.

    • The guidelines used to assess the likelihood that an employee’s cancer was caused by their work at a DOE or AWE facility.

    • The procedures for adding additional classes of employees to the SEC.

  2. The scientific validity and quality of dose reconstruction efforts performed by NIOSH.

  3. Whether there is a class of employees who should be added to the SEC. The Advisory Board’s recommendation is based on:

    • Whether the class of employees was exposed to radiation and it is not feasible to estimate their radiation dose.

    • Whether there is reasonable likelihood that such radiation doses may have endangered the health of members of the class.

Members

  • Rashaun Roberts, Ph.D.
    Designated Federal Officer
    Research Psychologist
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
    Cincinnati, OH

    Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement [354 KB (3 pages)]

  • Henry A. Anderson, M.D. (Chair)
    Chief Medical Officer, Occupational and Environmental Health
    Wisconsin Division of Public Health (Madison)
    Department of Health and Family Services
    Madison, WI

    Dr. Henry Anderson received his MD degree from the University of Wisconsin Medical School in 1972. He was certified in 1977 by the American Board of Preventive Medicine with a sub-specialty in occupational and environmental medicine and in 1983 became a fellow of the American College of Epidemiology. In 1980 he joined the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services as the Wisconsin State Environmental and Occupational Disease Epidemiologist. In 1991 he also assumed the duties of Chief Medical Officer. In July 2008 he was appointed Interim Wisconsin State Health Officer and served in that capacity until January 2009 at which time he returned to his Chief Medical Officer and State Epidemiologist duties. Since 1980 he has held adjunct Professorships at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Department of Population Health Sciences and the UW Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, Center for Human Studies. He has published over 230 scientific articles on a broad spectrum of environmental, occupational and public health topics. He is the past chair of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Board of Scientific Counselors.

    Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement [13 KB (1 page)]

  • Melsa Josie Beach
    Nuclear Chemical Operator (Retired)
    Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS)
    Richland, WA

    Ms. Josie Beach is a Nuclear Chemical Operator with 20 years of experience at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. She started her Hanford career in 1987, at the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) as an active participant in the plants final plutonium production campaign. In 1994, Ms. Beach became involved in the worker trainer worker program instructing and developing Health and Safety classes. Ms. Beach currently works for CH2M Hill in the Tank Farms waste operations group and is a member of the United Steel Workers Union Local 12-369.

    Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement [110 KB (2 pages)]

  • Bradley P. Clawson
    Senior Operator Nuclear Fuel Handling (Retired)
    Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
    Idaho National Laboratory
    Idaho Falls, Idaho

    Mr. Clawson has been a Senior Operator in the Spent Nuclear fuels program at the Idaho National Laboratory since 1989. He has been involved in the shipping and receiving of the Nuclear Naval fuels, the recovery and storage of the Three Mile Island fuel, and received and stored Foreign Research Reactor fuels, as well as numerous other types of nuclear fuels. He also serves as the Nuclear Material Custodian. Mr. Clawson is involved in the troubleshooting and problem solving of daily problems and resolution of fuel handling as well as the design and fabrication of tools for the ongoing inventory of the fuels. He is a member as well as holding several offices in the United Steelworkers Union Local 8-652. Mr. Clawson was the former Secretary-Treasurer of the Atomic Energy Workers Council.

    Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement [15 KB (2 pages)]

  • Arthur L. Frank, M.D., Ph.D.
    Professor of Public Health
    Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
    Drexel University
    Philadelphia, PA

    Dr. Frank received his medical degree at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and trained at The Mount Sinai Hospital in both Internal Medicine and Occupational Medicine. As a career-long academic physician who also has a PhD in Biomedical Sciences Dr. Frank currently serves as a Professor of Public Health and Professor of Medicine at Drexel University. He has served as Principal Investigator on the Department of Energy (DOE) Former Worker Medical (FWP) Screening Program for the Pantex site and has an understanding of the exposure scenarios in DOE facilities based on medical interviews with hundreds of DOE workers. He has experience with EEOICPA as part of his Pantex FWP duties. He has a record of accomplishments in occupational medical practice, teaching, research, professional societies, and community service. He has received many awards and honors. He is an author of over 220 scientific publications.

    Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement [112 KB (2 pages)]

  • James E. Lockey, M.D., M.S.
    Professor Emeritus
    Department of Environmental Health
    University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
    Cincinnati, OH

    Dr. Lockey served as the Director of the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Environmental Health at the University of Cincinnati from 1986 to 2005. Current appointments and activities of Dr. Lockey include Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary Medicine) and Professor Environmental Health (Occupational and Environmental Medicine) University of Cincinnati; Member of the Expert Panel of Fernald II Worker Settlement Fund; Member of United Auto Workers – GM and United Auto Workers – Delphi Occupational Health Advisory Boards.

    Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement [14 KB (2 pages)]

  • Nicole E. Martinez, Ph.D.
    Joint Faculty
    Clemson University and The Center for Radiation Protection Knowledge
    Oak Ridge National Laboratory
    Oak Ridge, TN

    Dr. Martinez is an Associate Professor at Clemson University and holds a Joint Faculty Appointment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She was formerly an officer in the US Navy during which time she was a nuclear power instructor and radiation health officer. She is a Certified Health Physicist and serves on the International Commission of Radiological Protection and National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. Dr. Martinez’s current research focuses on dosimetric modeling and the behavior and effects of environmental contaminants. Her experience in different areas of radiation protection and risk assessment gives her an appreciation of the difficulties that can encountered in the Board’s deliberations.

    Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement [112 KB (1 page)]

  • David Pompa
    Nuclear Weapons Worker and Union Representative (Retired)
    Past President/Chairperson Amarillo Health Consortium
    Pantex Plant
    Amarillo, TX

    Mr. Pompa worked at the United States Department of Energy’s Pantex Plant from March 1980 up until his official retirement in June 2021. Mr. Pompa possesses over 41 years of unique nuclear worker’s experience, expertise, and perspective from his various job assignments at the Pantex Plant. He was a long-time and well-respected Union representative during his career at the Pantex Plant. In this role, Mr. Pompa represented workers on a wide variety of issues including complex safety and health matters. Mr. Pompa was President/Chairperson for the Amarillo Health Consortium, an initiative that focused on assisting current and former nuclear workers with their health issues.

    Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement [174 KB (2 pages)]

  • Carmela Loretta R. Valerio
    (Ombudsman)
    Director
    Office of Nuclear Workers’ Advocacy
    State of New Mexico, Environment Department
    Santa Fe, NM

    Ms. Valerio has served as an Ombudsman assisting New Mexico claimants under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) since 2007. Appointed by Governor Bill Richardson, Ms. Valerio has intervened to expedite and improve the claims adjudication for hundreds of EEOICPA claimants. Ms. Valerio was appointed to this position after seven years of contractor work as a local caseworker and outreach staff for the U.S. Department of Labor administering EEOICPA. Earlier in her career, Ms. Valerio was a contractor employee at Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the major Department of Energy nuclear weapons sites, where she was involved in the administration of safety related operations, training and communications at the site.

    Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement [112 KB (2 pages)]

  • Paul L. Ziemer, Ph.D.
    Professor Emeritus
    School of Health Sciences
    Purdue University
    West Lafayette, Indiana

    Dr. Paul Ziemer is Professor Emeritus and former Head of the School of Health Sciences at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. From 1990 to 1993, Dr. Ziemer served as the Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safety, and Health during the Bush Administration. From 1995-2001, Dr. Ziemer was a consultant for the Advanced Technologies and Laboratories, Inc., and served as Chairman of the Board from 1999-2001. He earlier served as a Health Physicist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a Radiological Physics Fellow at Vanderbilt University, and a physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. He is a Certified Health Physicist and has been President of the Health Physics Society and of the American Academy of Health Physics. He has also served a term as a member of the American Board of Health Physics. Dr. Ziemer currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (Hiroshima, Japan) and as a member of the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board of the National Academy of Sciences.

    Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement [15 KB (2 pages)]

Previous Designated Federal Officials

  • Ted Katz (2008-2020)

  • Christine Branch (2008-2008)

  • Lew Wade (2005-2008)

  • Larry Elliott (2002-2005)

Previous Advisory Board Members

  • Henry Anderson (2002-2006)

  • Antonio Andrade (2002-2005)

  • Victoria A. Cassano, M.D., M.P.H. (2022-2023)

  • Roy DeHart (2002-2006)

  • Richard Espinosa (2002-2006)

  • R. William Field, Ph.D., M.S. (2009-2022)

  • Sally Gadola (2002-2002)

  • Michael H. Gibson (2002-2012)

  • Mark Griffin (2002-2014)

  • David Kotelchuck, Ph.D., M.P.H., C.I.H. (2012-2024)

  • Richard A. Lemen, Ph.D., M.S.P.H. (2009-2018)

  • James Malcolm Melius, M.D., Dr. P.H. (2001-2017)

  • Wanda I. Munn (2002-2018)

  • Charles Leon Owens (2002-2006)

  • John W. Poston, Sr. (2005-2018)

  • Robert W. Presley (2001-2011)

  • David B. Richardson, Ph.D. (2009-2022)

  • Genevieve S. Roessler, Ph.D. (2002-2023)

  • Phillip Schofield (2007-2022)

Advisory Board Member Tributes

Members of the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health and NIOSH wish to pay tribute to past members for their exceptional service.

David Kotelchuck, Ph.D., M.P.H., C.I.H. (2012-2024)
Genevieve S. Roessler, Ph.D. (2002-2023)
R. William Field, Ph.D., M.S., (2009-2022)
Phillip Schofield (2007-2022)
David B. Richardson, Ph.D. (2009-2022)
Wanda I. Munn (2002-2018) and John W. Poston Sr., (2005-2018)

Contact

The Advisory Board welcomes written comments from claimants, advocates, energy employees, Congressional offices, and the general public. Please send comments to the Advisory Board’s Designated Federal Officer, Dr. Rashaun Roberts, by fax to 513-533-6826 or by e-mail to dcas@cdc.gov.