DOE Human Subjects Protection Program
Supporting Personnel
The Human Subjects Protection Program management team also relies on the following personnel who work throughout the DOE system in support of the program.
Denise Viator
Project Manager, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE)
Denise Viator brings 25+ years of experience managing networks involved in training, ethics, regulations, health and communication for various federal agencies, including several Department of Energy (DOE) headquarters offices. Viator took on the role of providing technical assistance to the Office of Science in 2001. Since becoming part of the Human Subjects Program, Viator has helped develop From Paper to People: After IRB Approval of Research Studies; the DOE Human Subjects Protection Resource Book; and the Human Subjects Protection poster. She has also managed multiple workshops, task teams/working groups, and networking meetings for DOE Laboratories Institutional Review Board members.
Donald Watkins
DOE Human Subjects Research Database Manager, ORISE
Don Watkins is manager of the Human Subjects Research Database at ORISE. In that capacity he is responsible for assembling the annual project information updates, reviews, and installation of the yearly updates into the DOE Web site. Other responsibilities include various research activities over the past eight years in the areas of human deception detection, personnel security, and human reliability. Watkins holds a Ph.D. in engineering and degrees from several universities.
Gloria Caton
Human Subjects Newsletter Editor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Gloria Caton has for eight years been managing editor of the DOE Protecting Human Subjects newsletter. The newsletter reports on emerging bioethical issues and regulatory changes important to both DOE and the human subjects community. Caton, who has been a member of the DOE Human Subjects Working Group since 1999, earned a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry at Iowa State University. During the 30 years she has been associated with DOE, Caton has worked on programs involving acid rain, energy R&D, coal R&D, metals and ceramics, radon, and human research protection. For more than 10 years, she has also been associated with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in information resources and has also worked with the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation.
Charles Pietri
Consultant, HITECH Consultants
An original member of the Human Subjects Working Group (HSWG) in the mid-1980s, Pietri remains instrumental in the HSWG as an advisor on DOE policies as well as human subjects research in general. His professional background is in nuclear analytical chemistry research and development and has worked at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Savannah River Site, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the DOE New Brunswick Laboratory currently located at the Argonne National Laboratory site. Among other professional activities Pietri is Deputy US Advisor for the International Standards Organization (ISO) Working Group on Analytical Methodology in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle and is Technical Program Chairman for the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM). Having worked as assistant director for operations at DOE’s New Brunswick Laboratory, and as the science administrator and manager for institutional programs at DOE’s Chicago Operations Office, Pietri brings both DOE experience and an invaluable understanding of the topic from his experience as a researcher.
Betsy Ellis
IRB Chair, Oak Ridge Associated Universities
With over 15 years of experience on an IRB, Betsy Ellis currently serves as Chair of the Oak Ridge Site-wide IRB (ORSIRB) and is a member of the Central Beryllium IRB (CBeIRB). These 2 IRBs are unique to DOE in that both are central IRBs. The ORSIRB reviews all human subjects research that occurs at the 5 DOE sites under the purview of the DOE Oak Ridge Operations Office, and the CBeIRB reviews all research investigating the relationship between human health effects and occupational exposure to beryllium within the DOE complex. She is an active member of the Human Subjects Working Group. Employed at ORAU for over 30 years, Ellis is an associate director of the Center for Epidemiologic Research and has spent her career studying the effects of occupational exposures on the health of the DOE work force. She serves on a task group to the International Commission on Radiation Protection evaluating the need for additional research on health effects resulting from occupational exposure to alpha emitters. She holds a PhD in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina.
Terry Reser
IRB Administrator, Sandia National Laboratories
Terry Reser serves as the Administrator of the Human Studies Board at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and has held that position for the last decade. In this capacity, he functions as the corporate Subject Matter Expert (SME) as well as the corporate Point of Contact (POC) for all issues related to human subject research and the protection of those subjects in research conducted by, for, or at SNL.
Reser holds a bachelor's degree in English/professional writing from the University of New Mexico. He has earned the title of Distinguished Member of the Laboratory Staff, a title reserved for “a few exceptional individuals who have made outstanding contributions in their careers” at Sandia. For the last seven years, he has also been credentialed as a Certified IRB Professional (CIP). In addition to his responsibilities at Sandia, Reser currently sits on two national committees related to human subjects protection within the Department of Energy: the DOE Human Subjects Working Group and the Central Beryllium Institutional Review Board.
Sherry Davis
Private Consultant, formerly Manager of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Human Research Protection Program
Prior to her retirement, Sherry Davis performed a variety of administrative functions during her 32 years with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) including contracts and research administration, and served as manager of the PNNL Human Research Protection Program for 14 years. Under her leadership, PNNL was the first DOE laboratory to achieve accreditation with the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. (AAHRPP). In 1989 she was lead administrator to the director of the Office of Special Projects for the first DOE Tiger Team environmental assessment site visit at Rocky Flats and later helped in the establishment of that office at DOE/HQs. Davis has served in an advisory capacity to the DOE Human Subjects Protection Program management for several years.
Darcy Mallon
Human Subjects Protection Program Administrator, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Darcy Mallon is the Director of the Office of Research Administration (ORA) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL).The ORA is a division of the Director's Office and reports to the Institutional Official for Human Subjects Research and the Institutional Official for Animal Research. The ORA provides administrative support for the Human Subjects Research Program (HSRP) and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Mallon received her B.A. in psychology from State University of New York at Fredonia in 1982 and was among the first group to obtain a Certified Institutional Review Board Professional (CIP) certification in 2000. Mallon has been a member of the DOE Human Subjects Working Group since 1997.
Content reviewed: October 20, 2009