From left to right: Dr.Watson, Dr. Mabury; Dr. Lioy; Dr. Schoof; Dr. Small

From left to right: Dr. Lee; Dr. Baker; Dr. McLachlan; Dr. Kurunthachalam

To see the detail information of peer consultation panel members, please click here.

Description of Initial Process for Nomination and Selection of Scientific Consultation Panel

The procedures for peer consultation panel selection are based on the procedures used by the non-profit scientific and educational corporation, Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) under the Voluntary Children’s Chemical Evaluation Program.  As described here, TERA develops and communicates risk assessment information, sponsors peer reviews and consultations, improves risk methods through research, and educates the public on risk assessment issues.  For scientific reviews,“TERA conducts these scientific peer reviews and consultations in accordance with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) "Final Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review" [1].  TERA’s program also follows the procedures used by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) [2], and the U.S. EPA [3].  These organizations emphasize careful planning, independent selection of appropriate expertise, balanced panels, transparency in process and results, and public participation.” [4]

The Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) will develop a list of potential nominees based on literature searches, professional contacts and referrals, and recommendations from DuPont, EPA, interested stakeholders, and the public. Peer consultation panel members will have recognized scientific expertise in one or more areas relevant to the subject matter under discussion, such as:

• Perfluorinated compound emissions from manufacturing facilities such as the Washington Works
• Measurement of perfluorinated compounds in air, soil, water, biota, and human tissue
• Environmental modeling of perfluorinated compounds in air, soil, water, biota, and human tissue
• Biotransfer of chemicals via food webs

Experience applying these areas of expertise to human exposure assessment is a plus, since the peer consultation panel will be asked to discuss whether potential exposures have been adequately evaluated in the Company’s Assessments and to suggest future data needs. For instructions on how you can propose a nominee for the peer consultation panel, click here.

ITP Administrator Mitchell Small will examine the experience and credentials of all nominees and narrow the list down based on the goal of assembling a peer consultation panel with a range of knowledge, experience, and perspective relevant to reviewing the Company’s Assessments and recommending data needs. Each potential panel member will then be evaluated for potential conflict of interest and bias following procedures described by the National Academy of Sciences [5]. In addition, the ITP Administrator will consider the following criteria when selecting peer consultation panel members:

• Willingness to publicly disclose all potential conflict of interest and bias issues;
• Ability to objectively consider differing viewpoints and work effectively in a panel; and,
• Ability to attend panel meetings and to devote the time and effort required to make meaningful contributions to the panel's discussions and its final report.

Potential panel members will be asked to provide supporting documentation and references for the following:

The ITP Administrator will be responsible for evaluating this information and making decision whether to select a nominee for membership in the peer consultation panel.

____________________________________________________________________________________

For questions about the nomination and selection of the peer consultation panel, contact us at:

Dr. Mitchell J. Small

Email address:
ms35@andrew.cmu.edu

Mailing address:
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Porter Hall 119, Frew Street
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

References:

1. Office of Management and Budget.  Final Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review.  December 2004.  Available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/fy2005/m05-03.pdf.  (Last accessed 04/29/2008).
2. National Academy of Sciences. Policy and Procedures on Committee Composition and Balance and Conflicts of Interest for Committees Used in the Development of Reports. May 2003.  Available at: http://www.nationalacademies.org/coi/index.html.  (Last accessed 04/29/2008)
3. Environmental Protection Agency.  Peer Review Handbook, 2nd Edition.  December 2000.  Available at: www.epa.gov/osa/spc/pdfs/prhandbk.pdf.  (Last accessed 04/29/2008)
4. Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment. TERA Procedures for Panel Selection and Conflict of Interest and Bias. April 2005. Available at http://www.tera.org/peer/COI.html. (Last accessed 04/29/2008)
5. National Academy of Sciences. Policy and Procedures on Committee Composition and Balance and Conflicts of Interest for Committees Used in the Development of Reports. May 2003.  Available at: http://www.nationalacademies.org/coi/index.html.  (Last accessed 04/29/2008)