PLENARY SPEAKERS SNO 2016


Lynn L. BergesonLynn L. Bergeson: Owner of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), Ms. Bergeson has earned an international reputation for her deep and expansive understanding of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), European Union Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), and especially how these regulatory programs pertain to nanotechnology, biotechnology, and other emerging transformative technologies. Her knowledge of and involvement in the policy process allows her to develop client-focused strategies whether advocating before Congress, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or other governance and standard-setting bodies.

Ms. Bergeson counsels corporations, trade associations, and business consortia on a wide range of issues pertaining to chemical hazard, exposure and risk assessment, risk communication, minimizing legal liability, and evolving regulatory and policy matters pertinent to products of conventional, biotechnology, biobased chemicals, nanotechnologies, and other emerging technologies, particularly with respect to TSCA, FIFRA, Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), REACH, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) matters.

According to the 2012 Chambers USA Guide: "The universally highly regarded Lynn Bergeson of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. has a solid reputation in chemical and pesticide regulatory work, with particular expertise in nanotechnology. Peers predict that she is set to become "one of the most important lawyers in America."



Mildred DresselhausMildred Dresselhaus is an Institute Professor at MIT in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Physics. Recent research activities in the Dresselhaus group that have attracted wide attention are in the areas of carbon nanotubes, graphene, and other nanocarbon materials, as well as low-dimensional thermoelectricity. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and has served as Director of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, President of the American Physical Society, Treasurer of the National Academy of Sciences, President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, chair of the U.S. National Academy Decadal Study of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, and on many advisory committees and councils. Dr. Dresselhaus has received numerous awards, including the U.S. National Medal of Science, the Fermi Award, the Kavli Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and 34 honorary doctorates worldwide. She is the co-author of eight books and about 1700 papers primarily on carbon science, and is particularly well known for her work on carbon nanomaterials and other nanostructural systems based on layered materials, like graphene, and more recently beyond graphene, like transition metal dichalcogenides and phosphorene. More generally, her research over the years has covered a wide range of problems in condensed matter and materials physics.



Lerwen LiuLerwen Liu, PhD (in Physics)
Dr. Lerwen Liu is Founding Secretary of Asia Nano Forum and
Adjunct Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore. She is one of the most connected persons especially in the field of nanotechnology with expertise ranging from policy, R&D, business development, investment and education. Since 1999 she has been providing strategic services to government agencies, R & D institutions and industries around the world through insightful reports covering policy, technology & capability assessments and commercialization & investment strategy. In particular, she has practised extensive business development for research institutes and start-ups transferring their innovations to customers around the world. Dr. Liu assists government and investment bodies in developing ecosystem framework for new industry enabled economic development.  Since 2014, she pioneered an interdisciplinary education program focusing innovation and entrepreneurship for sustainability at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and recently she has been extending her program to other universities in Asia.

She founded and co-founded a number of companies covering industries ranging from advanced manufacturing, waste water treatment, marine, space to investment. She is the founding secretary of the Asia Nano Forum connecting 16 economies in the Asia Pacific region and beyond fostering collaborations among its members (leading government and R&D institutions) in Nanotechnology strategic policy, standardization, nanosafety, R&D, infrastructure sharing, education and commercialization.



Dr. Mihail (Mike) RocoMihail C. Roco, PhD
National Science Foundation and National Nanotechnology Initiative
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Mike Roco is the Senior Advisor for Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation (http://www.nsf.gov/eng/staff/mroco.jsp) and founding chair of the U.S. National Science and Technology Council's subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology (NSET). Prior to joining National Science Foundation, he was professor of mechanical and chemical engineering. Dr. Roco is credited with thirteen inventions, contributed over two hundred articles and twenty books on multiphase systems, computer simulations, laser measurements, nanoparticles and nanosystems, and trends in emerging technologies. Recent volumes include "Convergence of Knowledge, Technology and Society" and "Nanotechnology Research Directions for Societal Needs in 2020". He proposed the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) on March 11, 1999, at the White House, and is a key architect of the NNI. Dr. Roco is Correspondent Member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences, Honorary Member of the Romanian Academy, and Fellow of the ASME, IoPhysics and AIChE. Dr. Roco is editor-in-chief for the Journal of Nanoparticle Research. He was awarded the National Materials Advancement Award in 2007 "as the individual most responsible for support and investment in nanotechnology by government, industry, and academia worldwide", and received the IUMRS "Global Leadership and Service Award" at the EU Parliament in 2015 for "vision and dedicated leadership ...that has made major impact to all citizens around the world."


Debra  RolisonDebra Rolison heads the Advanced Electrochemical Materials section at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. Her team designs, synthesizes, characterizes, and applies three-dimensionally structured, ultraporous, multifunctional nanoarchitectures for such rate-critical applications as catalysis, energy storage and conversion, and sensors. She received a B.S. in Chemistry from Florida Atlantic University (1975) and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1980). Rolison is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Women in Science, the Materials Research Society, and the American Chemical Society. Among her major awards, she received the Department of the Navy Dr. Dolores M. Etter Top Scientist & Engineer Team Award (2016), the 2014 ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Electrochemistry, the 2012 Charles N. Reilley Award of the Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry, the 2011 ACS Award in the Chemistry of Materials, and the 2011 Hillebrand Prize of the Chemical Society of Washington. Her editorial advisory board service includes Chemical Reviews, Analytical Chemistry, Langmuir, Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Advanced Energy Materials, Nano Letters, the Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, and Annual Review in Analytical Chemistry. Rolison also writes and lectures widely on issues affecting women (and men!) in science, including proposing Title IX assessments of science and engineering departments. She is the author of over 225 articles and holds 35 patents.


Dr. Treye A. ThomasDr. Treye A. Thomas is the Program Manager of the Chemicals, Nanotechnology and Emerging Materials Program in the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) Office of Hazard Identification and Reduction. His responsibilities include establishing priorities and agency activities to identify and mitigate potential health risks to consumers resulting from product use. Dr. Thomas has conducted comprehensive exposure assessment studies of chemicals in consumer products and quantified the potential health risks to consumers exposed to various chemicals. He was responsible for developing the CPSC nanotechnology program and continues to identify key emerging product areas. He has served as a CPSC representative on a number of nanotechnology committees including the Federal Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET) subcommittee, and is the co-chair for the Nanotechnology Environmental and Health Implications (NEHI) working group. Dr. Thomas received a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry from UCR, a Master's degree in Environmental Health Sciences from UCLA, and a PhD in Environmental Sciences at the UT, Health Science Center. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Industrial Toxicology at the Warner-Lambert Corporation (now Pfizer Pharmaceutical).