Team

Akram Alshawabkeh is a Civil and Environmental Engineer with expertise in geo-environmental engineering, water resources, and environmental health. He is the Principal Investigator and Director of the PROTECT Center, an NIH sponsored Superfund Research Program. As the Director of PROTECT, Dr. Alshawabkeh leads a multidisciplinary team that studies environmental and water contamination and adverse pregnancy outcomes in Puerto Rico. His research areas include geo-environmental engineering, soil, and groundwater remediation; electrokinetic and electrochemical processes; and contaminant fate and transport environmental restoration. Recognized for his pioneering work, Dr. Alshawabkeh is a Fulbright Scholar and a Fellow of the ASCE. He is also honored as a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award and of the 2014 ASCE Thomas A. Middlebrooks Award.

Jiri Aubrecht has been interested in the development of new approaches for genetic safety risk assessment applicable in drug development and environmental toxicology for many years. For instance, a novel high-throughput luminescent mutagenicity assay platform that was developed in his laboratory significantly decreased attrition of lead molecules and drug candidates due to genetic toxicity in drug development. Furthermore, in collaboration with the international HESI consortium, Dr. Aubrecht co-developed TGx-DDI genomic biomarker for genotoxicity which is currently under formal qualification review by the US FDA. His substantial contributions facilitated the success of the Superfund project by providing scientific and regulatory expertise in the development of new genetic safety testing approaches.

John Durant’s areas of interest cover a range of environmental and public health issues. They encompass environmental quality and health measurement, ambient air pollution monitoring, ambient air pollution modeling, effect-directed analysis of environmental samples, air pollution exposure assessment, indoor air quality measurement and mitigation. His research and teaching focus primarily on topics relating to indoor and outdoor air quality, such as climate change science and engineering, pollution fate and transport, air pollution modeling, and air pollution control.

Rebecca Fry is the Carol Remmer Angle Distinguished Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at UNC Chapel Hill. She is the Director of the UNC Superfund Research Program and founding Director of the Institute for Environmental Health Solutions. Dr. Fry’s lab conducts research to understand how environmental exposures to toxic substances are associated with human disease. A particular area of interest is to study prenatal exposure to various environmental contaminants including arsenic, cadmium, and perflourinated chemicals. By discovering the molecular mechanisms from early exposures and the subsequent long-term health effects in humans, this can reveal the biological pathways of contaminant-induced disease and the basis for inter-individual disease susceptibility.

As a citizen of the Passamaquoddy Tribe and as a linguist/language instructor, Newell Lewey champions the expansion of Native fluency, culture, and history of Native communities. He is a Program Manager at the Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness, where he teaches the Passamaquoddy language and infuses a culture and history component in the course. Prior to this role, Mr. Lewey served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maine where he also taught introductory courses in Passamaquoddy language, culture, and history. Committed to help build opportunities and to advance health and wellness within the Native Nations, he continues to mentor young Native Americans and advocates for Indigenous people as seen by his community service with the Passamaquoddy Tribal Council and as a Board Member for Wabanaki Mental Health.

NOAA North Atlantic Tribal Engagement Program Coordinator, Environmental Engineer
With over 30 years of experience in the Indian Health Service (IHS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Captain Stover has worked with tribal nations across the country on pressing environmental and public health issues. With the IHS, Captain Stover worked with tribes in New England, New York, Alaska, California, and Arizona, designing and constructing water and wastewater treatment facilities. At the EPA Region 1, Captain Stover served as the Tribal Program Manager and tribal subject matter expert. In this capacity, he advised the Region’s senior managers pertaining to the tribes’ environmental needs and the obligations to the tribal nations. This included being the primary agency liaison between the tribes and federal agencies on tribal issues. Captain Stover currently serves as NOAA’s Tribal Engagement Program Coordinator for the North Atlantic region, and works to connect tribal nations from Virginia to Maine with NOAA tools and resources, including fisheries, ocean planning, coastal resilience and weather forecasting support.

Suzann Sullivan’s passion for protecting rivers led her to her involvement in addressing a range of environmental issues that impacted both the ecosystem and public health. She continues to be a strong voice for the Wilmington community to find acceptable solutions to resolve the contamination problems associated with the Olin Superfund Site. Given Ms. Sullivan’s advocacy work and her in-depth knowledge of this Superfund Site, she was a significant contributor to and was one of the narrators for the MIT SRP’s “Lessons Learned along the Road to Environmental Clean-up” modules. As an activist who wants nothing more than the Town of Wilmington to be a desirable and livable community, she is a dedicated member of numerous committees, including Master Plan Affordable Housing, Open Space Plan, Economic Development, Comprehensive Water Resource Management, and Community Advisory Panel.