Board Of Directors

The following distinguished persons comprise the Working Board of Directors for The Elizabeth R. Griffin Research Foundation, Inc.

  • Caryl P. Griffin, MDiv

    — Elizabeth R. Griffin Research Foundation President

    carylGriffin.jpgCaryl Griffin, from Kingport, TN USA, received a BS in Nursing from University of Tennessee College of Nursing in Memphis, a Master of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing from Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, and a Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA. She is an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church and her current ministry is with the Elizabeth R. Griffin Research Foundation, featuring work in Africa and the Middle East in the areas of Public Health, Occupational Health, and Biosafety/Biosecurity.

    Caryl practiced nursing for 35 years, in hospitals, clinics, public health, and hospital administration. She created a national healthcare consulting business for doctors' offices and hospitals, consulting across the U.S., helping develop more effective methods and processes of caring for patients. She has created and led national leadership/management workshops and retreats for hospitals and institutions in the US and abroad. Previous work in Ministry includes being Associate Pastor at First Broad Street UMC in Kingsport, TN, and Director of Wesley Leadership Institute serving 700 pastors in the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. She has led numerous spiritual retreats, including retreats for parish nurses, youth retreats, and church staff retreats. Her special interests are the areas of spiritual development, biosafety, systems development, Leadership, as well as life and stress management. Caryl has published several articles in the areas of biosafety, play therapy for children, and public health nursing.

    She and her late husband, Dr. Bill Griffin, Dermatologist, along with their daughter, Kimberly, founded ERGRF. Their daughter, Kimberly, practices pediatrics and lives in Knoxville, TN, with her husband and 2 sons. Caryl is currently married to Rick Russell, and has 2 additional sons, a daughter, son-in-law, and 2 grandsons Her hobbies are hiking, family, fitness training, and travel.

  • James M. Welch

    — Executive Director, Elizabeth R Griffin Research Foundation

    James M. WelchJim Welch is the Executive Director of the Elizabeth R. Griffin Research Foundation (ERGRF), a non-profit foundation in the United States that collaborates globally with public and private organizations and institutions in promoting effective biosafety and biosecurity training, occupational health awareness, and advocacy of responsible research.

    Educated at East Tennessee State University and the University of Tennessee, Jim is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program at the National Institutes of Health. He currently serves as a member of the transition board of directors of the International Federation of Biosafety Associations and on the board of directors of the International Centre for Infectious Diseases.

    Jim has experience working with various entities in organizational assessment, creating and implementing action strategies and training programs, personnel recruitment, leadership development, government relations, and human resource programs.

    As ERGRF's executive director, he travels the world on behalf of the Foundation working on initiatives in occupational medicine, safe research, advocating safe and secure science, the strengthening of research capacity to improve public and animal health, and the importance of scientific discovery. In addition to presenting at a number of conferences and institutions, he was the keynote speaker at the 2012 CDC International Symposium on Biosafety, and in 2011 was the keynote speaker at the annual conference of the Canadian Biosafety Association, the inaugural Safety Day at NIH in Bethesda, MD and also at the inaugural conference of the Association of Biosafety for Australia and New Zealand. In 2011, he was named an honorary member of the Association of Primate Veterinarians and was also the 2011 recipient of the John H Richardson Humanitarian Award of the American Biological Safety Association.

  • Patricia Olinger

    Director of Global Projects, Elizabeth R Griffin Research Foundation
    Director of Environmental Health and Safety Emory University

    patriciaOlingerMs. Patricia Olinger is the Director of the Environmental, Health and Safety Office (EHSO) for Emory University. EHSO has University-wide responsibility for developing, implementing and maintaining EHS programs to control occupational exposures and to oversee the implementation of the mandated federal/state laws, regulations, and guidelines. Prior to joining Emory in 2006, Ms. Olinger spent 21 years in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Ms. Olinger is currently the vice-president for the Campus Safety Environmental Management Association (CSHEMA) and a Board of Directors Member for the Elizabeth R. Griffin Foundation. Previously, she has served on the Scientific Advisory Board for the NIH - National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program, was a council for the American Biological Safety Association and the ABSA representative and steering team member for the CEN Workshop Agreement 15793:2011 and 16393:2012.

  • Maureen Best Ellis

    — International Federation of Biosafety Associations

    maureenEllis>Maureen Ellis is the Executive Director of the International Federation of Biosafety Associations. She is the former Senior Biosecurity Advisor to Canada's Global Partnership Program where she was responsible for delivering biosafety and biosecurity programs worldwide. She is an Honorary lifetime member of the Asia-Pacific Biosafety Association and a Past-President of both the Canadian and American Biological Safety Associations. In 2007, she was awarded the Arnold G. Wedum Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contributions to biosafety. She is the first Canadian to receive such an award. M. Ellis holds a Masters Degree in Microbiology from University of Ottawa.

  • Dr. Gary Fujimoto

    — Palo Alto Medical Foundation

    garyFujimotoDr. Fujimoto is a board-certified internal medicine and occupational medicine physician at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation in California. He completed his undergraduate degree in Biology at Oberlin College and went to medical school at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, completing his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine where he continued as a Chief Medical Resident and Assistant Professor. He is currently an Adjunct Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and the Program Director of Occupational Medicine at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Dr. Fujimoto specializes in consulting on biological and chemical hazards for many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies including serving on multiple Institutional Biosafety Committees. He served as the occupational medicine physician for Stanford University for over 20 years and currently consults for a variety of research facilities. His lectures include Bloodborne pathogens (hepatitis B,C and HIV), working with agents such as HIV virus, Herpesvirus simiae (Herpes B virus from non-human primates), viral vectors and a half-day course on Occupational Medical issues for biological labs. He has been a contributor to several textbooks in Occupational Medicine and written a book "The Traveler's Medical Guide" that provides medical instructions for travelers when medical care is not available.

  • Julia Hilliard, PhD

    — Georgia State University, National B Virus Resource Center

    juliaHilliard.pngDr. Julia Hilliard has had a life-long passion for laboratory investigations in virology and immunology. She received her Ph.D. from Baylor College of Medicine in Pharmacology and Biochemistry, and subsequently studied viral immunology at Baylor College of Medicine's Department of Virology and M.D. Anderson Tumor Institute and Hospital. She joined the faculty at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio TX where she studied B virus for 18 years prior to moving to her current laboratory at Georgia State University where she serves as the Director of the Viral Immunology Center and Director of the National B Virus Resource Center, Professor of Biology, and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar. She is an Honorary Member of the Association for Primate Veterinarians and an Honorary Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Medicine.

  • Martin Kuster, MD

    — Novartis

    kuster-Martin.jpgA native of Switzerland, Martin Kuster was born on October 17, 1958 in a family of six. He was raised and educated in the Basel region. He graduated from the University of Basel medical school in 1984 and was promoted to MD at the University of Basel in 1986. He holds residencies in Occupational Medicine, Pathology, OB/GYN, Surgery and Internal Medicine and specialized in Family Medicine by the Swiss Medical Society in 1992.

    He undertook post-graduate studies and a residency in Occupational Medicine at the Harvard School of Public Health between 1992 and1994 (Master in Occupational Health, 1993), and specialized in Occupational Medicine at the Swiss Medical Society in 1994.

    Martin started work as site physician (with Sandoz in Basel, Switzerland in 1997 and after the merger with Ciba-Geigy at Novartis HQ for 4 years). / in a major pharmaceutical company in Switzerland. He has been Corporate Medical Director / Health Manager since 1998, is involved in NEM & CHSE training and assumed the position of Corporate Biosafety Manager in addition to the health function in 2006.

    Externally, Martin is on the Board of Directors of the Elizabeth R. Griffin Research Foundation, the Board of Directors of the International Federation of Biosafety Associations, the Board of Directors of the Swiss Toxicological Information Centre and was elected President (2010/2011) on the Board of The European Biosafety Association.

    He has been married for 25 years, is father of two adult children and is interested in music, art, hiking, cycling.

  • David R. Franz, D.V.M., Ph.D.

    — Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University

    Dave FranzDr. Franz served in the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command for 23 of 27 years on active duty and retired as Colonel. He served as Commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) and as Deputy Commander of the Medical Research and Materiel Command. Prior to joining the Command, he served as Group Veterinarian for the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

    Dr. Franz was the Chief Inspector on three United Nations Special Commission biological warfare inspection missions to Iraq and served as technical advisor on longterm monitoring. He also served as a member of the US-UK teams that visited Russia in support of the Trilateral Joint Statement on Biological Weapons and as a member of the Trilateral Experts' Committee for biological weapons negotiations.

    He was Technical Editor for the Textbook of Military Medicine on Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare released in 1997. Current standing committee appointments include the National Academy of Sciences Committee on International Security and Arms Control, the National Research Council Board on Life Sciences and the Senior Technical Advisory Committee of the National Biodefense Countermeasures Analysis Center. He serves as a Senior Mentor to the Program for Emerging Leaders at the National Defense University. He also serves on the Board of Integrated NanoTechnologies, LLC.

    He holds an adjunct appointment as Professor for the Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University. The current focus of his activities relates to the role of international engagement in the life sciences as a component of global biosecurity policy.

    Dr. Franz holds a D.V.M. from Kansas State University and a Ph.D. in Physiology from Baylor College of Medicine.

  • Jennifer Gaudioso, PhD

    — International Biological and Chemical Threat Reduction (IBCTR) program at Sandia National Laboratories

    Gaudioso This program enhances United States and international security by promoting safe, secure, and responsible use of dangerous biological and chemical agents. IBCTR has organized many international conferences, trainings, and workshops to build local capacity to address these issues. In the last five years, the team has visited facilities in more than 40 countries specifically to consult on biosecurity and chemical security issues. IBCTR is an OIE Collaborating Centre for Laboratory Biorisk Management. Jennifer co-authored the CRC Laboratory Biosecurity Handbook and was co-editor of the Laboratory Biorisk Management: Biosafety and Biosecurity book. She is author of numerous journal articles and regularly presents her work at national and international meetings. Jennifer has served on several National Academies Committees. She is on the board for the Elizabeth R Griffin Research Foundation. Jennifer has served on SNL's Institutional Biosafety Committee, is a member of SNL's Biosafety Evaluation Team, and is an active member of the American Biological Safety Association.

    She earned her Ph.D. in chemistry at Cornell University.

  • Guy P Collyer, OBE FSyI FCMI

    — Biological Terrorism Prevention Program at INTERPOL

    Collyer Guy P Collyer has just completed a 33 year police career, firstly in the UK, and then for the last 3 years, as the head of the Biological Terrorism Prevention Program at INTERPOL. For 21 years of his career, Guy has focused on terrorism counter measures related to chemical and biological material. Between 2002 and 2008 he worked as the National Coordinator for Biosecurity at the UK's National Counter Terrorism Security Office. He then went on to advise the UK Government on vulnerabilities associated with chemicals in the UK before joining INTERPOL in 2013.

    Having travelled extensively throughout the UK and the world, training police officers and public health officials on how to work together to combat biological threats, Guy became the Managing Director of The Office for Innovation in Reducing Crime, at the end of 2015, based in the UK. He has been published in a number of journals and other reference books and is the author of six guidance documents for law enforcement. He also has two post graduate qualifications in crime prevention through environmental design and community safety.

    In 2011, Guy was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II, for his work related to biosecurity in the UK. He has also received wide recognition for his work both nationally and internationally during his career, including being presented with the Afghanistan Police Medal of Honor in 2014.

  • William Griffin, MD

    — Honorary Director Emeritus (*Deceased)

    Bill_headshottWilliam C. (Bill) Griffin, MD, deceased. Dr. Griffin practiced dermatology in Kingsport, TN, for 29 years. Formerly, he practiced Pediatrics. Dr. Griffin received a BA in English from Emory University, Atlanta, GA, an MD from University of Tennessee, and was board certified in pediatrics and dermatology. Following the death of their daughter, Beth, Dr. Griffin and his wife, Caryl, and daughter, Kimberly, established the Elizabeth R. Griffin Research Foundation.

    Dr. Griffin served as president of the Independent Physicians Association in Kingsport, was an avid bicyclist, played golf, and enjoyed the relentless pursuit of knowledge in history, the arts, classics, science, politics, and finance. In addition, Dr. Griffin has provided countless acts of private charity and random acts of kindness for persons and institutions encountered through family, work, friendships, church, and daily life.

E.R.G.R.F. Honorary Board of Directors

  • Kimberly Griffin Hicks, MD

    — Pediatrician
  • Joseph D. Hicks, DDS, MDS

    — Hicks Orthodontics
  • Karen Thompson, PhD

    — Agnes Scott College, Associate Professor of Biology
  • Mr Satch Zungia

    — Charles River Laboratories, Sparks, NV