SPADA Book - April 11, 2017

CHAIR BIOGRAPHIES

LINDA C. BECK, PhD, MT (ASCP) LEAD SCIENTIST/MICROBIOLOGIST, CBR OFFICE NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER

Co-Chair, AOAC Stakeholder Panel on Agent Detection Assays

Dr. Linda Beck works for the Department of Defense at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) as a Lead Scientist/Microbiologist in the CBR Defense Division. Linda serves as the Navy Chem Bio Rad Nuclear (CBRN) Action Officer in the CBRN Defense T&E Navy Executive Policy Office. Her responsibilities include working on the joint service CBRN Test &Evaluation Capabilities and Methodology effort chaired by the Deputy Under Secretary of the Amy, Test and Evaluation (DUSA-T&E). Prior to her current position, she worked for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for three years, and served as the Deputy Program Manager and Director for Laboratory Operations for the BioWatch Program, the biosurveillance system designed to detect select aerosolized biological agents. As Deputy, she provided technical oversight, guidance, and management of the BioWatch Program’s daily laboratory operations, National Security Special Events, and surge capability. Preceding her DHS position, Dr. Beck worked at the NSWCDD and developed and implemented the BioWatch Quality Assurance Samples laboratory, and served as the Program Manager for the DHS effort at Dahlgren. During that tenure, she also served as the Head of the Micro/Molecular Biology Section, supported the development of methods for testing the efficacy of decontaminants on biotoxins, and served as a Chem/Bio Subject Matter Expert on the Hazard Mitigation, Materiel and Equipment Restoration Advance Technology Demonstration program sponsored by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Joint Science and Technology Office (DTRA JSTO). In addition to her Federal government work, Dr. Beck has 15 years of experience in a career in academia. She was a professor in the Biological Sciences Department at the University of Mary Washington prior to her appointment as a professor in the School of Allied Health Professions at the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University. During her academic tenure, she mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students through her research in the areas of genetics, microbiology, and cellular biology. Dr. Beck graduated from the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University (MCV/VCU) with a PhD in Pathology/Clinical Microbiology followed by two years as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Medicine at MCV/VCU.