Members of the Committee

James H. Binns  (Committee Chair)

Mr. Binns is a former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, and a Vietnam veteran.  He is also former chairman of Parallel Design and past president of ADR Ultrasound, two medical imaging manufacturing companies that he led from startup to merger with General Electric and Squibb, respectively.  He is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School .

Carrolee Barlow, MD, PhD

Dr. Barlow is Chief Scientific Officer for BrainCells, Inc., and previously conducted neuroscience research at the National Institutes of Health, the Salk Institute of Biological Studies, and Merck Research Laboratories. Dr. Barlow is an expert in neuroscience and clinical applications of basic research to neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases. She has authored numerous studies and book chapters in areas ranging from neurogenomics to the implications of basic research for understanding genetic diseases affecting the brain.

Floyd E. Bloom, MD

Dr. Bloom is Professor Emeritus in the Molecular and Integrative Neuroscience Department at The Scripps Research Institute, and was the Founding CEO and Board Chairman of Neurome, Inc.  He is a distinguished neuroscientist who pioneered the use of modern molecular biological and database techniques in brain research.  Dr. Bloom is a past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine , the American Philosophical Society, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Science.  He has authored or coauthored over 700 scientific articles and is the immediate past Editor-in-Chief of Science Magazine.

Dedra S. Buchwald, MD

Dr. Buchwald is Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She is an internationally known expert on chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and overlapping disorders and directs the University of Washington 's Chronic Fatigue Clinic at Harborview Medical Center , the Center for Clinical and Epidemiological Research, and the University of Washington Twin Registry .  Dr. Buchwald is past President of the American Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  She has done extensive multidisciplinary research on unexplained clinical conditions, and has received national and international awards for achievements in research and clinical care.

Daniel J. Clauw, MD

Dr. Clauw is Associate Dean for Clinical and Translation Research and Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan .  He is director of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center and the Center for the Advancement of Clinical Research.  His primary research interest focuses on overlapping chronic pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia and Gulf War illness and the role of central nervous system dysfunction in the development of these syndromes.  He leads a multidisciplinary team of collaborators committed to identifying chronic pain syndrome risk factors and the establishment of programs aimed at the most effective treatment and prevention of this spectrum of illnesses.

Beatrice A. Golomb, MD, PhD

Dr. Golomb is Associate Professor of Medicine and of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of California at San Diego and Research Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Southern California .  Her research focuses on the risks and benefits of medical interventions, especially cholesterol drugs, and on Gulf War veterans’ illnesses.  As a RAND scientist, she traveled to the Middle East on a fact-finding mission related to this issue, and has authored several RAND reports on the relation of exposures to illness in Gulf War veterans.

Joel C. Graves, DMin

Rev. Dr. Graves is a chaplain and Gulf War veteran.  He retired from the U.S. Army in 1997 as a captain, after serving as enlisted for nine years and an armor officer for nine years.  During the Gulf War he served as battalion adjutant, responsible for medical and maintenance recovery assets for the 1st Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment of the 1st “Tiger” Brigade Independent Task Force.  His unit served on the left flank of the 2nd Marine Division and took the northern part of Kuwait City .  He has Gulf War illness.

Anthony Hardie

Mr. Hardie is Executive Assistant of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, where he oversees the agency’s external relations, including those with the state legislature, Congress, the media, stakeholders, and the public.  He is a Gulf War and Somalia veteran, and has worked extensively on policy issues related to post-deployment and Gulf War veterans’ illnesses, including service on several national boards and committees.  He is a former Congressional staff member, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin , and the recipient of Wisconsin ’s AMVETS Legislative Advocacy Award and Disabled American Veterans Department Distinguished Service Award, their highest annual state awards.

Marguerite L. Knox , MN , NP

LTC Knox is a member of the South Carolina Army National Guard’s Medical Command and a Senior Sales Representative for Teva Neuroscience.  During the Gulf War she served with the 251st Evacuation Hospital at King Khalid Military City , Saudi Arabia . During her tenure as Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina College of Nursing, she served on the Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses (1995-1998).

William J. Meggs, MD, PhD

Dr. Meggs is Professor and Chief of the Division of Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University , where he also serves as Senior Vice Chair for Academic Affairs.  His research interests include the role of neurogenic inflammation in chemical sensitivity, and the effects of low-level exposures to organophosphorous compounds.  Dr. Meggs is a fellow of the American College of Medical Toxicology and the American College of Emergency Medicine, and served on the National Academy of Science’s subcommittee on immunotoxicology.

Mary Dekker Nettleman, MD, MS

Dr. Nettleman is Chair of the Department of Medicine at Michigan State University .  She is dually boarded in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, with a Master’s Degree in Preventive Medicine.  Her research focuses on disease epidemiology, with special emphasis on nosocomial infections, sexually-transmitted diseases, and early pregnancy.  She has served on national committees, study sections, and editorial boards related to infectious diseases, quality of care, and general internal medicine.

James P. O’Callaghan, PhD

Dr. O’Callaghan is Distinguished Consultant and Head of the Molecular Neurotoxicology Laboratory in the Toxicology and Molecular Biology Branch of the Health Effects Laboratory Division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Prior to joining CDC, Dr. O’Callaghan founded the molecular and cellular neurotoxicology program in the Neurotoxicology Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Research Triangle Park , North Carolina .  He directs a research program dedicated to the discovery and implementation of biomarkers of neurotoxicity.

Steve Smithson

Mr. Smithson is Deputy Director for Claims Services for the American Legion, where he oversees matters related to the Veterans Benefits Administration.  He served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps from 1988-1992, including a seven-month tour of duty in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during the Gulf War.  Mr. Smithson was previously an Assistant Director for Gulf War and deployment-related issues with the American Legion.

Lea Steele, PhD

Dr. Steele is past Scientific Director of the Committee, and Adjunct Associate Professor in the College of Human Ecology at Kansas State University .  She is an epidemiologist and human ecologist whose research interests focus on the study of complex medical conditions that are difficult to diagnose and treat.  Dr. Steele previously directed the Kansas Persian Gulf War Veterans Health Initiative, a state-sponsored research and service program, and was principal investigator of the Kansas Gulf Veterans Health Study.

Adam Such

LTC Such is Executive Officer of the U.S. Army’s 5^th Special Forces Group (Airborne).  He is a veteran of the Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and numerous other operations in Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans. LTC Such is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and the University of Ljubljana in the Republic of Slovenia .

Roberta F. White, PhD (Scientific Director)

Dr. White is Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental Health at Boston University School of Public Health.  She is a neuropsychologist with expertise in environmental and occupational epidemiology.  Author of numerous scientific publications, her research interests include evaluation of chronic effects of exposure to neurotoxins, the use of imaging in behavioral toxicology, and gene-environment interactions that mediate the development of neurodegeneration following chronic exposures.  Dr. White’s current research projects include evaluation of cognitive function in military personnel who worked as pesticide applicators in the Gulf War, cognitive and neuroimaging correlates of Gulf War service, effects of prenatal pesticide exposures in South African children, and effects of metal exposures in the Framingham Heart Study cohort.

Consultant to the Committee

Jack Melling, PhD

Dr. Melling is former Chief Executive of the U.K. Microbiological Research Authority.  He was previously Director of the Salk Institute of Biologicals Development Center, Director of the Karl Landsteiner Institute for Vaccine Development, and a Senior Program Manager at the Battelle Memorial Institute.  He is currently a consultant to the United States Government Accountability Office.