Rachel Adams, Ph.D.

Research Scientist, Indoor Air Quality Program, Environmental Health Laboratory Branch, CDPH
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Project Scientist, Plant & Microbial Biology Department, University of California, Berkeley

Rachel Adams is a Microbiologist with the California Department of Public Health and a Project Scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, in the Department of Plant & Microbial Biology. Dr. Adams has expertise in using sequence-based technology to study microbial exposures in indoor environments, has developed methods to improve the identification of microbes, and has interest in understanding the consequences of indoor microbial exposures on human health. Dr. Adams holds a B.S. from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University and is a member of the Mycological Society of America and the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ).

Research Scientist, Indoor Air Quality Program, Environmental Health Laboratory Branch, CDPH

Wenhao Chen is a research scientist with the California Department of Public Health. She holds a B.S. and a M.S. in Civil Engineering from Tianjin University, China and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Syracuse University with emphasis on building environmental system and indoor air quality. Dr. Chen's research focuses on how to apply and improve engineering methods to control indoor pollutants and to reduce human exposure. She has expertise in testing and modeling chemical emissions from indoor materials/products, developing indoor air cleaning technologies, and integrated building environmental system design. Dr. Chen is a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and the International Society of Indoor Air Qualityand Climate (ISIAQ). She has also served on Indoor Environmental Quality Technical Advisory Group for USGBC LEED committee.

Kazukiyo Kumagai, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Eng., RSPH Fellow

Emeritus, Indoor Air Quality Program, Environmental Health Laboratory Branch, CDPH

Janet is an air pollution research specialist with the California Department of Public Health. She has a master's degree from the University of California and doctorate from Harvard University with emphasis on environmental health, public health, and microbiology. Dr. Macher has studied engineering measures to control airborne infectious and hypersensitivity diseases, evaluated methods to collect and identify airborne biological material, conducted laboratory studies on the measurement of dampness, and participated in epidemiological studies in the state of California.
Dr. Macher is a member of the American Association for Aerosol Research, American Biological Safety Association, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, the American Industrial Hygiene Association, the American Society for Testing and Materials, the Gesellshaft fr Aerosol Forschung; and the International and Pan-American Associations for Aerobiology.

Air Pollution Research Specialist, Indoor Air Quality Program, Environmental Health Laboratory Branch, CDPH
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Affiliate Scientist, Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Mark Mendell, Ph.D., is currently an Air Pollution Research Specialist in the Indoor Air Quality Section of the California Department of Public Health and a Staff Scientist/Epidemiologist in the Indoor Environment Department at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. Dr. Mendell is on the editorial board of the journal Indoor Air and a member of the International Academy of Indoor Air Sciences. He holds a BA from Cornell University; a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Oregon; and a PhD in epidemiology from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. Dr. Mendell has worked for over 20 years in the field of environmental epidemiology, focused on health effects related to indoor environments in buildings. His work includes field research to help understand relationships between specific factors and conditions in buildings and health effects in occupants, and critical reviews of the literature on specific environment/health relationships in buildings. His research interests include the causes and prevention of building-related symptoms (also called sick building syndrome) in offices; health risks, including asthma and allergies, associated with indoor environments, ventilation systems, moisture, microbial growth, and chemical emissions; and effects of school environments on the health and performance of students. His current or recent research support is from the California Energy Commission, the U.S. Green Building Council, the U.S. EPA, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. General Services Administration, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the National Center for Environmental Health, and the World Health Organization.

Research Scientist, Indoor Air Quality Program, Environmental Health Laboratory Branch, CDPH

Ping Wang is a research scientist (Chemical Sciences) in the Indoor Air Quality Section of the California Department of Public Health. She holds a B. Eng. and M. Eng. in Applied Chemistry from Dalian University of Technology in China, with emphasis on Analytical Chemistry. Dr. Wang received her PhD from Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan, focused on materials characterization using various spectroscopic techniques. In addition, she had her postdoctoral training at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to investigate DNA damage and repair, with focus on combined chemical, biochemical and biological approaches to understand key questions in environmental mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. Dr. Wang has demonstrated expertise in various analytical techniques such as TD (Thermal Desorption)-GC/MS, TD-GC/FID, GC/MS, TGA (Thermal Gravimetric Analysis)-GC/MS, HPLC, ICP-OES, FT-IR, UV-vis, DSC, XRD, BET, TPR/TPD, SEM, gel electrophoresis and wet chemistry (precipitation, ion exchange, extraction, titration, and electro-coagulation). Her research interests include nanomaterial analysis/characterization, analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry and their applications in public health field. Dr. Wang is a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Pacific Coast Catalysis Society (PCCS), and North American Catalysis Society (NACS).

Flavia Wong, B.A.

Research Scientist, Indoor Air Quality Program, Environmental Health Laboratory Branch, CDPH

Flavia Wong is a research scientist (Chemical Sciences) with the Indoor Air Quality Section of the California Department of Public Health. She holds a B.A. in Biochemistry from California State University, Hayward, (renamed as East Bay). Flavia has extensive experience working with various sample matrices and analyzing for different types of pollutants in the environment. She is familiar with various analytical techniques such as TD (Thermal Desorption)-GC/MS, GC/MS, HPLC, GC, ICP-OES, ICP-MS, AA, IC, UV-Visible and Wet Chemistry. She has been involved in method development and sample analysis for many case investigation and projects for Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention. She is currently working on projects and studies dealing with indoor air pollutants.