President: Mandy Pertzborn

Mandy received her BS, MS, and PhD from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  She worked at ORBITEC, a small company in Madison, WI, that pursues SBIR grants from NASA, between her BS and MS degrees; and she worked at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, a government lab in Niskayuna, NY, that supports/designs nuclear reactors for the Navy, between her MS and PhD degrees.  Mandy completed her PhD in June 2013 and is currently a Mechanical Engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.  Her work focuses on improving the energy efficiency of HVAC systems in commercial buildings by incorporating artificial intelligence into the control scheme.  She enjoys running, reading, hiking, and volunteering.

Vice President: Jessica Hastie

Jessica is from Virginia and received her BS in biology from Virginia Tech in 2010. She went on to pursue a PhD in microbiology and graduated from the University of Iowa in May 2015. Currently Jessica is a postdoctoral fellow at the FDA studying Clostridium difficile. Her work focuses on improving C. difficile genetics and elucidating the role of iron in C. difficile pathogenesis. She enjoys biking, rowing, gardening and being a local tourist.

Treasurer: Julie Anbarchian

Julie Mayer Anbarchian earned her B.S. in Biological and Environmental Engineering from Cornell University in 2002 and M.F.S. in Forensic Sciences from George Washington University in 2004. She has been a biologist, engineer, and consumer safety officer with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 2002. In her early days with FDA, Julie helped review industry submissions, develop toxicology databases, and validate Structure Activity Relationship (SAR) software programs for the Division of Food Contact Notifications in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). Julie also performed details with the FDA’s Forensic Chemistry Center and CFSAN’s Office of Compliance. Julie has since worked in the Shellfish and Aquaculture Policy Branch as a hydrographic engineer studying pollution sources impacting shellfish growing areas and as a branch chief and Regulatory Counsel in the Center for Tobacco Products managing tobacco product issues. In addition to her work with FDA, Julie taught forensic science workshops at the National Museum of Crime and Punishment and was an investigative assistant for the Arlington County Police Department.

National Liaison: Robin Worthington Woo

Robin served Omicron as Secretary in 2013-2014. She is currently working on developing the grant writing program at the national level.  She was graduated with an Anthropology BS in 1976 and a Biology PhD in 1980, both from the University of Pennsylvania, and an Executive MBA in 1990 from UCLA.  Her doctoral research focused on the developmental biology of insect blood proteins known as lectins, and she studied the epidermal growth factor receptor during a postdoc at UCLA.  Robin has since organized scientific meetings for the UCLA Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology and AAAS, taught Georgetown University grad student seminars on Food and Nutrition Policy, and international food safety policy specialists and food industry on how to establish and comply with food safety regulatory systems for FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), from which she recently retired.