2010 Derek Dunn Memorial Senior Scientist Officer of the Year
CDR Daphne Moffett
Dr. Daphne B. Moffett is a Commander in the US Public Health Service and the Associate Director for Science in the Division of Health Assessment and Consultation (DHAC) at CDC/ATSDR. She is responsible for managing, coordinating and providing oversight for division science and science policy activities. These duties include ensuring that evidence-based science and public health practices are integrated into the public health assessment process employed at hazardous waste sites and in division products (public health assessments, health consultations, and health advisories). CDR Moffett is the previous Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Commissioned Officers Association and serves on several committees across the PHS, the agency, and her discipline including co-chairing the CDC/ATSDR Associate Directors for Science Development Workgroup, membership in the Society of Toxicology, and as the Historian for the USPHS Scientist Professional Advisory Committee. She has provided guidance to the Surgeon General and the Scientist Professional Advisory Committee on recruitment, retention, and career development of PHS scientists.
CDR Moffett serves on editorial review boards, grant review panels and has taught environmental public health courses in the US and internationally. She has published book chapters and manuscripts in the areas of toxicology, environmental health, injury prevention and HIV. She has been recognized by the agency for her expertise on chemical weapons of mass destruction and industrial chemicals and has served as an on-call expert during national events. She recently deployed to Haiti to serve as the agency expert in environmental health, sanitation, and toxicology.
Education: B.S. (Chemistry) University of Akron; Ph.D. (Biochemistry) Montana State University; Postdoctoral Training (Toxicology and Public Health) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
2010 Junior Scientist Officer of the Year
CDR Robin Toblin
LCDR Robin Toblin joined the Public Health Service as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer at CDC in 2007 following the completion of her joint PhD (clinical psychology) / MPH (epidemiology) degree from the University of Southern California. At CDC, she was assigned to the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention and focused largely on prescription drug overdose deaths and unintentional strangulation deaths amongst youth via the “choking game.” Her study on the “choking game” was featured in over 300 news and TV outlets on the day of release and was reprinted in two journals including JAMA. She also worked with families of the victims to assist with advocacy. For her efforts, LCDR Toblin earned a Commendation Medal. She also was deployed on four Epi-Aids, or epidemiology field investigations. Currently, LCDR Toblin serves as one of the first two epidemiologists hired by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, DC. She will be transferring in June to the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Center for Military Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Military Psychiatry Branch under the DoD Behavioral Health MOU. LCDR Toblin’s title will be Clinical Research Psychologist, and she will conduct epidemiologic and clinical research focused on the mental health of troops and will provide mental health clinical care.
In addition to her professional work, LCDR Toblin has been an active member of SciPAC, currently serving as the liaison to the Junior Officer Advisory Group, or JOAG. LCDR Toblin is one of 20 voting members in JOAG and is the Membership Committee Chair, which has a roster of 55 people. In this committee, she has expanded the purview of the committee to include 4 subcommittees with subcommittee chairs as compared to the prior year in which the committee had 8 members and a singular task.
Further, she is also the secretary of the Psychologist Professional Advisory Group, PsyPAG, which is currently just one of two elected positions for the group of 100 psychologists. LCDR Toblin is also an active member of her deployment team, Mental Health Team 5, and her local COA branch chapters (Atlanta and now DC) and looks forward to joining the Scientist category women’s running team for a second year at the COF Scientific and Training Symposium in San Diego.
2010 Scientist Responder of the Year
CDR Ross Spears
CDR Ross Spears received his Bachelor of Science degree in both Chemistry and Biology from Western Kentucky University. He received his Master’s Degree in Coal Chemistry from Western Kentucky University. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from The University of Alabama. He worked for over 14 years in environmental remediation, primarily in the mining sector. In 2002, he joined the Food & Drug Administration as a Consumer Safety Officer and was subsequently called to active duty. After his call to active duty, Commander Spears was transferred to CDC to help start a new regulatory office, the Division of Select Agents and Toxins. He has since been stationed at CDC’s Division of Emergency Operations, which runs CDC’s Emergency Operations Center. He is now stationed at CDC’s Office of Health & Safety as Senior Science Officer and emergency response planner. Commander Spears has been very active in emergency response since his earliest days in the Public Health Service. He has deployed in every hurricane season since 2004. He has served on SERT teams, the original IRCT-4, and now is Deputy Plans Chief on RDF-3. He developed CDC’s “Common Operating Picture,” a SharePoint-based site that serves as CDC’s primary information exchange tool in all emergency operations. He is a co-principal investigator on two research projects studying human factors in emergency operations. He has been a co-author on many of CDC’s internal response plans, and is currently project lead on management of material for CDC workforce protection.
