Jane S. Vergnes, Ph.D., DABT® Joins Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. and The Acta Group
Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) is pleased to announce that Jane S. Vergnes, Ph.D., DABT® has joined our team as Senior Toxicologist for B&C and The Acta Group (Acta). Dr. Vergnes has demonstrated outstanding leadership and an agile, multi-disciplinary talent for problem-solving in her 25 years directing global product stewardship and toxicology departments for Ashland, Inc., International Specialty Products (ISP), Texaco, and Union Carbide (now Dow). She is also an experienced research scientist and scientific study director with a Ph.D. in Human Genetics and a specialization in the genetic/epigenetic modes of action of toxicants. Dr. Vergnes brings her wealth of knowledge and experience to B&C and Acta clients by providing toxicology expertise for the full range of chemical regulatory and support services we provide, including support for REACH dossiers, TSCA new and existing chemicals reviews, Proposition 65 initiatives, pesticide risk assessments, and hazard communication.
“Dr. Vergnes is an outstanding scientist and we are thrilled she is joining our team,” notes Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Principal of B&C and President of Acta. “I have known and admired Jane for years, and know she will bring all her expertise, passion, and commitment to excellence to our firms.”
Dr. Vergnes comes to B&C from Ashland, Inc., a Fortune 500-listed global specialty chemical company. As Senior Manager, Toxicology and Regulatory Programs, at Ashland, Dr. Vergnes was responsible for practices and procedures followed by all toxicologists in the company globally, including oversight of chemical regulatory programs and chemical registrations, TSCA chemical data reporting, and comparable programs in the many countries in which Ashland operates, drug precursor regulations, chemical weapons convention compliance, California Proposition 65 compliance, and hazard communication. Prior to Ashland, Dr. Vergnes served as Senior Director of Global Product Stewardship for ISP, where she managed toxicology, hazard communication, and product regulatory affairs programs, and coordinated resources with multiple departments to achieve global marketing objectives for all industrial and specialty chemical ingredient product lines, including personal care ingredients, household and industrial ingredients, biocides, performance chemicals, acetylenics, food and beverage, pharmaceutical excipients, tablet coating systems, encapsulation technologies, and elastomers.
Dr. Vergnes’ strong foundation in scientific study design and management was laid during her years as a research scientist and supervisor at the Bushy Run Research Center of Union Carbide. It was there that she developed her keen ability to provide customized solutions to complex and unprecedented business challenges. Her work often required her to design original protocols involving multiple internal and external resources, anticipating potential obstacles, and identifying key information and decisions to maximize benefit and limit expenditure of resources, often on extremely tight deadlines.
Leadership positions in the many trade groups and professional associations of which she is a member have given Dr. Vergnes the opportunity to advise EPA on OECD guidelines for genotoxicity testing and provide testimony before a European Commission panel on drug precursor chemicals. Her work has also brought her in contact with officials from OSHA, DOT, DEA, EPA, individual states, and many countries to discuss risk assessment and risk mitigation strategies.
Dr. Vergnes received her Ph.D. in Human Genetics from the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, and her B.A. in Bacteriology from Ohio Wesleyan University. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Her original research has been published in Toxicologist, Journal of Applied Toxicology, Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.