Abstract
Dr. Christian obtained her Ph.D. from Thomas Jefferson University in developmental anatomy and has been active in regulatory toxicology for more than 35 years. After 14 years with McNeil Laboratories, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson Corporation, where she was the first female manager in the research and development division, she founded Argus Research Laboratories in 1979, Argus International in 1980, and the Center for Photobiology at Argus in 1989, each of which she served as Chairman and President. Argus Research is known as the premier CRO for conduct of reproductive and developmental toxicology studies, while the Center for Photobiology is the exclusive CRO for conduct of photocarcinogenicity studies. Dr. Christian merged these organizations with TSI Corporation in 1991, when she became Vice President of the TSI In Vivo Testing Group of five CROs. Upon Genzyme Transgenics’ acquisition of TSI in 1996, she became the Executive Director of Science and Compliance for GTC and continued in this capacity with the separation of the Primedica division of GTC. She was then responsible for serving on the Primedica Senior Board, for identifying new business and scientific opportunities for the corporation, and for the overall quality and coordination of scientific projects across the corporation, as well as serving as the Executive Director of Research of two of Primedica’s companies, Argus and Redfield. She continued to serve in this capacity for CRL-DDS after the purchase of Primedica by Charles River Laboratories, Inc., in February, 2001 until her retirement from CRL in November, 2002.
She has monitored, supervised and/or participated in performance, evaluation and submission of developmental (“teratology”), reproductive and general toxicology evaluations performed in-house and under contract including personal involvement in over 1300 studies from protocol to final report and interacted with more than 150 pharmaceutical, chemical and consortium organizations supporting these activities.
Through Argus International, which provides consulting services in regulatory affairs for industry, government agencies, law firms and professional organizations, both in the United States and internationally, she has been involved in the development and/or submission of over 350 pharmaceutical agents. She has also participated in more than 30 mock FDA/EPA inspections of facilities and served as an auditor on Argus’ National Toxicology Program contracts. She coordinated a multicorporation project involving six European companies in the evaluation of 23 potential endocrine modulating agents and the publication of the results as a journal issue and is responsible for project coordination of the development of approximately four INDs annually.
Dr. Christian founded Argus Health Products, LLC, in November, 2003. Argus Health Products, LLC, focuses on the development and distribution of a line of preventive and maintenance health care products for use in both the health care professional and OTC markets. With offices in Horsham, Pennsylvania and Franklin, Louisiana, it provides skin care and rejuvenation products, including peels for professional use by Dermatologists and other health care professionals, and less potent peel formulations, as well as hydrators and sunscreens, for use and distribution by spas. It also has a line of OTC products that includes topical analgesics and skin care products.
She has developed and internationally presented courses in Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Trials Monitoring, Quality Assurance and multiple areas of toxicology, including pediatric testing, as well as her specialty areas of reproductive and developmental toxicology. She has also developed more than 1200 position papers for chemical and pharmaceutical companies, the U.S. FDA, the U.S. EPA, the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment and the OECD. She continues to be involved in issues regarding FDA’s use of the “WEDGE” for interpretation of reprotoxicity data, and its reassessment of its Pregnancy Labeling Categories. She served as an Expert Scientist on the EPA EDMVS (Endocrine Disruptor Methods Validation Subcommittee) and was recently elected to serve on the EPA ED-MVAC (Endocrine Disruptor Methods Validation Assessment Committee). She regularly reviews data for risk assessments and performs literature reviews and assessments for clients requiring information on potential hazards. Occasionally she appears as an expert witness in cases involving potential reproductive and developmental risks.
She is an active member of 20 professional organizations and is currently Secretary/Treasurer of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences and a Counciler of the European Teratology Society. She is a Past-President of the Teratology Society, the International Federation of Teratology Societies, the American College of Toxicology, the Thomas Jefferson University Alumni Association, and the Academy of Toxicological Sciences, a founding member of the SOT Specialty Section on Reproductive Toxicology and has served on or chaired multiple committees of the organizations to which she belongs. For her efforts in coordinating the fields of toxicology and quality assurance, she was awarded an Honorary Membership in the Society for Quality Assurance. She is Founding Editor of the International Journal of the American College of Toxicology and was its Editor-in-Chief for 10 years. She has edited and/or contributed to several major textbooks and is author of over 100 papers and abstracts published in US and international journals. She was awarded the Alumni of the Year award by Thomas Jefferson University for her contributions to development of the International Conference for Harmonization Guidelines for Toxicity to Reproduction.
Social/service memberships include the Plimsell Club in New Orleans and the Union League of Philadelphia. She has served as her church’s organist since 1966 and as President of its Board of Trustees since 1990. She recently chaired the Historic Preservation Society of her church, which, over a period of five years raised almost $500,000 that was used to restore the 200-year old church to its 1880 appearance. Dr. Christian is also active in the Girard College Alumni Society, and aided the school by contributing the new children’s library. As Louisiana State President of the Patriotic Order Sons of America, she initiated and aided in the fund raising to replace the historic lamp-posts of her adopted home, Franklin, LA, which was done in honor of the men and women of the city serving in our armed forces.