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Laura Blake has more than 20 years of experience in leading scientific programs and research in the environmental science and policy domain. She has deep expertise in surface water quality restoration and protection and has spent her career designing and implementing scientific studies to support efforts to protect human health and aquatic environments. She has significant knowledge of Clean Water Act rules and regulations and has extensive experience supporting federal and state regulatory programs with implementation of and compliance with the federal Clean Water Act.

Meghan Lynch, Sc.D., is an accomplished manager of cross-disciplinary teams, with 20 years of experience specializing in toxicology and human health risk assessment. She is skilled at interpreting, evaluating, and communicating toxicological and epidemiological information for hazardous substances. She has managed a variety of projects for ATSDR, OSHA, EPA, and nonprofit agencies. These include leading tasks requiring the synthesis of toxicological information and risk assessments, and performing both probabilistic and benchmark dose modeling. The results of these projects have been subject to peer review. Lynch has also provided memorandums and analyses supporting risk assessments and addressing industry comments, which have been used to support plaintiffs in litigation for chemical contaminants.

Lauren Pittenger comes to Abt with more than 20 years of experience working in or as a consultant to federal government agencies. She has strong grounding in research and research-based consulting to government clients. She also has extensive experience leading and growing business, managing technical and scientific projects, and coaching and supporting account teams. She has served as a director at Guidehouse, scientific program manager at Booz Allen Hamilton, and lab manager at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Canadian Public Health Laboratory Network, the Gates Foundation and the Association of Public Health Laboratories.

Adam Schaefer has over 16 years’ experience developing and managing environmental epidemiology research and evaluation projects. He is an expert in the health impacts of environmental exposures and has worked on both national and international projects, focusing on infectious disease, toxicology, health surveillance, and One Health. Before coming to Abt, Schaefer was a researcher at Florida Atlantic University. He has published numerous epidemiological studies in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Ndombour Gning Cisse is a biologist and scientist with 16 years of experience in public health and environmental health management, particularly in malaria vector control in Africa. She has experience in all aspects of insecticide spraying operations, including planning, training, supervision, human resources talent management, leadership development, strategic planning, project implementation, and capacity development assignments in four countries.

Joe Donahue is an environmental policy specialist and portfolio manager with more than 15 years of experience supporting governments in developing and implementing policies and programs focused on climate change, clean energy, ozone layer protection, and solid waste management. His work spans both domestic and international programs and initiatives. Technical areas of expertise include climate change mitigation strategies; international capacity building; greenhouse gas quantification methods; short-lived climate pollutants, especially methane, black carbon, and hydrofluorocarbons; and clean energy policies.

Julio Pacca is a psychologist and innovative leader with more than 20 years of experience in health care. He focuses on HIV and AIDS; maternal health; adolescent health; and health systems strengthening. Pacca has worked with donors such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United Nations, the World Bank, bi-lateral Scandinavian donors, and the William and Flora Hewlett, Goldman, and Bill and Melinda Gates foundations.

Rodrigue Fiacre Ahoumènou Agossa is a public health entomologist with more than 12 years of experience in control and elimination of infectious diseases, particularly malaria control programs. His expertise includes project management; research; vector control tools development and evaluation; case management; and health system strengthening. He also has worked on development, consolidation, and popularization of norms, policies, and guidelines for the fight against malaria and neglected tropical diseases. He has collaborated with the Global Fund, World Health Organization, Against Malaria Foundation, and Ministry of Health.

Daniel Gubits conducts research in the areas of housing, homelessness, economic self-sufficiency and disability policy. Gubits’ expertise is in econometric modeling, data analysis, and random assignment program evaluation.Gubits serves as the director of analysis for the Family Options Study, conducted for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He is also leading the impact analysis work for the Social Security Administration’s Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND) project. Both of these are random assignment impact evaluations.

Austin Gooden is a software architect at TSPi, a Division of Abt Global, with 6 years of experience delivering innovative software solutions in the public sector. With expertise spanning the entire Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Gooden has worked across a broad range of technologies, from Low-Code/No-Code platforms to legacy frameworks and multiple programming languages.  He has successfully delivered a variety of solutions for the U.S. Federal Government that enable systems to adapt seamlessly to congressional mandates, agency policies, and program definition, all while achieving the mission objectives of the IT initiative.