Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses
Committee Members and Staff
Kenneth Ramos, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman
Kenneth Ramos, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Translational Medical Sciences, Alkek Chair of Medical Genetics, Executive Director, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Associate Vice President for Research and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Health Services at Texas A&M University System. Dr. Kenneth Ramos is an accomplished physician-scientist with designations in the National Academy of Medicine and National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Ramos is a transformational leader recognized throughout the world for his scientific contributions in the areas of genomics and precision medicine and toxicology. With formal training in pharmaceutical sciences, chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology and medicine Dr. Ramos is helping to steer the changing landscape of medicine, biotechnology and healthcare. In this context, he leads several translational, clinical research and educational programs that integrate diverse approaches to elucidate genomic mechanisms of disease and to develop novel therapies for several oncologic, pulmonary, and vascular diseases. Dr. Ramos has provided academic, executive, administrative and scientific leadership in the areas of genetics and genomic medicine and toxicology at various academic institutions and over the course of his career has positively influenced the career of numerous clinicians and scientists engaged in medical, veterinary and pharmaceutical practice. He is deeply committed to initiatives that advance modern technological applications to improve the quality of healthcare and reduce disease burden and health-associated costs. He has published over 500 peer-reviewed manuscripts and abstracts in high-impact journals such as Blood, Cancer Research, Circulation Research, Nature: Genomic Medicine, Molecular Oncology, Nucleic Acids Research, Oncogene, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Jose Manautou, Ph.D., ATS, Committee Vice-chair
José E. Manautou is the Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Chair in Mechanistic Toxicology, Department Head of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Professor of Toxicology at the University of Connecticut (UConn) School of Pharmacy. His research focuses on the biochemical and molecular factors involved in xenobiotic-induced liver toxicity and the compensatory mechanisms that enhance liver resilience to repeated toxicant exposure. Manautou has authored over 200 publications, including research articles, abstracts, and commentaries. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences and the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Recognized internationally as a scholar and educator in toxicology, Manautou is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Current Opinion in Toxicology and serves as President of the International Union of Toxicology (IUTOX), representing over 25,000 toxicologists globally. He has contributed to multiple committees of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and has served on numerous NIH review and advisory panels. His leadership also extends to the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI), where he is Treasurer, a member of the Board of Trustees, and the Executive Committee. Manautou’s contributions have earned him several awards, including the Society of Toxicology Achievement Award, the Distinguished Toxicology Award from the Hispanic Organization of Toxicologists, and the UConn Provost Outstanding Service Award. He earned his BS in pharmacy from the University of Puerto Rico, a Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology from Purdue University, and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Connecticut and sabbatical training at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam.
Laila Abdullah, Ph.D.
Dr. Abdullah serves as Scientist III at the Roskamp Institute in Sarasota, FL, and as a Research Biologist with Research Services at the James A. Haley VA Hospital in Tampa, FL. She obtained her doctoral degree through a joint program between the Open University in the UK and the Roskamp Institute in Sarasota, FL. Dr. Abdullah has expertise in translational research focusing on Gulf War Illness (GWI) and neurodegenerative diseases. She has extensive experience in developing and characterizing mouse models of GWI to better understand the biological responses to toxicant exposures experienced by Gulf War Veterans. Her research aims to identify biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets to address the chronic symptoms associated with GWI. She has also initiated pilot clinical trials for GWI, designed to target lipid metabolism and mitochondrial dysfunction, based on her preclinical work using well-characterized mouse models of GWI. These trials aim to identify novel approaches to improve the general health and well-being of Veterans with GWI. Dr. Abdullah also leads a mass spectrometry team that has developed integrative omics platforms to study complex neurological disorders, allowing for the identification of bioenergetic disturbances and inflammatory pathways, particularly in the context of the APOE E4 allele. Her research focuses on using these technologies to develop and refine therapeutic approaches targeting lipid and mitochondria dysfunctions and neuroinflammation, aiming to improve health outcomes for Veterans with GWI. She has published in over 70 peer-reviewed journals in the fields of neurodegenerative illnesses, traumatic brain injury, environmental exposures, and Gulf War Illness.
Ronald Brown
Mr. Brown is an honorably discharged U.S. Army Gulf War Veteran, having served in the U.S. Army from 1989-1992 in the 82nd Airborne Division. He is an active advocate for Gulf War Veterans’ issues and currently works with Vietnam Veterans of America in Silver Spring, MD as a Toxic Wounds Consultant. He also works with the U.S. Department of Defense, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) at Ft. Detrick, MD. Some of Mr. Brown’s other Gulf War advocacy includes service as president of the National Gulf War Resource Center (NGWRC) that specializes in Gulf War Illness claims and working with Veterans to educate and assist them in the claims process. Mr. Brown’s Gulf War Illness experience includes working with senior Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD) leadership to address issues Gulf War Veterans face with each agency. He has worked directly with two VA Secretaries, Robert McDonald and Dr. David Shulkin, on adding brain cancer as a presumptive condition for Gulf War Veterans based upon VA’s own research; worked to educate Gulf War Veterans on understanding the evidence and documentation needed to file for VA compensation claims related to their service, and worked directly with VA’s Compensation Service helping to alleviate and prevent any mistakes occurring at the Veterans Benefits Administration regarding Gulf War Veterans claims. He has worked with two different DoD Under Secretaries of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to address chemical weapons exposure during Desert Storm, served as a consumer reviewer on DoD scientific merit peer review panels related to Gulf War Illness, burn pits exposure, and metals toxicology and participated in biweekly meetings with VA’s Office of Public Health to discuss Gulf War research.
Gracus Dunn, Brig Gen (Ret)
Brigadier General Gracus K. Dunn (US Army Retired) is a distinguished senior military leader with a 35-year career spanning various command and staff, leading soldiers from platoon through battalion, brigade and general officer command assignments within the United States and overseas. This includes senior level management experience assigned to the Pentagon in Washington, DC on the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Operations J3, Directorate for Regional Operations) and the Army staff/G4 (Logistic, strategic plans and operations), overseas joint assignment with US European Command (J3/Contingency Plans Chief) in Stuttgart, Germany and command of troops in Daegu, South Korea. As a senior leader, General Dunn has extensive experience in leading large organizational formations while developing and delivering solutions for strategic and operational management, training concepts, and military operations. Dunn is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, a graduate of Arkansas Tech University, Russellville, Arkansas (BA Music) and was commissioned from its ROTC program. He has a Master of Arts (Strategic Studies) from the Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania and has attended/completed National Security Executive Leadership courses at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, NC and at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. He is a lifetime member of both the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), has a lifetime membership with the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) and is a member of the ROCKS, Inc mentorship organization. This has allowed General Dunn to engage with many Veterans on numerous issues of VA concern. General Dunn continues to work with Veterans by collaborating with other civic organizations through speaking engagements and panel discussion related to VA benefits. This includes Veterans from WWII, Korea and the Vietnam era up to the ending of the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. General Dunn is honored to serve on this committee which continuously works to improve the healthcare and welfare of our Gulf War Veterans. His family resides in Woodbridge, Virginia.
Drew A. Helmer, M.D., MS
Dr. Helmer obtained his medical degree at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and his Master of Science in Health Policy and Management at the Columbia University School of Public Health. Dr. Helmer is an expert in deployment-related health concerns, the impact of combat deployment on the health and well-being of military service members. Dr. Helmer serves as Deputy Director of the Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness, and Safety (IQuESt) at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, TX. Previously, he was the Director of the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC) at the VA-New Jersey Health Care System and Associate Professor of Medicine at Rutgers University-New Jersey Medical School. In addition to caring for Veterans and educating providers about post-deployment health, Dr. Helmer studies healthcare utilization and outcomes important to deployed Veterans including chronic pain, exposure concerns, depression and suicidal ideation, mild traumatic brain injury and sexual health concerns. He has published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles and a book for a lay audience on these topics.
Harvey L. ‘Boe’ Marshall, Jr.
Mr. Marshall served with B-1/27 FA (Multiple Launch Rocket Systems) out of Babenhausen, Germany, in the Persian Gulf War (Desert Shield/Storm) from 1990-1991. He is a regular soldier. He is more than 100% service connected for the Gulf War Illness Presumptives (and others) and has completed (or is completing) his 16th clinical trial/study, including surveys, fMRIs, nutraceuticals (CoQ10, Bacopa, NAC, etc.), low-glutamate diet, spinal tap, bodily fluids, cognitive tests, and so on. As of 2024, he is a paid Veterans’ Advocate for the GWICTIC out of Nova University, FL (Gulf War Illness Clinical Trials and Interventions Consortium), advising researchers and recruiting Veterans. He works for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) for various panels, advising top-level researchers as a lived-experience Consumer. His degrees are Bachelor of Economics from New College and Master of Education (Mathematics/Statistics) from the University of Central Florida. He enjoyed a career in Education as a Math Professor at a local community college and private SAT Tutor/Career Counselor, and he now works as a photographer, videographer, and drone pilot. He has shifted his volunteer work from the local school district to Veterans. Otherwise, he is reading, wing foiling, playing guitar, or practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Mr. Marshall presents a Call to Arms to help our researchers help us (in and out of the VA).
Tom Mathers
Mr. Mathers is the co-founder of Allievex Corp. and serves as its President and CEO, and director. Mr. Mathers is also a partner at Pappas Capital, a dedicated life science venture capital firm focused exclusively on investing in the life sciences sector, where he focuses primarily on company formation. From 1988 to 1991, Mr. Mathers served as a captain in the United States Army and was awarded several medals for his services as an AH-64 Apache helicopter pilot in the 1990-91 Gulf War. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point earning a B.S. degree in Engineering. Prior to Pappas Capital and Allievex, Mr. Mathers was the President and CEO of CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which focused on the development of the drug lasmiditan which is used for the acute treatment of migraines. Prior to CoLucid, he was President and CEO of Peptimmune, Inc.; President and CEO of Cell Based Delivery, Inc.; Vice President and General Manager of Cardion AG and Vice President of Strategic Development at Genzyme Corporation. Mr. Mathers currently serves on the board of directors for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, where he is active in the areas of capital formation, bioethics, intellectual property and regulatory policy. He also serves as a business advisor to the Progeria Research Foundation and the DADA2 Foundation.
Delphine Metcalf-Foster
A U.S. Army Desert Storm/Desert Shield disabled veteran, was elected as National Commander for the more than 1 million-member Disabled American Veterans (DAV) in 2017. The Vallejo, California native’s military career included service with the U.S. Army Reserve, 689th Quartermaster Unit, 6253rd Hospital Unit and 6211th Transportation Unit, Letterman Army Medical Center. She retired from the Army Reserves with the rank of first sergeant and from the Department of Defense as a Quality Assurance Work Leader in 1996. PNC Metcalf-Foster is a life member of DAV, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. She currently serves on the First Serve Military Advisory Council and is a member of the DAV Department of California Claims and Service Committee and Northern California VA Healthcare Advisory Board. PNC Metcalf-Foster also completed a four-year appointment as a member of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Women Veterans in November 2015. For the last six years, she has also been a member of Congressman Mike Thompson’s Veterans Advisory Committee. Aside from her commitments on the state and national level, PNC Metcalf-Foster holds a Board position with the Solano County Habitat for Humanity and is on the Veterans Advisory Council for Sonoma State University. A graduate of Solano Community College and Sonoma State University, PNC Metcalf-Foster majored in psychology and liberal studies. She currently resides in Vallejo, California, and is the mother of three children, four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Sonya L. Smith
Ms. Smith is an honorably discharged Veteran of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, a health care professional and Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Department of Veterans' Services where she works closely with the local VA Medical Center and Benefits Office to maintain open communication, collaborate, and problem-solve on the issues and challenges in the New Mexico Veteran community. In the 1990-91 Gulf War she served as a medical technician in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Ms. Smith’s background also includes work at the New Mexico Department of Health as a special projects coordinator, specifically helping guide the efforts of the agency’s COVID-19 testing team. Prior to that, she served as director of compliance and primary care programs at Southwest Care Center in Santa Fe, and before that she worked as the clinical compliance manager at the University of New Mexico Truman Health Services clinic. Ms. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in health services management from Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia.
Elaine Symanski, MSPH, Ph.D.
Dr. Elaine Symanski is a professor at the Center for Precision Environmental Health, as well as in Epidemiology and Population Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine. She earned her Master and Doctoral degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a principal investigator on several research projects and serves as the Deputy Director of the Gulf Coast Center for Precision Environmental Health (GC-CPEH). Dr. Symanski’s research focuses on investigations of the independent and interacting effects of exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors on health, particularly among vulnerable populations. Her background in military toxic exposures includes serving on the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) committees to investigate respiratory health effects of airborne hazard exposures in the Southeast Asia theater of military operations (2019-2020). She was also part of the research team studying potential health effects associated with contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune (2007-2009). Dr. Symanski has published over 50 papers on the health effects of toxic chemical and metal exposures.
Jane M. Wasvick, RN, BSN, MSA
Ms. Wasvick received her bachelor’s degree in Nursing from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, ND and her master’s degree in Administration in Health Care from Central Michigan University offered at the Grand Forks Air Force Base. Ms. Wasvick has over 46 years of nursing experience in a variety of healthcare settings and levels of responsibility. Starting in Grand Forks as a surgical nurse, later advancing to the position of Development Director where she was responsible for coordinating building projects as part of the Flood Emergency and Recovery. Her further experience includes eight years as Administrative Director for Patient Services and Quality Improvement in a rural Minnesota hospital, where in order to provide services to the patients, it was necessary to develop new services, to collaborate with larger organizations, and to partner with physicians. She was responsible for developing and reviewing policies, financial management, human resources and quality improvement. During this time, she became a member of the Minnesota Organization for Leaders in Nursing (MOLN) and led the Professional Development Committee for MOLN organizing educational seminars for nurse leaders and sharing best practices with nurse leaders in the region and state. Ms. Wasvick also served as Vice President for Patient Care and Quality in a Critical Access Hospital, Nursing Home, and Rural Health Clinic in North Dakota where she negotiated contracts with larger hospitals to provide services including telehealth and therapy services. Most recently, she retired from a position as surveyor with The Joint Commission, an accreditation body for health care organizations, where she worked extensively with the Veterans Affairs (VA) Health System serving as a VA Team Leader and on special projects. While in this position, Ms. Wasvick was impressed by the VA leadership and staff, and the variety of services offered within the VA system as well as the quality of care offered. She felt it was an honor to work with the Veterans and the many people who assist them in so many ways. Since retirement, she is active in her church providing the music for services, plays in several community bands and works with her Relay for Life Team to raise money for the American Cancer Society.
Cheryl Walker, M.D., Ph.D
Cheryl Walker, M.D., Ph.D, Director of the Center for Precision Environmental Health and a professor in the Departments of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Medicine, and Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Cheryl Walker attended the University of Colorado, Boulder majoring in molecular biology. She earned her Ph.D. in molecular biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. She then enrolled at Baylor College of Medicine for her medical degree. Upon completion, Dr. Walker joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. In 2009, she joined the faculty at the MD Anderson Cancer Center as the Ruth and Walter Sterling Professor of Carcinogenesis. While serving in this role, she was the co-recipient of a Grand Opportunity grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for a two-year research program. Dr. Walker left MD Anderson in 2011 to become the director of the Texas A&M University Health Science Center (TAMHSC) Institute of Biosciences and Technology (IBT), where she was expected to establish a program in translational cancer research. Following this, she was appointed to serve on the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute and elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. As the director, she brought the TAMHSC into the Gulf Coast Consortia for Quantitative Biomedical Sciences and established the Texas Screening Alliance for Cancer Therapeutics. She also founded a Field-to-Clinic initiative in disease prevention at the IBT and oversaw the development of two centers of research excellence. Recognized for her success, Dr. Walker was named a 2015 "Women on the Move" award recipient by Texas Executive Women. Dr. Walker has over 200 publications in the scientific literature and her research on gene-environment interactions and environmental epigenomics has led to new insights into how early-life exposures reprogram the developing epigenome to alter disease susceptibility across the life-course.
Kenneth Wickiser, PhD
Dr. Wickiser graduated West Point in 1992 and served as an Army Aviation officer (signals intelligence) and as an Assistant Professor of Military Science at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez. He then earned his Doctorate in Philosophy from Yale University in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry having helped develop early microbial genetic searching tools to discover and characterize classes of RNA-based genetic control mechanisms in bacteria. He completed his postdoctoral research work in the Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-oncology at the Rockefeller University in New York City before serving as West Point faculty from 2007-2021, eventually achieving the rank of Professor of Biochemistry (with tenure) and Associate Dean for Research. At West Point, Dr. Wickiser founded the synthetic biology research program and the clinical research program identifying molecular and biometric biomarkers of injury and disease in active duty populations. At the outset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, Dr. Wickiser served as the West Point principal investigator for the DOD-wide RATE study which assessed the ability to predict the early onset of infection in a healthy warfighter using commercial-off-the-shelf wearable devices including smart watches and smart rings. The success of RATE has inspired the DOD to explore implementing the program across the population of all active duty service members. In 2021, he left federal service to help found the Global Alliance for Preventing Pandemics (GAPP), a center at Columbia University dedicated to technical workforce development, standardization of best practices, and dedication to transparent data sharing among international partner organizations in the fight to identify and contain emerging pathogens using advanced serology and next generation sequencing (NGS) techniques. Under his leadership, the GAPP team has trained lab scientists, clinicians, and public health administrators from Bangladesh, Ecuador, Germany, Kenya, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and the US Air Force Academy. Dr. Wickiser is dedicated to understanding the complex relationship between the environment and warfighter health to help develop technologies and policies designed to prevent and protect beforehand and to treat and rehabilitate following an exposure event.
Committee Staff Members
Marsha Turner, M.S. (Managing Director / Alternate Designated Federal Officer)
Marsha Turner, RACGWVI Managing Director and Alternate Designated Federal Officer, has extensive experience in clinical research initiatives with career focus on chronic and unexplained medical conditions. Ms. Turner has coordinated research initiatives within the VA since 2011 and was previously the National Gulf War Program Manager stationed at the Gulf War Research Resource within the Cooperative Studies and Epidemiology Center (CSPEC) in Durham, North Carolina. Prior to VA, she coordinated research for the UNC Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ms. Turner has a strong interest in improving quality of life for Veterans and their families living with multiple and debilitating health conditions.
Dan Sloper, M.A. (Technical Writer/Editor)
Dan Sloper is the Technical Writer and Editor for the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses. In this role, Mr. Sloper prepares, writes and edits documents for the RACGWVI staff and committee members. He received a Master of Arts in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Saint Cloud State University, Saint Cloud, MN. Part of his experience includes biomedical cancer researcher at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN. He also served in the United States Marine Corps from 1986–1991 working as a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Specialist. He is excited to be part of the RACGWVI team and helping to improve the lives of fellow Gulf War Veterans and their families.
Stan Corpus, B.A. (Program Coordinator)
Stan Corpus is the Program Coordinator for the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses. In this role, Mr. Corpus provides planning, coordinating, logistics, and administrative support for RACGWVI staff, and committee members. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership from Brandman/Chapman University, Orange, CA and a graduate of the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy Ft. Bliss, Texas. Mr. Corpus is no stranger to coordinating, having served as an Operations Non-Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Army, and was responsible for coordinating successful major deployments during his time in the military.
