The dedicated team at Chemical Insights Research Institute knows their work can make a significant impact.
Our multifaceted group of professionals are committed to scientific research, publication, education, and communication on environmental exposures resulting from technologies and practices, their impact on human health, and processes for reducing health risks.
Vice President and Executive Director, UL Research Institutes' Chemical Insights
Dr. Russell Thomas is vice president and executive director of UL Research Institutes’ Chemical Insights.
Prior to joining Chemical Insights, Thomas served as director of the Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He has managed research teams in public, private, and non-profit sectors advancing the science of toxicology and environmental health.
Thomas has a broad, multidisciplinary background with a B.A. in chemistry from Tabor College in Kansas, and both an M.S. in radiation ecology and health physics and a Ph.D. in toxicology from Colorado State University. He performed his postdoctoral training in molecular biology and genomics at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research in Wisconsin.
Director of the Center for Exposure Science
Dr. Mark Wilson is the Director of the Center for Exposure Science within UL Research Institutes’ Chemical Insights. He oversees research to characterize chemical exposures associated with various occupational and environmental scenarios to conduct robust health risk assessments.
Mark received a PhD in Toxicology, an MSPH in Toxicology and Industrial Hygiene from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Georgia. Mark has been a Certified Industrial Hygienist since 2017. Before joining UL Research Institutes, he spent a decade as a faculty member, teaching and conducting research in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Tulane.
Mark serves as the Vice Chair of the Defining the Science Advisory Group of the American Industrial Hygiene Association and is a member of the Society of Toxicology.
Please contact Bert Kelly for media inquiries.
Email: Bert.Kelly@ul.org
Phone: (470)957-7854
Director of the Center for Toxicology and Human Health
Dr. Christa Wright is the Director of Toxicology at the Center for Toxicology and Human Health within Chemical Insights Research Institute (CIRI), a unit of UL Research Institutes. Her work aims to unravel particle and chemical mediated molecular mechanisms that cause cellular phenotypic changes, which may lead to disease development. Christa uses cutting-edge instrumentation to link chemical and particle emission exposures from various consumer products to adverse cellular outcomes using a systems biology approach.
Christa received a PhD in Energy and Environmental Systems with a minor in Environmental Toxicology and an MS in Cancer Biology from North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina.
After graduate school, Christa completed a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute postdoctoral training fellowship at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She previously served as an assistant professor at Georgia State University, where she taught undergraduate and graduate students. Christa currently serves as a standing member of the National Institutes of Health study section Environmental Determinants of Disease. She is the 2024 recipient of the Black Engineer of the Year Award for Outstanding Technical Innovation in Industry.
Please contact Bert Kelly for media inquiries.
Email: Bert.Kelly@ul.org
Phone: (470)957-7854
Director of Partnerships and Outreach
Dr. Cristi Bell-Huff serves as the Director of Partnerships and Outreach at Chemical Insights Research Institute (CIRI), a unit of UL Research Institutes. She is responsible for driving the institute’s partnership strategy, identifying and cultivating relationships with key organizations to advance research initiatives. Cristi ensures the strategic tracking and dissemination of research materials to maximize their visibility and impact.
Cristi previously served as a Lecturer and the Director of Faculty and Student Training in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. She has also been an engineering faculty member at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan.
Cristi received a PhD and MS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University, an MA in Education from the University of Michigan, and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Please contact Bert Kelly for media inquiries.
Email: Bert.Kelly@ul.org
Phone: (470)957-7854
Director of Communications
Bert Kelly is the Director of Communications for Chemical Insights Research Institute (CIRI), a unit of UL Research Institutes. In his role, Bert leads the institute’s efforts to amplify the work CIRI does in understanding emerging environmental health threats and their impact on human health.
Prior to his time with CIRI, Bert served as a public affairs officer at the CDC where he was a team lead in the News Media Office working with national and international journalists on a variety of communications requests.
Bert earned a BA in Journalism and Foreign Languages from Troy University and an MA in Communications from the University of Memphis. Since 2009, he has been a part-time instructor at Kennesaw State University’s School of Communication and Media. He is a former Navy Public Affairs Officer and a graduate of the Defense Information School.
Please contact Bert Kelly for media inquiries.
Email: Bert.Kelly@ul.org
Phone: (470)957-7854