WV Governor's Safety Conference Speakers

Keynote Speaker

Don Teater, M.D., MPH

Don Teater is a family physician who has worked in western North Carolina for the past 30 years. Since 2004, he has focused on the intersection of pain, opioids and addiction. Teater was the lead facilitator for the expert panel during the development of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain. He continues to work as a consultant with the CDC on educating prescribers on the appropriate treatment of pain.

From 2013 to 2016, Teater was the medical adviser at the National Safety Council leading their effort to reduce opioid abuse and overdose in the community and in the workplace. He continues to work with federal and state government organizations, medical organizations and nonprofits in addressing many aspects of the opioid epidemic.

While working on the public health aspects of the opioid epidemic, he sees patients one day a week, treating opioid use disorder and chronic pain in Waynesville, North Carolina.

Speakers

Michael Brumage, M.D., MPH, FACP, FACPM

Michael Brumage is the medical director for Cabin Creek Health Systems. He also serves as program director for the WVU School of Public Health's Public Health/General Preventive Medicine Residency and is an assistant clinical professor of medicine in the WVU School of Medicine. 

As co-chair of the West Virginia Adverse Childhood Experiences Coalition, Brumage is motivated to improve the lives of children and communities through educating the public on the profound impact of adverse childhood experiences and the interaction with the social determinants of health.

Katie Chimelewski

Katie Chimelewski, director of safety and certification programs at the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, is responsible for managing operations and expanding industry participation in the American National Standards Institute-accredited Safety Certification for Transportation Project Professionals™ program. SCTPP aims to boost the hazard awareness and risk management skills of all transportation project professionals who are in positions of influence—from project inception through completion—to cause a major decline in safety incidents. 

Chimelewski also is dedicated to the administration and execution of several federal safety-related training contracts, including the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse. Before joining ARTBA, she spent 13 years in a variety of safety leadership and advocacy roles at CSX in Jacksonville, Florida. She has a bachelor's degree in communications from WVU. 

David Fosbroke

David Fosbroke is a statistician at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Safety Research, Surveillance and Field Investigations Branch in Morgantown, West Virginia. Since joining NIOSH in 1991, his research has focused on the analysis of fatal and nonfatal injuries among workers in the U.S. construction industry, collaboration with the roadway construction industry to evaluate injury prevention measures and advocacy for improvements in worker safety at roadway construction sites. 

Fosbroke continues his interest in work zone safety while assisting the NIOSH Center for Motor Vehicle Safety conduct program evaluation and long-term planning. He received his master's degree in forestry from West Virginia University in 1993. 

Jennifer Hornsby-Myers, M.S., CIH

Jennifer Hornsby-Myers is a senior certified industrial hygienist in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Office, where she has served for more than 18 years. She has 20 years in the U.S. Public Health Service and previously served in the U.S. Army. Before joining NIOSH, Hornsby-Myers served as an industrial hygienist for the U.S. Department of the Army at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland. 

She currently serves as the EPRO regional operations director and is EPRO’s subject matter expert for preparedness and response activities related to chemical, radiological and nuclear events. She has worked on many NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluations, including several HHEs involving opioids and other illicit drugs. In addition, she served on the White House Interagency Working Group tasked to create whole-of-government recommendations for law enforcement officers so that these workers can safely respond to both protect the public and themselves during the current opioid crisis. Hornsby-Myers is NIOSH’s lead subject matter expert on recommendations to protect first responders from opioid and other illicit drugs in the course of their duties.

Van Ingram

Van Ingram is the executive director for the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy. He joined ODCP in November 2004, shortly after it was created, with the mission of coordinating Kentucky’s substance abuse efforts in enforcement, treatment and prevention/education.

Ingram served with the Maysville Police Department in Kentucky for more than 23 years, the last six as chief of police. He is a former president of the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police and was named “Kentucky Chief of the Year” in 2001. He is a former recipient of the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Law Enforcement, as well as the Melvin Shein Award for distinguished service to Kentucky law enforcement. 

Ingram is a certified law enforcement instructor and has trained officers across the state on a variety of topics, including community-oriented policing, case management and substance abuse issues for chiefs, sheriffs and command staff. He is a frequent speaker on a variety of substance abuse issues both in Kentucky and nationally.

Bruce Lippy, Ph.D.

Bruce Lippy began his career in industrial hygiene in 1978 working for Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Administration. He was certified in industrial hygiene in 1985 and as a safety professional in 1992.

He received his doctorate in policy from the University of Maryland in 2003. He currently works as the director of nanomaterials research for CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training.

Lippy has spoken on nanomaterials numerous times for national and international conferences and has served as a reviewer for guidance on nanomaterials by the World Health Organization and NIOSH. He was awarded Distinguished Fellow of the American Industrial Hygiene Association in 2015.

L. Christopher Plein, Ph.D.

L. Christopher Plein, Ph.D., is a professor of public administration and Eberly Family Professor for Outstanding Public Service at WVU. He also is an adjunct specialist with WVU Extension's Family and Community Development unit.

Plein is widely published on matters of health policy and community development and has been involved in research, teaching, outreach and volunteer activities at the local, state and national level.

Jan Rader

A native of Ironton, Ohio, Jan Rader joined the Huntington Fire Department in August 1994. Rader is the first woman to reach the rank of chief for a career department in the state of West Virginia.

Chief Rader holds a bachelor's degree from Marshall University and an associate's degree in nursing from Ohio University. In addition, she holds many fire service certifications and is a fire and EMS instructor in the state of West Virginia.

Since November 2014, Chief Rader has been serving as a member of the Mayor’s Office of Drug Control Policy. The purpose of this task force is to address drug addiction in Huntington and the surrounding communities, and to create a holistic approach involving prevention, treatment and law enforcement.

Chief Rader recently came to national prominence after the release of the short documentary “Heroin(e)” by Netflix in September 2017. Then, in April 2018, she was chosen as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.

Kyla Retzer, MPH

Kyla Retzer is a research epidemiologist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. She has published multiple scientific papers, book chapters, videos, hazard alerts, conference proceedings papers and surveillance reports on various safety and health topics, including on her most passionate interest, motor vehicle safety.

Retzer serves as a federal liaison to the board of the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety. She is the coordinator for NIOSH’s Center for Motor Vehicle Safety. She has a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Texas. She is based in Denver, Colorado.

Gary Tincher

Gary Tincher is a retired major chief of staff of the West Virginia State Police. Since his retirement, he has served as traffic incident management consultant to the West Virginia Department of Transportation. 

Tincher's duties include assisting in the development and implementation of the West Virginia Traffic Incident Management training program for first responders. Developing and maintaining partnerships with response agencies throughout West Virginia and developing training approaches and opportunities are an integral part of his duties.

In addition to being a national TIM master instructor and conducting trainings throughout West Virginia, he also assists other trainers with training information and needs.

Tincher is the founder and president of Mayday Consulting and Investigation, and serves as a district security officer for the U.S. Marshals Service, Southern District of West Virginia.

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