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Shashi Sharma, Ph.D.
SPADA Botulinum neurotoxin A Chair
Dr. Sharma received Ph.D. in Microbiology from University of Bhopal, Bhopal India. After Ph.D., he
joined Lupin Biotechnology as a Scientist where he worked on development monoclonal antibodies and
immunodiagnostics of HIV, Typhoid and Syphilis. He did posdoc from Department of Biochemistry,
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where he worked on the structure and function of
Clostridium
botulinum
neurotoxin and its associated proteins. Dr. Sharma joined FDA/ CFSAN, in May 2002. His
research focuses on the development and validation of an effective and sensitive detection system for
Clostridium botulinum
in foods. He has over 22 years of experience in
C. botulinum
research and
published several research papers in peer reviewed journals and holds an US patent on
C. botulinum
toxin associated proteins.
Dr. Victoria Olson
Microbiologist
United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CHAIR, SPADA VARIOLA WORKING GROUP
Victoria Olson obtained her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2001.
Her dissertation focused on understanding transcriptional regulation by the baculovirus
Autographa
californica multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus
immediate early protein (IE1). Dr. Olson then joined the
Poxvirus Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an Oak Ridge Institute for Science
and Education postdoctoral fellow in 2002. Her postdoctoral research focused on understanding how
Orthopoxviruses
interact with their hosts. While studying
Orthopoxviruses
, Dr. Olson completed training
and certification for work at multiple biosafety levels, including work with
variola virus
within the
Biosafety level 4 laboratories. In 2008, Dr. Olson became lead of the Virus-Host Molecular Interactions
Unit within the Poxvirus Team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She supervises 4
masters-level researchers, 1 post-doctorate, 1 veterinarian, and 1 technician. The Virus-Host Molecular
Interactions Unit focuses on research aimed at understanding how
Orthopoxviruses
interact with their
hosts and what measures are effective at abrogating disease progression and mitigating morbidity.
Since 2005, Dr. Olson has been closely involved in the validation of real-time PCR diagnostic assays for
use in clinical settings, with particular focus on obtaining regulatory approvals. During her 12 years
within the Poxvirus Team, she has contributed to some 39 peer-reviewed publications.