Frank F. Roberto, PhD, SM (NRCM)
Directorate Fellow, Energy and Environment
Idaho National Laboratory
SPADA BRUCELLA WORKING GROUP CHAIR
Frank Roberto received his BS and PhD in biochemistry from the University of California, Davis, and
University of California, Riverside. After a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular plant pathology at UC
Davis, he moved to the US Dept. of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, where he has conducted and
directed R&D programs ranging from biomining with acidophilic bacteria and archaea to rapid detection
of priority bacterial pathogens such as Brucella. For nearly ten years he worked closely with wildlife
biologists studying interspecies transmission of brucellosis to develop field-deployable DNA assays to
address bison and elk management issues in the Greater Yellowstone Area. He is a Specialist
Microbiologist in biological safety (National Registry of Certified Microbiologists) and has held the
Certified Biological Safety Professional (CBSP)certification (American Biological Safety Association).
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.