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CHAIR BIOGRAPHIES
LINDA C. BECK, PhD, MT (ASCP)
LEAD SCIENTIST/MICROBIOLOGIST, CBR OFFICE
NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER
Co-Chair, AOAC Stakeholder Panel on Agent Detection Assays
Dr. Linda Beck works for the Department of Defense at the Naval Surface Warfare
Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) as a Lead Scientist/Microbiologist in the CBR
Defense Division. Linda serves as the Navy Chem Bio Rad Nuclear (CBRN) Action Officer
in the CBRN Defense T&E Navy Executive Policy Office. Her responsibilities include
working on the joint service CBRN Test &Evaluation Capabilities and Methodology effort
chaired by the Deputy Under Secretary of the Amy, Test and Evaluation (DUSA-T&E).
Prior to her current position, she worked for the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) for three years, and served as the Deputy Program Manager and Director for
Laboratory Operations for the BioWatch Program, the biosurveillance system designed
to detect select aerosolized biological agents. As Deputy, she provided technical
oversight, guidance, and management of the BioWatch Program’s daily laboratory
operations, National Security Special Events, and surge capability.
Preceding her DHS position, Dr. Beck worked at the NSWCDD and developed and
implemented the BioWatch Quality Assurance Samples laboratory, and served as the
Program Manager for the DHS effort at Dahlgren. During that tenure, she also served as
the Head of the Micro/Molecular Biology Section, supported the development of
methods for testing the efficacy of decontaminants on biotoxins, and served as a
Chem/Bio Subject Matter Expert on the Hazard Mitigation, Materiel and Equipment
Restoration Advance Technology Demonstration program
sponsored by the Defense
Threat Reduction Agency, Joint Science and Technology Office (DTRA JSTO).
In addition to her Federal government work, Dr. Beck has 15 years of experience in a
career in academia. She was a professor in the Biological Sciences Department at the
University of Mary Washington prior to her appointment as a professor in the School of
Allied Health Professions at the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth
University. During her academic tenure, she mentored numerous undergraduate and
graduate students through her research in the areas of genetics, microbiology, and
cellular biology.
Dr. Beck graduated from the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth
University (MCV/VCU) with a PhD in Pathology/Clinical Microbiology followed by two
years as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Medicine at MCV/VCU.