Speakers

Debbie Ricker, Ph.D., is president of Hood College, where she leads the institution with a deep commitment to its core values of Hope, Opportunity, Obligation, and Democracy. Her presidency is focused on strengthening academic excellence, advancing student success, and positioning the College for long-term sustainability in a changing higher education landscape.

Ricker previously served as Hood’s provost and vice president of academic affairs, where she led significant academic innovation, including new undergraduate programs in public health, sustainability studies, art therapy, and finance, as well as the launch of the College’s graduate cybersecurity program. She also oversaw student retention initiatives, including the creation of the Office of Student Success, contributing to record-setting retention and graduation rates.

Before joining Hood, Ricker held senior academic leadership roles at York College of Pennsylvania. She earned a Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University and holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in biology. She has also completed executive leadership training through Harvard University and the Council of Independent Colleges.

Wardah Amir is currently a Senior Consultant at General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT). In this role she advises the State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control and Nonproliferation’s Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction (ACN/CTR) on programming meant to ensure chemicals are not used as weapons. The goal of her work is to prevent science from being misused to cause harm to human lives. In her previous role, Wardah served as a Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security serving as the Undersecretary’s lead advisor on issues related to chemical and biological weapons.

Wardah is a former member of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ Technical Secretariat after serving a year as an intern in the Office of Strategy and Policy. She is also a 2019-2020 U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration graduate fellow where she worked against nuclear smuggling. Wardah holds a BS in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University and an MA in security policy studies from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, where she specialized in issues related to weapons of mass destruction. As a Pakistani-American, she is fluent in English and Urdu. Wardah’s favorite job is being mom to her almost two-year old son.

Dr. Emma Bowers is a molecular toxicologist whose work bridges environmental science, molecular biology, and precision medicine. She earned her Ph.D. in Toxicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.S. in Environmental Biology from Hood College. Her research spans from uncovering air-pollution-induced inflammatory pathways at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to developing molecular biomarkers for cancer diagnostics at Texas A&M University’s Institute of Biosciences and Technology. Over the course of her career, Dr. Bowers has authored or co-authored 16 peer-reviewed publications and technical papers that advance understanding of gene-environment interactions and molecular toxicology. Dr. Bowers currently serves as a toxicology consultant and the founder of LabPair, Inc., a web-based platform designed to help scientists repurpose unused data and samples for new collaborations. She is deeply committed to mentorship and scientific communication, with a particular passion for supporting early-career researchers and empowering women in science.

Erica is a senior bioinformatics analyst at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research working with the National Cancer Institute with extensive experience in integrative NGS analysis, data management, and scientific communication. She earned her Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis with a focus on antibiotic resistance transmission among microbiota in resource-limited settings in Latin America. She was also awarded the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship. As an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at Washington University in St. Louis, she profiled the epigenomics of transposable elements across anatomy and development as well as in lung cancer in never-smokers. In addition, she was the project coordinator for the NIEHS TaRGET II Data Coordination Center, leading metadata standardization, data wrangling, and web portal development. She joined the CCR Genetics Branch OMICS facility in 2022, where she facilitates pediatric cancer research by NCI investigators by providing analytical expertise in state-of-the-art technologies, developing data management processes, and disseminating knowledge to trainees.

Hailing from Ghana - West Africa, Sylvia Sanni-Thomas attended the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and graduated with a BS in Biochemistry with the intent of pursuing a career in pharmacology. Sylvia however made a detour after university and indulged in her passion for fashion by working for a few Ghanaian fashion designers, and as a retail consultant for brand names like Dior and Prada in London. After transitioning to the United States, Sylvia worked with a start-up company called AlphaGenics, where the business model applied Wellness Genetics analytics to provide personalized insights into how a person’s core non-disease genetics impacts their everyday life. She joined the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, operated by Leidos Biomedical Research Inc. (formerly SAIC Frederick), in 2006 as a Quality Control Microbiology Associate with the Vaccine Clinical Material Program, where she’s currently the Quality Control Microbiology Manager. While working with the national laboratory, Sylvia has pursued a master’s degree in Public and Community Health at the University of Maryland, College Park. Sylvia’s enduring interest in fashion led her to establish her fashion accessories business, Kuubie Concepts, Inc. Sylvia also serves as a board member for “Gateway to Africa,” a nonprofit organization that aims to bridge the gap between the African diaspora and their ancestral history/culture.