Claudia Mickelson is Deputy Director, MIT Environmental Health & Safety Office, and MIT Responsible Official. She received her PhD in Biology from the University of Rochester in 1975 and proceeded to hold postdoctoral and Senior Research Scientist positions at various universities in the US and overseas (Scotland and Australia). She is former Chairperson of the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC); member of the FDA Advisory Subcommittee on Xenotransplantation; and the Advisory Committee for the AAAS Program on Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion. She initiated and chaired the planning committee for the IBC Professional Development effort of the NIH Office of Biotechnology Activities. She is a member of the NIH ad hoc Toxin Review Working Group. She has a particular interest in, and commitment to, the continuing development of Institutional Biosafety Committees and the Responsible Conduct of Research.