Gibbs Appointed to National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Committee on Respiratory Protection

Shawn Gibbs, PhD, MBA, CIH, dean and professor at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health, has been appointed as a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Committee on Respiratory Protection for the Public and Workers without Respiratory Protection Programs at their Workplaces.

The committee will examine the oversight and regulatory processes to ensure effective and appropriate respiratory protection for individuals facing inhalation hazards beyond traditional workplaces, including from respiratory hazards during public health emergencies. These inhalation hazards include those associated with severe air pollution, wildfires, pandemics such as COVID-19, and other disasters and public health emergencies. Regulatory approaches to meeting respiratory protection needs will be explored for a broader range of workers who typically do not have respiratory protection programs in place, as well as for the general public, including vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, and people with respiratory or cardiovascular disease.

Gibbs is an industrial hygienist whose expertise is in the disruption of highly infectious diseases, such as COVID-19 and Ebola virus disease. He has more than a hundred peer reviewed articles in industrial hygiene and environmental exposure assessment, focusing on environmental microbiology and disrupting transmission of highly infectious diseases. His research has helped to determine national policies, procedures and best practices for responders and health care workers to safely treat patients with Ebola virus disease, COVID-19 and other highly infectious diseases. Gibbs is sought after to lend guidance to national and international organizations, such as his appointment to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Board of Scientific Counselors-Homeland Security Subcommittee as well as work with the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command.