Global Cosmetics Summit

Kate is Senior Director, Science and Regulatory Affairs in the Research and Toxicology Department at Humane Society International. In this role, Kate oversees scientific and policy elements of our global campaign to replace animals in chemical safety assessment and research, work that involves coordinating with regulatory agencies, scientists, and policy makers around the world to facilitate the development and implementation of new scientific approaches for chemical assessment. 

Dr. Willett is a global leader in the science of non-animal methods and collaborates broadly in several international initiatives. She works with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Test Guideline and Adverse Outcome Pathway Programmes where she is a member of several OECD expert and management groups.

A past member of the US Environmental Protection Agency TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals and the National Institutes of Environmental Health Safety Scientific Advisory Committee on Alternative Toxicological Methods and currently sits on several advisory committees and boards for both industry and NGOs.

Before coming to the animal protection community over a decade ago, Dr. Willett spent fifteen years in biological research in both academia, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and industry, in a small start-up company that used zebrafish to develop preclinical tests for drug companies. She received her MS and PhD in Genetics from the University of California, Davis.