Speaker profile
Tajah Blackburn
Tajah Blackburn is the current Senior Scientist in Efficacy Brach (EB) in the Antimicrobials Division (AD) at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She earned her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases from the Morehouse School of Medicine (Atlanta, GA) focusing on the host mucosal immune response to acute Helicobacter pylori infections.
Dr. Blackburn completed her post-doctorate research at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in therapeutic vaccine development. Her other post-doctoral trainings include a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (Baltimore, MD), and certifications in Biopharmaceutical Engineering at Temple University School of Pharmacy and Emergency Medical Technician-Basic (EMT-B) training.
Dr. Blackburn was the Efficacy Team Leader in AD from 2006-2012. As a Commissioned Officer serving at the rank of Commander in the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) for the past 18 years, Dr. Blackburn was an international pharmaceutical investigator with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), specializing in high-risk sterile pharmaceutical inspections in China, India, Europe, South Korea, New Zealand, and Australia.
She has also served as Section Chief in the Strategy and Outreach Branch in the Department of Homeland Security’s National Biosurveillance Integration Center (NBIC) where she responded to potential and imminent biological threats through 24/7 surveillance. She returned to EPA in 2018, bringing a wealth of experience and a renewed perspective on antimicrobial pesticide challenges and innovations.