Michael Dourson has a Ph.D. in toxicology from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and is a board-certified toxicologist (i.e., DABT) serving as president/director of the 501c3 nonprofit organization Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA). Prior to this, he was senior advisor in the Office of the Administrator at the U.S. EPA. Before this, he was a professor in the Risk Science Center at the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine and also worked at TERA and U.S. EPA.

Dourson has co-published more than 150 papers on risk assessment methods or chemical-specific analyses, co-authored well over 100 government risk assessment documents, and made over 150 invited presentations to a variety of organizations. He has been elected to multiple officer positions in the American Board of Toxicology (including its president), the Society of Toxicology (including the presidency of 3 specialty sections) and is currently the executive director of the Toxicology Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization with a vision to help our public understand the essentials of toxicology.