Senior Biologist
Defense Centers for Public Health – Aberdeen
Defense Health Agency

Dr. Valerie H. Adams, MS, PhD is a senior biologist with the Defense Health Agency Defense Centers for Public Health – Aberdeen Toxicology Directorate, formerly Army Public Health Center (APHC). She is an alumnus of California State University Fresno (BA Biology m. Chemistry) and the University of Guam (MS Biology) where she studied a predation induced plant defense response, participated in coral reef field studies and completed coursework in aquatic toxicology and environmental contaminants.  Dr. Adams received a PhD in Cellular and Structural Biology from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio, TX where she studied T cell responses to Chlamydia using a mouse model and in vitro approaches. She did postdoctoral research at Colorado State University in the field of chromatin biology and protein biochemistry. She attained her Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT) in 2016. She currently conducts in vitro testing to support Warfighter and Civilian occupational health and environmental safety and manages the Health Effects Division Toxicity Assessment program. Areas of expertise include genotoxicity, immunotoxicity, skin sensitization, cardiotoxicity, in silico screening methods, and method development. She has authored/co-authored over 40 technical reports, peer reviewed manuscripts, and a book chapter. Professional affiliations include Society of Toxicology and specialty sections (Mixtures, In Vitro and Alternative Methods). Dr. Adams is the president of the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) End Users Council (2023-2024) and the chairwoman of the DoD Tri-Services Toxicology Consortium (TSTC, 2024-2027).