Dr. Shawn Wnek is a director of health sciences, senior toxicologist, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT). He has over 15 years of training and professional experience in the fields of risk assessment, chemical emergency response, human health and environmental toxicology, and industrial hygiene. Dr. Wnek obtained a B.S. in Biology from Baldwin-Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. Upon graduation, he worked at a contract research organization involved in developmental, reproductive, and inhalation toxicological evaluations to support safety assessments of pharmaceuticals, consumer products, and industrial chemicals in a variety of in vivo models. Dr. Wnek attended The University of Arizona and obtained a Ph.D. in the field of Pharmacology and Toxicology. His graduate research focused on the mechanism of arsenic-induced bladder cancer following exposure to arsenic and its metabolites.

As a senior toxicologist for CTEH, Dr. Wnek serves as a consulting toxicologist. His duties include providing guidance for human health and environmental risk assessments and remediation plans, leading responses to, and providing toxicological and industrial hygiene support for hazardous materials incidents, and providing toxicological support to healthcare providers and response workers with potential chemical exposures. Dr. Wnek has extensive knowledge and experience in the mechanisms and toxicities of a wide range of compounds including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), constituents associated with oilfield exploration and production, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides/herbicides, irritant gases, fire smoke and particulate matter, solvents, and metals toxicology.

Dr. Wnek participates in a wide range of projects involving chemical evaluations in various media including water, soil, and air. He is a responding toxicologist in the CTEH Toxicology Emergency Response Program (TERP). Dr. Wnek has performed a number of human health risk assessments and safety evaluations for various state agencies and industrial clients across the United States. Dr. Wnek is a member of the Society of Toxicology and the American Industrial Hygiene Association.