Dr. Patricia Underwood recently joined TRC as Vice President with the Strategic Health Sciences Division. She offers over 27 years of experience in toxicology, human health risk assessment, regulatory science, and environmental management, including executive leadership roles at the U.S. Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.
In her former position as the Chief Toxicologist and Principal Director in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (DoD), Dr. Underwood oversaw all strategic aspects of chemical risk management and regulatory strategy for the DoD. She led all interagency engagement with Executive Office of the President (EOP) Office of Management and Budget and the Environmental Protection Agency on implementing and ensuring compliance with environmental regulations, including Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) hazard assessments and related rulemakings.
She is a recognized expert on PFAS management, including understanding the various forms of PFAS, their pathways into the environment, the potential for human exposure and subsequent health effects. Her experience engaging at the national level extends beyond the executive branch and includes providing numerous briefings to Congressional staff regarding the development of policy and regulation of PFAS. She has been actively involved in developing and implementing comprehensive PFAS management policies and mitigation strategies for the DoD. This includes promoting transparency within the supply chain to identify and assess the use of all chemicals, such as PFAS and those undergoing risk evaluations under TSCA Section 6, a topic she discussed on the All Things Chemical® podcast.
During her tenure, Dr. Underwood led the enterprise-wide exit from 3M PFAS critical to national defense, including the identification of over 350 major weapon systems that used 3M PFAS, the identification of alternative suppliers and when needed, strategies to address mission critical impacts from PFAS obsolescence. She also orchestrated and led the development of numerous Department of Defense policies directing the Military Departments to promote continued availability of PFAS critical to defense and implement a phased, risk-based approach.
She also documented this work through the development and delivery of multiple reports and briefings to the United States Congress, including the Reports to Congress of PFAS critical uses delivered in 2023 and 2025 and briefings to Congress on PFAS definition and impacts to fluorinated fire suppressants (F-gasses) in 2025. Dr. Underwood has co-authored numerous national level technical and policy documents on emerging contaminants, including PFAS. She served as chair of the EOP Council on Environment Quality (CEQ) Policy Coordinating Committees on PFAS Critical Uses from 2022 to 2025. She was an active member of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) PFAS working group and contributed to the OSTP PFAS Federal R&D Strategic Plan.
Dr. Underwood has a PhD from the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, an MBA from Duke Fuqua School of Business, a BS from Penn State University and is a board-certified toxicologist by the American Board of Toxicology since 2005.