Team member: Dr. Eric R. Welsh

Before taking his current role, he was the Officer in Charge of the Navy Environmental and Preventative Medicine Unit Five. In that position, he had many responsibilities, including the analysis of industrial hygiene specimens, the readiness and deployment of two Forward Deployed Preventative Medicine Units supporting worldwide missions, minimizing vector-borne threats to public health, and performing contact tracing and mitigation guidance for emerging diseases and outbreaks. Additionally, he is an Inspector/Auditor for the National Laboratory Certification Program for the Federal Drug Free Workplace Program under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services, and has nearly two decades of workplace drug testing experience.

Dr. Welsh has served as the Director of the Office of Drug Demand Reduction in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Office of Force Resiliency. During this time, he developed policy for the Department of Defense’s Drug Demand Reduction Program, had oversight of six drug testing laboratories that analyzed 4.5 million specimens annually, and served as chair of the DoD’s Biochemical Testing Advisory Board and various other boards and committees. Previously, Dr. Welsh was the Navy Drug Testing Program Manager, Commanding Officer of the Navy Drug Screening Laboratory Great Lakes, an assistant professor of chemistry at the United States Naval Academy, and a biochemist at the Naval Research Laboratory.

Dr. Welsh has earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts and completed a military course of study with highest distinction from the United States Naval War College.