Dr. Kristina D. Mena is Professor and the Jane Dale Owen Endowed Chair of the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences of UTHeath Houston School of Public Health. Dr. Mena earned a BA in Biology at Franklin College (Indiana), an MSPH at the University of South Florida, a PhD in environmental microbiology at The University of Arizona, and completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Kansas State University. Dr. Mena has over 30 years of experience addressing disease transmission through water and food using risk assessment and epidemiological studies. She conducted the risk assessment that informed mitigation strategies for athletes competing in water at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Her work has evaluated the health risks of children playing on beaches impacted by oil spills. In addition, she addresses health risks among NASA flight crew at the International Space Station. Dr. Mena completed two terms on the USEPA Chartered Science Advisory Board and the USEPA Drinking Water Committee, and has been an Expert Panelist for the National Water Research Institute.