Augustine Agyekum (Kwaku), PhD

Augustine Agyekum (Kwaku), PhD   is a business-minded Toxicologist, Head of Safety for a leading personal care and cosmetics company offering extensive experience in toxicology operations and strategy in customer-facing industries. Dr. Kwaku has over 20 years of relevant research at The University of Pennsylvania College of Medicine, Center for Research Reproduction and Women’s Health, Drexel College of Medicine, analytical laboratory testing, Prop 65 compliance, and Global Product Safety.  Dr. Kwaku has delivered executive-level leadership, rendered strategic oversight of the Global Product Safety function, supported the life cycle analysis of the personal care portfolio for his company. Additionally, Dr. Kwaku directs risk assessment and moderates clinical and non-clinical studies in conjunction with business programs and regulatory undertakings to authenticate safety and clinical claims for consumer products and has served on panels for NSF/FDA for cosmetic ingredient review safety. He earned his Bachelor of Science and Master’s and PhD degrees from The University of Georgia, specializing in Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology. 

Damani Parran, PhD MBA DABT is a Board-Certified Toxicologist, and currently the Regional PSRA Manager and Business Partner at a leading specialty chemicals company. His nearly 20-year career includes academic and government research in toxicology, and product stewardship and regulatory affairs (PSRA) support in the personal care and cosmetic industries. As Regional PSRA Manager, Dr. Parran provides regulatory and toxicology support to the Personal Care and Cosmetics Business. In addition, he provided key sustainability support, which helped the company remain a leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Prior, Dr. Parran was a Senior Research Scientist at Colgate-Palmolive in the Product Safety Group. Dr. Parran was also a Research Associate at Virginia Tech and received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in toxicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Dr. Parran also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializing in Sustainable Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.