Cindy Bruckner-Lea, Ph.D

Senior Technical Advisor
Office of Science, Department of Energy
SC-2/Forrestal Building, Room 3H-051
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20585-1290

Email: Cynthia.Bruckner-Lea@science.doe.gov
Phone: 202-586-0302
Fax: 202-586-3701
Primary work location: Washington, DC

Dr. Cindy Bruckner-Lea is an expert in biological defense, with over 30 years of experience in biodefense and the development of chemical and biological detection systems for national security, environmental, and health applications. She received a Ph.D. in Bioengineering in 1990 from the University of Utah, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1985 from the University of California, Davis. Cindy joined Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in 1992, and she is currently on Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) assignment as a Senior Technical Advisor at the Office of Science in the Department of Energy (DOE), supporting biodefense efforts and serving as the DOE representative on the Biodefense Coordination Team that is implementing that National Biodefense Strategy. Prior to this assignment Cindy was a Chemical and Biological Defense Program Manager at PNNL, leading program development efforts with the Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. From 2005-2014 she was the group manager for the Chemical and Biological Signature Science (CBSS) Group in the National Security Directorate at PNNL. The CBSS group included focus areas in Biodefense, Trace Organic Analysis, and Optics and Infrared Sensing, and expanded from 40 to more than 60 scientists under her leadership. Cindy has served on two National Academy of Science Committees conducting studies related to chemical and biological detection, and was a reviewer for several other National Academy of Science reports assessing biosurveillance systems. She chaired the Sensor Division of the Electrochemical Society from 2002-2004, and she was a standing member of the NIH Instrumentation and Systems Development review panel from 2012-2018. Cindy has more than 10 patents and she has published more than 50 publications; including many that involve the development and characterization of biodetection systems. She was selected as an AAAS Engineering Section Fellow in 2009 and served a 3-year term on the AAAS Engineering Section Electorate Nominating Committee (2010-2012).