Tom White

Dr. Thomas White served on the Mesa Refuge Board of Directors from 2017-2020.

Tom is a scientist and researcher whose groundbreaking work in biotech led to new discoveries and diagnostic testing for a variety of complex diseases. Tom led teams of researchers at Cetus Corporation, Hoffman-LaRoche and Celera Corporation, where he retired in 2011. Throughout his career, he has co-edited four books and co-authored a hundred publications in peer-reviewed scientific and medical journals. Most recently, he was one of the editors of Silent Witness: Forensic DNA Evidence in Criminal Investigations and Humanitarian Disasters. The book provides an approachable overview of DNA practices across law, criminology, and social science; covers the recent use of genetic genealogies to help solve cold cases of past crimes; and reviews key reports on public policy and offers guidance for law enforcement on ethical issues regarding forensic DNA investigations.

Tom was a Regents’ Lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley in 2012-13, where he is a member of the advisory boards of the Human Rights Center, the College of Natural Resources, the SAGE Scholars program, and a Trustee of the University of California Press Foundation. He is a scientific advisor to the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) in Geneva and serves as a board member of Compassion & Choices.

Tom received his BA in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University, his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of California Berkeley, and spent three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia.