Leadership Team
RMPDS has been providing expert medical advice to the public and private sectors for over 60 years. During that time we’ve become well-established as one of the largest poison centers in America and a leader in toxicity, injury and disease research. We provide medical information & fulfillment, drug safety reporting and abuse surveillance services to some of the largest pharma companies in the world. We also have blazed a trail in antidote development and have managed many multi-center clinical trial programs for both orphan drug companies and major pharmaceutical corporations.
All this expertise adds up to one valuable offering to our clients: Peace of Mind. We aim to be the best in medical information, case management, safety reporting/pharmacovigilance, toxicology research and poison control. It’s better for consumers. It’s better for our clients. And it’s better for you.
Our Leadership
RMPDS is managed by a team of physicians, scientists, clinicians and academics that our clients rely upon and trust.
Richard C Dart, MD, PhD – Director
Dr. Dart is a physician specializing in emergency medicine and toxicology. Since 1992, he has served as the Director of RMPDS. He provides executive oversight for all operations of RMPDS, including the Poison Center, Drug Safety, NurseLine and Research & Consulting. Dr. Dart also is the Executive Director of Researched Abuse, Diversion, and Addiction-Related Surveillance (RADARS®) System – a premier network for monitoring prescription opioid and stimulant abuse, whose data assists pharmaceutical companies in fulfillment of their regulatory obligations such as risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS). Dr. Dart has much experience in drug safety surveillance efforts; specifically in characterizing and monitoring the safety of pediatric cough & cold products, over-the-counter analgesics and laundry unit dosage products (pods). Dr. Dart has published more than 250 papers and chapters as well as served as editor for the book The 5-Minute Toxicology Consult and the 3rd edition of Medical Toxicology. In 2002, he was recognized with a special citation from the Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He was the 2004 recipient of the American College of Medical Toxicology Matthew J. Ellenhorn Award for Excellence in Medical Toxicology. He is the 2017 recipient of the AACT Career Achievement Award. He also serves as a Deputy Editor of the medical journal Annals of Emergency Medicine and is past-president of the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
Nancy Botiller, MBA, MS - Chief Operating Officer
Ms. Botiller has an Executive MBA from the University of North Carolina and an MBA from the University of Colorado Graduate School of Business. She also holds an MS in Physical Therapy from Columbia University and a BS in Genetics from the University of California Davis. She joined RMPDS in 2020 to lead the organization in strategic planning. Ms. Botiller has served in Board roles for several non-profit organizations, including as an executive advisor to the Nurse-Family Partnership Board, as a Strategic Planning Committee member and as Board Secretary for the Board of Colorado Visiting Nurse Association (CVNA), and as a Board/Committee member for the Better Business Bureau of Greater Denver and Central Colorado, the “I Have a Dream” Foundation of Boulder County, and Care Synergy.
Andrew Monte, MD, PhD - Scientific Director & Medical Director
Dr Monte is the Scientific Director and Medical Director at Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Safety (RMPDS), and a Professor of Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He has a PhD in clinical sciences focused in pharmacogenomics. His research interests lie in personalized medicine and substance abuse and he focuses on improving drug safety and effectiveness through large scale epidemiology methodologies. Andrew has been funded by NIH, the DoD, and the FDA for his work and this has resulted in over 100 publications.
Brandon L. Ensign, BBA – Director of Medical Information
Mr. Ensign received a BBA with a concentration from the American Military University where he is completing a dual MBA in Finance and Healthcare Administration. Upon completion, he intends to pursue a doctorate in business administration or an executive PhD. Prior to RMPDS, he was a service member within the United States Air Force where he operated as an Airborne qualified Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC). After nearly 10 years in the armed forces, he gained relevant experience as the Vice President of Operations for a sales and technology company overseeing contact center operations. Mr. Ensign currently oversees the Drug Center which offers services to the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical industry in support of FDA regulation. He is also the Operations Director within the Poison Center at RMPDS.
Christopher Hoyte, MD, MBA FAACT FACMT – Medical Director & Fellowship Director
Dr. Hoyte is the Medical Director of the Rocky Mountain Poison Center. He is also the Fellowship Director of the Medical Toxicology Fellowship Program at RMPDS. He is an Associate Professor the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Section of Medical Toxicology. Additionally, he sits on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and is a member of the Medical Toxicology Subboard of the American Board of Emergency Medicine. He also is a member of the Editorial Board of Clinical Toxicology. Dr. Hoyte has published several book chapters in both emergency medicine and medical toxicology textbooks, as well as multiple peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts. He currently serves as the Medical Director of the Medical Toxicology Clinic at the University of Colorado Hospital. Dr. Hoyte attended Princeton University receiving his undergraduate degree in molecular biology and then attended NYU School of Medicine where he received his doctorate of medicine and received his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Colorado at Denver. He completed his medical toxicology fellowship at RMPDS in Denver, Colorado. Dr Hoyte is a fellow of the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and the American College of Medical Toxicology.
Kate M. Reynolds, MPH - Director of Research
Ms. Reynolds has her MPH from Drexel University and a certificate in Pharmacoepidemiology from the University of Illinois – Chicago. She has been working for RMPDS since 2008 and is the current Director of Research. Ms. Reynolds has led many projects to systematically evaluate the safety of medications and consumer products including surveillance of pediatric adverse events associated with cough/cold medications, acetaminophen safety in adults and children, snakebite antivenom efficacy, loperamide abuse, and the safety of liquid laundry packets. Ms. Reynolds has special interest in pediatric medication safety and is a member of the CDC PROTECT Initiative, which focuses on preventing pediatric unintentional medication overdoses. She specializes in using National Poison Data System (NPDS) and other secondary data sources to evaluate medication and consumer product post-market safety issues.
Shireen Banerji, PharmD – Poison Center Director
Dr. Banerji attended University of Texas at Austin and received her PharmD in 1996. She then completed a pharmacy practice residency at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) from 1996-1997. She began her career as a pharmacist in the setting of clinical pharmacy at a busy Chicago academic hospital; specifically as a critical care pharmacist in the areas of neurosurgery, neurology, cardiology critical care units. She entered the poison center world in 1999 at the California Poison Control System in San Francisco and quickly became certified as a Specialist in Poison Information (CSPI) where she stayed in San Francisco until 2001. She relocated to Denver, Colorado at that time, and begun employment at RMPDS as a full-time CSPI. In 2003 she passed the American Board of Applied Toxicology exam (ABAT) and was promoted to Clinical Toxicology Coordinator and in charge of poison center education and training of new SPIs. In 2018 she became Managing Director of RMPC and in charge of all administrative, operational, clinical and educational aspects for ongoing and new staff. Dr. Banerji has given over 30 presentations to health care professionals, and has authored over 50 poster or platform presentations, and over 17 publications. She is a Colorado Preceptor for pharmacy students from 4 different pharmacy schools, and numerous PGY1 and PGY2 pharmacist residency programs. She works closely with the RMPC Fellowship Director in the area of medical toxicology fellow and rotator education. She holds faculty appointments with University of Colorado School of Pharmacy, University of Wyoming SOP, Creighton University SOP, and Regis University SOP. Committee involvement includes membership on AAPCC, AACT, ABAT, SEOW (State Epidemiology Outcomes Workgroup), and the Colorado Retail Marijuana Public Health Advisory Committee (RMPHAC). Together with the RMPC Medical Director, Dr. Banerji represents the leadership team of RMPC