Society of Forensic Toxicologists, Inc.

1

Overview and Review of Forensic Toxicology - Part 1 (SOFT Continuing Education Committee Workshop)

This is part 1 of a 2 part workshop. Participants may take one or both parts of the workshop. The practice of forensic toxicology covers wide and multidiscipline fields of practice. Forensic toxicology includes drug and substance testing that are involved in fields such as performance enhancing in athletics, performance impairment in DUI/DUID, compliance monitoring in pain management testing, the ever evolving world in drug abuse testing, and post-mortem testing. While these fields are at times very different, they have the same foundation in common. This workshop will provide an overview and review of these basic toxicology principles and practices. This workshop is designed for individuals with a few years of work experience or individuals who are looking for a review of forensic toxicology. The workshop will cover drug ADME, math and terminology, instrumentation, current trends in drug testing, and interpretation of results.

Carl Wolf, PhD, MS

Justin Poklis, BS

Monday

Full-day

2

SWGTOX Standard Practices for Method Validation in Forensic Toxicology

Validation is the process of performing a set of experiments that reliably estimates the efficacy, reliability, and reproducibility of an analytical method. The goal of conducting validation experiments is to establish evidence which demonstrates that a method is capable of successfully performing at the level of its intended use and to identify the method’s limitations under normal operating conditions.

A survey of the literature finds there are numerous approaches used to demonstrate that a method is “valid”, yet they differ in their level of thoroughness. This suggests that some approaches are insufficient while others may be overly rigorous. The Scientific Working Group for Forensic Toxicology (SWGTOX) has developed minimum standards of practice for the validation of analytical methods used in forensic toxicology. This workshop will present a review of basic statistical principles, including an in-depth look at regression analysis for quantitative analyses. Examples and exercises will be provided to help demonstrate how to apply these practices in everyday laboratory methodologies.

Marc LeBeau, PhD

Jennifer Limoges, MS

Monday

Full-day

3

Solid Phase Extraction: Applications in Forensic Toxicology

From attending this workshop, attendees will learn about the chemistry behind solid phase extraction and its application in validation, practice and application in forensic toxicology. The various speakers discuss their use of this technique for gaining the maximum information from biological matrices in medicolegal laboratories.

Jeffery Hackett, PhD

Albert Elian, MS

Monday

Morning

4

Ethanol Facilitated Sexual Assault (SOFT DFSA Committee Workshop; Co-sponsored by the University of Florida)

Drug-facilitated sexual assaults (DFSA) and other drug-facilitated crimes have been occurring for centuries. Forensic toxicologists have become increasingly aware of their role in helping to solve these crimes over the last decade. Ethanol continues to be the drug identified with the most prevalence in DFSA casework. Even though this drug is well understood by the forensic toxicology community, it presents particular challenges to DFSA cases. Attendees at this workshop will hear from various professionals involved in different aspects of ethanol as related to sexual assault, from blackouts to the stigmas associated with a “drunk” victim.

Madeline Montgomery, BS

Laureen Marinetti, PhD

Monday

Morning

5

Identifying and Publishing Quality Research for the Bench Level Scientist (SOFT Young Forensic Toxicologists Committee Workshop)

Forensic Toxicology is continuously developing and evolving, making quality new research a vital key to the advancement of our field. It is important to stay current with research in the field both for the purposes of developing sound analytical methods and for proper interpretation of results. However, those actively working in the field are often times limited in the amount of time they can devote to traditional research. This workshop will explain the importance of continuing research in the field, offer advice on identifying and locating quality existing research, and provide suggestions on performing and publishing your own research.

Tim Grambow, BS

Jayne Thatcher, PhD

Monday

Afternoon

6

High Profile Cases in Toxicology - Lessons Learned

Presenters will provide their expertise and experience in High Profile cases they have testified in or worked on. Kathy Augustine, Roger Clemons, and Michael Jackson are a few of the cases that will be discussed. A focus will be placed on case do’s and don’ts, how toxicology was relevant in the case, the aftermath, dealing with the media and other problems a toxicologist is faced with in High Profile Cases.

J. Robert Zettl, BS, MPA

Diane M. Boland, PhD

Monday

Afternoon

7

Overview and Review of Forensic Toxicology - Part 2 (SOFT Continuing Education Committee Workshop)

This is part 2 of a 2 part workshop. Participants may take one or both parts of the workshop. The practice of forensic toxicology covers wide and multidiscipline fields of practice. This workshop is intended for the toxicologist with a few years of experience and will provide an overview of stimulants, cannabinoids, opioids, party drugs, atypical antidepressants and antipsychotics, and NSAIDS. An emphasis will be placed on basic pharmacology, impairment and toxicity.

Ann Marie Gordon, MS

Deborah Denson, MPM

Tuesday

Full-day

8

The Sober and Impaired Subject (SOFT Continuing Education Committee Workshop)

The workshop will begin with the audience observing the Standardized Field Sobriety Exercises (SFSE) on sober subjects. The subjects will then be taken off to another room to participate in a controlled “Drinking Lab”. The lecture will continue with the Concepts and Principles of the SFSE’s, the Three Phases of DUI Detection, Observations of the Eyes and the relationship of impairment to the Seven Major Drug Categories. The subjects will then be brought back in front of the audience and the subjects will perform the SFSE’s while impaired on alcoholic beverages. The audience will be able to utilize the drunk goggles to experience the effects of the different levels of impairment. Numerous visual aids will be brought in to assist with the demonstrations.

Dustin Tate Yeatman, MS

Nicholas Tiscione, MS

Tuesday

Full-day

9

Pharmacology and Toxicology of Synthetic Cannabinoids (SOFT Designer Drugs Committee)

Synthetic cannabinoids continue to be one of the most common emerging drugs of abuse. Though laboratories have been testing for these compounds for several years, there is still a deficit of information on their pharmacology and metabolism. Through a brief history of their use as drugs of abuse this workshop will update the toxicology community on the current status of knowledge. The synthetic cannabinoids will be described both from a forensic and clinical perspective as well as through the latest research.

Robert Kronstrand, PhD

Sherri Kacinko, PhD

Tuesday

Morning

10

Unusual Causes of Death: From Analysis to Interpretation

The analytical techniques in use (TLC,GC, HPLC) 10-20 years ago were quite adequate for their current use but were much to insensitive if an unusual drug was to be analyzed. The advent of immunoassays changed the analytical scene markedly. The increased sensitivity they provided made analysis feasible for a large group of substances, but some are still undetectable. As the staff developed expertise and funding became more available they moved forward with hyphenated mass spectrometric procedures (headspace GC-MS, ICP-MS, GC-MS/MS, and LC-MS/MS). Applying these techniques to routine analysis insured the desired sensitive and specific results. The pursuit of zero began. As the technology of analysis has grown, so have its applications. Attendees to this workshop will find author's suggestions that will resolve many questions, including exposure to unusual drugs (elements, plants, pesticides, gas), detection of unstable and complicated poison (cyanide), recent analytical development, new research in postmortem redistribution and finally, interpretation of postmortem results.

Pascal Kintz, PharmD, PhD

Jean-Pierre Goullé, PharmD, PhD

Tuesday

Morning

11

High Resolution Accurate Mass Spectrometric Methods for Toxicology

High resolution accurate mass spectrometric methods can detect drugs and metabolites with high sensitivity and specificity. Instruments with mass accuracy greater than 1 milli-Dalton (mDa) search for the presence of ions expected for a target compound’s molecular formula and measure the mass accuracy and abundance of expected isotope ions. Coupled with retention time matching, these methodologies provide highly accurate drug identification. Non-targeted screening for suspected drug intoxications also is possible when the toxicant is unknown. High resolution accurate mass spectrometry can identify unknown human metabolites of synthetic cannabinoids produced by incubation of the parent drug with human hepatocytes. This is an advantage not available by LC-MS/MS. With sensitivities similar to LC-MS/MS, accurate mass methods can be a better alternative for drug screening. In addition, high resolution mass spectrometry can simultaneously identify and quantify low concentration analytes of different chemical characteristics.

Stephanie Marin, PhD

Marilyn Huestis, PhD

Tuesday

Afternoon

12

Marijuana: Old Drug, New Data (SOFT/AAFS Drugs and Driving Committee Workshop)

Marijuana continues to be the most frequently encountered chemical in drug impaired driving investigations, and therefore it is the drug about which forensic toxicologists are most often called to testify. This SOFT/AAFS Drugs & Driving Committee sponsored workshop will review the pharmacology of marijuana, focusing on some of the more recent data available (i.e., chronic users); and include results from the latest driving simulator studies being conducted in Iowa. A current legal update will be provided discussing the impact of marijuana legislative changes such as decriminalization, medical use, and per se. Lastly, toxicologists will share their expert testimony as it relates to various marijuana DUID cases.

Jennifer Limoges, MS

Christine Moore, PhD

Tuesday

Afternoon