Fellows

In recognition of their collaborative work with The Center for Forensic Science Research & Education in the pursuit of mutual knowledge or practice and in helping promote the mission of the CFSRE, the title of “Fellow” has been awarded to the following individuals in honor of their contributions:

Sherri Kacinko, PhD

Toxicologist and Adjunct Professor
Arcadia University and NMS Labs

Dr. Kacinko is a Toxicologist at NMS Labs and an Adjunct Professor in the department of chemistry at the Community College of Philadelphia and Arcadia University. She earned a Ph.D. in Toxicology from the University of Maryland and is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to arriving at NMS Labs, Dr. Kacinko worked for the National Institute on Drug Abuse and for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as a forensic chemist. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Toxicology and a member of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the International Society of Forensic Toxicologists.

Pat Harding, BS

Assistant Course Director and Instructor
Robert F. Borkenstein Course on Alcohol, Drugs, and Highway Safety

Patrick Harding retired as supervisor of the Toxicology Section of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) on December 30, 2012 after working 35 years at the WSLH. For more than 30 years Patrick functioned as a technical expert for WSLH alcohol testing programs and as an analyst for alcohol and other substances in biological specimens. Besides administrative duties related to the general operation of the Toxicology Section, his duties included coordinating the laboratory’s blood alcohol testing program, overseeing the administration of Wisconsin’s blood alcohol proficiency testing program and providing scientific support for Wisconsin’s breath alcohol testing program. Expert testimony in blood and breath alcohol cases (over 750), analysis of blood specimens, employee training and outreach activities were included in these duties.

Patrick has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and has completed numerous courses covering alcohol-related topics. He is a former chair of the National Safety Council Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs, on the Board of Directors of the International Association for Chemical Testing, is a member of the Canadian Society of Forensic Science, a member of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. He has co-authored papers on breath alcohol testing for the Journal of Forensic Sciences and co-authored a breath alcohol testing chapter in Medicolegal Aspects of Alcohol, as well as a special topic monograph for American Prosecutors Research Institute entitled “Alcohol Toxicology for Prosecutors.”

Allen Stewart, MS

Deputy Sheriff
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department

Allen Stewart is a Lieutenant with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office where he serves as the Bomb Squad Commander and Accreditation Manager. He has served with the Sheriff’s Office since 2006. Prior to joining the Sheriff’s Office Allen had served with the Pennsylvania State Police, retiring after 25 years of service at the rank of Corporal and in charge of the Troop K Forensic Services Unit. Allen has been an adjunct faculty member at Arcadia since 2009 and has taught Crime Scene Investigation Classes to both Undergraduate and Graduate Students. The Bomb Squad under his command has assisted graduate students from both Arcadia Forensics Science Program and the Jill Dando Institute for Security and Crime Science at the University College, London England.

Allen had earned his Master’s in Criminal Justice from St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA.

Karen Scott, PhD

Director and Associate Professor, Forensic Science
Arcadia University

Dr. Karen Scott is the Director of Forensic Science at Arcadia University and an Assistant Professor in Arcadia’s MSFS program. Prior to this, she held the position of senior lecturer and consultant forensic toxicologist at Forensic Medicine and Science, University of Glasgow, where she carried out post-mortem Forensic Toxicology casework and directed a MSc program in Forensic Toxicology. She has over 20 years experience in the fields of forensic and clinical toxicology. She is published in the areas of post-mortem toxicology and hair and alternative matrix testing and is a reviewer for three of the main Forensic Toxicology journals.

Dr. Scott has a Bachelor of Science (honours) degree in Forensic & Analytical Chemistry from the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, UK, 1994) and a PhD in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Glasgow (UK, 1998)). On completion of her degrees she carried out postdoctoral research in Tokyo, Japan investigating incorporation rates of drugs into hair. She is a Chartered Scientist, a Chartered Chemist and an Authorised Analyst for the purposes of Section 16 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act (UK). She is actively involved with SOFT and AAFS and was recently elected to the National Safety Council, Alcohol Drugs and Impairment Division.

Phil Danielson, PhD

Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
University of Denver

Dr. Phillip B. Danielson is a University of Denver Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences; an adjunct in the Sturm College of Law and a Fellow at the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education . He studied at the University of Tokyo’s Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. He oversees a forensic research and development program, serves as a forensic DNA expert in criminal proceedings and is a member the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Biology and DNA which promulgates standards for the US forensic community. In addition to forensic science, he teaches courses in Molecular Diagnostics, Infectious Disease and Immunology. Dr. Danielson specializes in the application of genomic and proteomic technologies to real world challenges. His research has been funded by the National Institute of Justice, the US Army, The National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Dr. Danielson’s research has been featured in books, academic and professional journals as well as the popular press including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Forensic Science International, The Scientist magazine, Law Enforcement Technology magazine and USA Today

Rob Middleberg, PhD, F-ABFT, DABCC-TC

Laboratory Director and Vice President of Quality Assurance
NMS Labs

Robert A. Middleberg is the Laboratory Director and Senior VP of Laboratory Operations of Operations and Quality Assurance at NMS Labs.  He is a Fellow of the American Board of Forensic Toxicology and a Diplomate of the American Board of Clinical Chemistry, and currently sits as a Director on both Boards.  He served as Toxicology Section Chair within AAFS, and was Chair of the Scientific Working Group in Toxicology from its beginning to its end in 2014.  He currently is a member of CAP’s Toxicology Resource Committee, and sits on the Toxicology Subcommittee within the NIST OSAC.  In 2013, Dr. Middleberg was awarded the Rolla N. Harger Award by the Toxicology section of AAFS for his contributions to the field and profession of forensic toxicology.

Jill Yeakel, MSFS

Lab Manager
Lehigh Valley Toxicology

Donna Papsun, MS, FTS-ABFT

Toxicologist I
NMS Labs

Donna Papsun is a forensic toxicologist at NMS Labs in Willow Grove, PA.  She has dual Bachelor of Science degrees from West Virginia University in Chemistry and Forensic & Investigative Science and a Master of Science degree in Pharmacology from Thomas Jefferson University.  She is also certified as a Forensic Toxicology Specialist through the American Board of Forensic Toxicology and is a member of both the Society of Forensic Toxicologists (SOFT) and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS).

Ms. Papsun has been with NMS Labs since 2008 and began employment in the laboratory as a bench analyst.  Her laboratory experience includes many different types of techniques and instrumentation, including ELISA, EMIT, FAAS/FAES, ICP-MS, GFAAS, ICP-OES, and GC-FID.  Through her Master’s thesis work, she has also gained experience with LC-TOF/MS and LC-MS/MS while developing and validating a panel for the detection of 10 designer drugs of the pyrrolidinophenone class, including naphyrone, alpha PVP, and alpha PBP.

Ms. Papsun’s main areas of interest are drug-impaired driving and NPS (novel psychoactive substances).  As one of the two leaders of NMS’s NPS strategy team, she continuously works to help maintain NMS’s leadership in identifying the newest trends in the changing landscape of the designer drug market and developing tests for their detection in forensic toxicology casework.

Aya Chan HosoKawa, MS

Toxicologist I
NMS Labs

Marilyn Huestis, PhD

Professor Dr. Dr. (h.c.) Marilyn A. Huestis recently retired as a tenured senior investigator and Chief, Chemistry and Drug Metabolism Section, IRP, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, after 23 years of conducting controlled drug administration studies. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Maryland Baltimore. She thoroughly enjoys mentoring doctoral students in Toxicology, has to date directly overseen the research of 16 distinguished new toxicologists, and currently has 2 students pursuing their dissertation research. Her research program focused on discovering mechanisms of action of cannabinoid agonists and antagonists, effects of in utero drug exposure, and the neurobiology and pharmacokinetics of novel psychoactive substances, the emerging face of drug abuse.