EMERGING TRENDS IN SYNTHETIC DRUGS WORKSHOP

SPEAKER BIOS

Page 1 of 4

Nicole Astor has been with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Division of Forensic Sciences, since 

1998. She currently serves as the Chemistry Discipline Technical Leader, and oversees instrumental and 

analytical method development in both Drug Identification and Fire Debris Analysis. Additionally, she is 

the designated primary trainer for the discipline. She has been declared an expert in Drug Identification 

in both state and federal courts. Ms. Astor is an American Board of Criminalistics Fellow in Drug Analysis 

and is also an active member of CLIC and SAFS.

Robert Bell is a Supervisory Special Agent at the Drug Enforcement Administration Office of Diversion

Control. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice Sciences from Illinois State University in 

1989. He began his law enforcement career as a Police Officer with the St. Charles (Illinois) Police 

Department in 1990. In 1993, Special Agent Bell was assigned to an Illinois State Police Drug Task Force, 

where he served until beginning his DEA career in 1995. Special Agent Bell’s first field assignment was in 

the Detroit Division Office. In 2006, Special Agent Bell was promoted to Group Supervisor at the 

Milwaukee District Office, where he supervised a Task Force Group comprised of DEA Agents and a 

variety of State and Local Officers. In 2011, Special Agent Bell rotated to DEA Headquarters, where he is 

currently assigned to the Synthetic Drugs and Chemicals Section, under the Office of Diversion Control. 

In this assignment, Special Agent Bell focuses on supporting investigations of synthetic drug suppliers 

and traffickers, and developing strategies and policy to combat the synthetic designer drug threat and 

hazards to public safety.

Dr. Terrence Boos is the Acting Chief of the Drug & Chemical Evaluation Section, Office of Diversion 

Control, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA, U.S. Department of Justice). Terrence Boos received 

his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Auburn University in 1993 and his Ph.D. in Organic 

Chemistry from Auburn University in 2002. Postdoctoral studies were conducted in the Laboratory of 

Medicinal Chemistry, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH with Dr. 

Kenner C. Rice and prior to joining DEA in 2007, Dr. Boos was a Research Fellow in the Drug Design and 

Synthesis Section, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH.

Jeffrey Comparin is the Laboratory Director of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Special Testing 

and Research Laboratory (STRL). Mr. Comparin began his career with DEA as a forensic chemist in 1989 

at the DEA Southwest Laboratory. He was promoted to Supervisory Chemist in the DEA Western 

Laboratory in 1997 and became a Program Manager in DEA HQ in 2000. He was promoted to his current 

position in 2002. Mr. Comparin now oversees all operations within STRL including the Cocaine and 

Heroin Signature Programs, the Methamphetamine Profiling Program, and the Emerging Trends and 

Reference Materials Programs. 

Andrew Cunningham joined the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Lisbon, 

Portugal as a Scientific Analyst in summer 2012. He is currently responsible for the day-to-day running of 

the European Union’s Early warning system for new psychoactive substances. Andrew is a forensic 

chemist who started his police career in 1996 when he was appointed Forensic Chemist at the 

Strathclyde Police Forensic Science Laboratory in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2001, he took charge of the 

forensic drug laboratory in Glasgow, one of the busiest of such units in the United Kingdom. From 2004 

to 2012 he was employed as the Forensic Science Manager of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement 

Agency, the police body with the mandate to tackle organised crime in Scotland. Amongst other tasks, 

he coordinated a network of Scottish forensic scientists at the forefront of monitoring for the 

emergence of new drugs. 
EMERGING TRENDS IN SYNTHETIC DRUGS WORKSHOP

SPEAKER BIOS

Page 2 of 4

Emily Dye is a forensic chemist in the Emerging Trends Program at the Drug Enforcement Administration 

Special Testing and Research Laboratory. Ms. Dye began her career with DEA as a chemist in 2010 and 

has analyzed approximately 100 synthetic cannabinoid and substituted cathinone exhibits for the 

Emerging Trends Program. She has also provided training to approximately 100 federal, state, and local 

chemists and law enforcement officers regarding synthetic drugs.

Roxanne Franckowski is a Senior Forensic Chemist in the Reference Materials Program with the Drug 

Enforcement Administration Special Testing and Research Laboratory. Ms. Franckowski began her career 

with DEA as a chemist in 2003 and has been responsible for the authentication, distribution, and 

inventory of thousands of reference materials since 2005. She has presented on a variety of topics, 

including reference materials, to thousands of state, federal, and international chemists throughout 

hundreds of agencies for several DEA Forensic Chemist Seminars. Ms. Franckowski has also performed 

research and presented in the area of tablet toolmarks for the DEA Source Determination Program. 

Joseph Graves is the Crime Lab Analyst Supervisor in the Drug Chemistry section with the Florida 

Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Pensacola Regional Operations Center. He received his 

Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from Florida State University. He began his career in 

Forensics in 2005 with FDLE as a bench chemist. He has been supervisor of the section since 2008. 

Joseph is the co-curator of the Designer Drug Information Repository for the FDLE crime lab system. He 

frequently presents to the criminal justice system on Designer Drugs, as Northwest Florida has been a 

hotbed of designer drug activity since 2010. He is part of the editorial committee for 

ForensicDrugReview.com.

Jill Head is the Supervisory Chemist of the Emerging Trends and Reference Materials Programs at the 

Drug Enforcement Administration Special Testing and Research Laboratory. Ms. Head began her career 

with DEA as a chemist in 2004 and has served as the laboratory’s Training Officer for the last six years. 

She also served as the DEA Forensic Chemist Seminar coordinator, providing training to thousands of 

state, federal, and international chemists throughout hundreds of agencies. Ms. Head now supervises 

two programs within DEA focusing on the analysis and research of emerging synthetic drugs as well as 

the authentication and distribution of reference materials.

Professor Marilyn Huestis is a senior investigator and Chief, CDM, NIDA, NIH and Adjunct Professor,

University of Maryland School of Medicine. Her research includes mechanisms of action of cannabinoid 

agonists and antagonists, effects of in utero drug exposure, and the pharmacodynamics and 

pharmacokinetics of designer drugs. She has published 295 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Professor 

Huestis received a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland. 

Other awards include TIAFT Alan Curry, AACC Outstanding Contributions in a Selected Area of Research, 

IATDMCT Irving Sunshine, AAFS Rolla N. Harger Award, and Irving Sunshine Award for Outstanding 

Research in Forensic Toxicology.

Linda Jackson currently serves as Director of the Virginia Department of Forensic Science. She has a B.S.

degree from Wake Forest University and an M.S. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at 

Charlotte. She began her career with DFS in 1995 as a Controlled Substances Examiner and then was 

promoted to Section Supervisor, Controlled Substances Section Chief and Chemistry Program Manager 

before assuming her current position. She serves on the international Scientific Working Group for 

Seized Drug Analysis (SWGDRUG), is a member of Mid-Atlantic Association of Forensic Scientists 
EMERGING TRENDS IN SYNTHETIC DRUGS WORKSHOP

SPEAKER BIOS

Page 3 of 4

(MAAFS), Clandestine Laboratory Investigating Chemists Association (CLIC) and served on the federal 

Interagency Working Group on Standards, Practices and Protocols. 

John Paul Jones II is a Program Manager with the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s 

(NIST) Law Enforcement Standards Office (OLES). He is currently researching the state of the Scientific 

Working Groups (SWGs) in the forensic industry and executing conferences to promote the application 

of advancements in measurement science to various forensic science disciplines. Mr. Jones has more 

than 14 years of scientific and management experience in the forensic industry. He previously served as 

an Innovation Technology Advisor with the Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency 

where he managed programs that involved deployable forensic laboratories, sensitive site exploitation 

training, and development of various weapons of mass destruction detection technologies. Mr. Jones 

also served as a Program Manager with NIJ, where he managed the Forensic Technology Center of 

Excellence and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons Systems (NamUs). He received his 

bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Virginia Tech and a master’s of business administration from 

Carnegie Mellon University. 

Dr. Barry K. Logan is Director of Forensic Services for NMS Labs, in Willow Grove PA. He is Board 

Certified by the American Board of Forensic Toxicologists (ABFT), and has over 90 publications in 

toxicology and analytical chemistry, and most recently specializing in impaired driving research. He also 

serves as Executive Director at the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education in suburban 

Philadelphia. The Center supports educational programs in the forensic sciences for high school, and 

graduate students and continuing professional education for forensic science professionals. Dr. Logan 

currently serves as President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Jeremy Morris is a Forensic Scientist with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office Criminalistics Laboratory 

in Kansas and previously worked for the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Jeremy has over ten years of 

experience in forensic drug chemistry and has presented or taught workshop in the analysis of 

controlled substances at several locations in the United States. Past research interests have involved 

GHB, steroids, and solution stability of samples from methamphetamine laboratories. Recently, Jeremy 

has served as the Principle Investigator for a research project through the MFRC which has gathered 

analytical data for numerous emerging drugs of abuse. 

Scott R. Oulton has been employed with the Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration 

(DEA) since 1990 and has worked in various positions (Chemist, Supervisor, Program Manager, Section 

Chief, Associate Laboratory Director/Quality Assurance Manager and Laboratory Director) throughout 

the administration. In 2011, Mr. Oulton was appointed to the Senior Executive Service of the United 

States of America as the Associate Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Office of Forensic Sciences. He 

oversees nine decentralized and six sub-regional laboratories and two headquarter sections that provide

analytical, intelligence, scientific and other forensic and administrative support, to special agents of the 

DEA, other federal law enforcement officers, and to the criminal justice system at large. Mr. Oulton is 

very active in the scientific community as demonstrated by his involvement in many forensic science 

organizations. Of particular note, Mr. Oulton serves as the Chair of the Scientific Working Group for the 

Analysis of Seized Drugs (SWGDRUG) and a former board member of the American Society of Crime 

Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board.

John Przybylski is currently the Section Supervisor of the Controlled Substances section in the Richmond 

laboratory of the Virginia Department of Forensic Science (VADFS). Mr. Przybylski has been employed in 
EMERGING TRENDS IN SYNTHETIC DRUGS WORKSHOP

SPEAKER BIOS

Page 4 of 4

varying capacities in the Controlled Substances section of VADFS for over twelve years. He has a B.S in 

Biology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a M.S. in Criminal Justice-Forensic 

Science from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Association of 

Forensic Scientists (MAAFS) and the Clandestine Laboratory Investigating Chemists Association (CLIC).

Lindsay Reinhold is a Forensic Chemist IV at NMS Labs and co-founder and Chair of the Advisory 

Committee for the Evaluation of Controlled Substance Analogs. She received her B.S. from the College 

of William & Mary and her M.F.S. from the George Washington University. She is certified in Drug 

Analysis by the American Board of Criminalistics. In 13 years, Ms. Reinhold has worked in both public 

and private controlled substances laboratories and has handled cases for both prosecutorial and 

defense clients. In the last three years, Ms. Reinhold’s work has focused primarily on the emerging 

synthetic designer drugs.

Roger Schneider has worked as a forensic scientist for 25 years at both local- and state-level crime 

laboratories. During that time he has worked in the areas of controlled substances, clandestine 

laboratories and forensic biology/ DNA. Current work projects include the introduction of portable 

laboratory devices into the field to expand the Phoenix Police Department’s field drug identification 

program and the conversion of GC/MS instrumentation from helium to hydrogen as the carrier gas. He 

supervises the Controlled Substances Section of the Phoenix Police Department Laboratory Services 

Bureau.

Dr. Peter Stout is a Senior Research Forensic Scientist in the Center for Forensic Sciences at RTI, and has 

more than 15 years of experience in forensic urine drug testing, postmortem toxicology, and human 

performance testing laboratories. Dr. Stout is an active member of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists. 

He is an American Academy of Forensic Sciences Fellow and currently serves as its Toxicology Section 

Chair. He is a laboratory inspector for the National Laboratory Certification Program and American 

Board of Forensic Toxicology. At RTI, Dr. Stout has served as the Project Leader for the Pilot Oral Fluid 

Performance Testing Program. He also serves as Co-PI on several forensic science projects, including 

Technology Transfer Strategies of Forensic Science Research and Development to the Practitioner End 

User.

James Wesley has worked for 35 years in Clinical Toxicology and Forensic Drug Analysis. He is currently 

the drug chemistry supervisor of a county crime lab based in Rochester, NY. In addition, he taught a 

graduate course for ten years at R.I.T. titled Toxicology & Drug Analysis. He has presented over 130 

times in a range of subjects including; Synthetic Drugs, Street Drugs, Forensic Photography, Drug 

Facilitated Sexual Assault, Raves & Club Drugs, Drug Use in Sport, Drugs in Movies and Music, Police 

Drug Field Tests, Psychoactive Herbs & Resin Incense, Your Lab in Court, Sports Drinks, Energy Drinks, 

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning and Indoor Air Quality. He has published several times in Microgram and in 

other scientific journals.

Joshua Yohannan is a Forensic Chemist in the Emerging Trends Program at the Drug Enforcement 

Administration Special Testing and Research Laboratory. Mr. Yohannan began his career with the 

Baltimore Police Department as a crime scene technician before moving into the drug analysis unit. He 

then went to the Howard County Police Department as a forensic chemist. He started his DEA career as

a chemist in 2010 and has analyzed over 100 exhibits containing synthetic cannabinoids and substituted 

cathinones. He has also provided training for over 100 federal, state and local chemists and law 

enforcement personnel. Mr. Yohannan also routinely works on unknowns using GCMS and NMR to 

identify these substances.