Drugs and Human Performance FACT SHEETS - Biographical Sketches of Lead Authors and Main ContributorsLead Authors

Dr. Fiona J. Couper received her B.Sc. (Honors) degree in Pharmacology/Toxicology and her Ph.D. degree in Forensic Medicine/Toxicology from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. During this period, Dr. Couper also worked as a forensic toxicologist at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) in Melbourne. From 1997-1998, Dr. Couper held a postdoctoral fellowship position at the National Institute of Forensic Sciences and the VIFM, and in late 1998 became a senior research fellow at the University of Washington and the Washington State Toxicology Laboratory, in Seattle, U.S.A. Dr. Couper is now the Chief Toxicologist at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Washington D.C. Dr. Couper’s research has focused on the effects of prescription and illicit drugs on driving impairment, the use of drugs to facilitate sexual assaults, GHB and drug overdoses in the emergency room, and the prevalence of drug use in various community groups. Dr. Couper is also an active member of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists (SOFT), the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), and the International Association of Forensic Toxicologists. Additionally, she is the chair of the Joint AAFS/SOFT Drugs and Driving Committee.

Barry Logan, Ph.D.

Dr. Barry K. Logan was born in Bearsden, Scotland, and earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry and Ph.D. in forensic toxicology from the University of Glasgow. In 1986 he accepted a research position in the Department of Toxicology and Chemical Pathology at the University of Tennessee in Memphis. In 1990 he joined the faculty of the University of Washington (UW) in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and was appointed Washington State Toxicologist. In 1999 the Washington State Toxicology Laboratory merged with the Washington State Patrol, and Dr. Logan was named Director of the newly created Forensic Laboratory Services Bureau. In addition to his duties as State Toxicologist and Clinical Assistant Professor at UW, he oversees operations of the State Patrol Crime Laboratories, Breath Test Section, and Implied Consent Section. Dr. Logan has more than 70 publications in the field of forensic toxicology and drug analysis, and is Board Certified by the American Board of Forensic Toxicology. He has been elected to the National Safety Council's Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs and to the International Council on Alcohol, Drugs, and Traffic Safety, and has served as a consultant to the National Institute of Justice, the United Nations Drug Control Program, and numerous state agencies. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, an active member of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists, and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Forensic Sciences and the Journal of Analytical Toxicology. His current research interests include stimulant use and driving impairment, drug interactions and postmortem toxicology, and drug facilitated sexual assault.

Main Contributors

Michael Corbett, Ph.D.

Dr. Michael R. Corbett received his B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry from the University of Toronto, the last being conferred in 1989. He is also the coordinator, and an instructor, in the forensic science courses offered through the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto, and has supervised undergraduate students in research projects at the Department of Pharmacology. Dr. Corbett received the prestigious "Excellence in Teaching Award" for overall cumulative achievement in 2001. Dr. Michael Corbett is currently a senior forensic toxicologist in the Province of Ontario in Canada. In the area of alcohol, other drugs, and the operation of motor vehicles, Dr. Corbett has been directly involved in over 2500 cases. He is a designated analyst pursuant to the Criminal Code of Canada. He has provided educational programs on alcohol screening devices and instruments, including human subject testing, to police, lawyers, judges, media, and university students. Dr. Corbett serves as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Analytical Toxicology. He belongs to numerous professional peer organizations including the AAFS, SOFT and The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT). He also participates in committees including the Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs of the Highway Traffic Safety Division of the National Safety Council and the Joint AAFS/SOFT Drugs and Driving Committee. Dr. Corbett is certified as a Diplomat in Forensic Toxicology by the American Board of Forensic Toxicology (D-ABFT).

Laurel Farrell, M.S.

Ms. Laurel J. Farrell received her B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Northern Colorado in 1979. Ms. Farrell then worked for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for over twenty-one years serving in a variety of capacities in the drug and alcohol analytical laboratories. For the last half of her employment she served as the staff authority in the toxicology laboratory routinely providing expert testimony in Colorado courts and in US District Court on the effects of alcohol and other drugs on human performance. For the last two and half years, Ms. Farrell has been assigned to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation's Denver Laboratory. She is a member of several professional organizations. As an active member of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists, she has just finished seven years as an officer/director serving as President in 2002. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and served as Chair of the Joint AAFS/SOFT Drugs and Driving Committee from 2000-2002 and as a member on this committee from 1995 to the present. Over that time period, Ms. Farrell has assisted in coordinating a number of continuing education workshops in the area of drug impaired driving and has recently served a guest editor for two volumes of Forensic Science Review focusing on the Effects of Drugs on Human Performance and Behavior. She is also an elected member of the National Safety Council's Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs and the International Council on Alcohol, Drugs, and Traffic Safety.

Marilyn Huestis, Ph.D.

Dr. Marilyn A. Huestis is the Acting Chief, Chemistry and Drug Metabolism Section (CDM), Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Research Branch, Intramural Research Program (IRP), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), NIH. Dr. Huestis conducts controlled drug administration studies and directs the core chemistry laboratory of the IRP, NIDA. She has worked in the fields of clinical and emergency toxicology, therapeutic drug monitoring, urine drug testing, and forensic toxicology, which have provided a unique background and the knowledge and experience necessary for drug abuse research. Her research focuses on the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of drugs of abuse. Special areas of interest include cannabinoids, alternate matrices for drug analysis, correlations of blood levels of drugs with performance effects, medication development projects including the buprenorphine as a pharmacotherapeutic agent in opioid dependence, and in utero drug exposure. Pregnant opiate addicts receiving buprenorphine or methadone as part of their treatment program have provided a unique opportunity to study the disposition of drugs in the mother and fetus, and the relationship between drug concentrations in a wide variety of biological specimens and maternal and neonatal outcome measures. Dr. Huestis hopes to develop a better understanding of drug abuse in women and the consequent drug exposure of neonates and children. Dr. Huestis is the principal investigator of several phase I clinical studies evaluating the effects of the cannabinoid receptor antagonist, SR 141716 in cannabis users. Dr. Huestis received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Mount Holyoke, a master's degree in clinical chemistry from the University of New Mexico, and a doctoral degree in toxicology from the University of Maryland in Baltimore. Dr. Huestis has been working in the fields of forensic and analytical toxicology, and clinical chemistry for more than thirty years and is recognized nationally and internationally for her contributions to the field. She has published extensively in these fields and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Analytical Toxicology. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Toxicology program of the University of Maryland at Baltimore and directs graduate and post-graduate student research. Dr. Huestis is currently President of the International Association of Forensic Toxicologists, past president of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists (SOFT) and past Chair of the Toxicology Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Dr. Huestis is also a member of the International Cannabinoid Research Society, American Association for Clinical Chemistry, the International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology, the California Association of Toxicologists, Society of Hair Testing, and the United States Anti-Doping Agency Research Advisory Board.

Wayne Jeffrey, M.S.

Mr. Wayne K. Jeffery received his B.Sc (Pharmacy) degree in 1968 and M.Sc. (Pharmaceutical Chemistry) degree in 1971, from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He has been the Toxicology Section Head, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Forensic Laboratory, Vancouver, since 1976. Mr. Jeffery is a member of 7 professional associations, including the Alberta Pharmaceutical Association and the Canadian Pharmaceutical Association. He has been a member of the Canadian Society of Forensic Sciences, Drugs and Driving Committee since 1986 and has been chairman since 1994. He is the co-coordinator of the DRE/SFST Program in British Columbia and is the DRE coordinator for Canada. Mr. Jeffery has 19 scientific publications dealing with all aspects of Forensic Alcohol and Toxicology including 3 chapters in published books. He has given training on drug identification and identifying the drug user to Police forces in Asia, Caribbean, Central and South America and Europe; and is a lecturer on the following Police courses: Drug Identification, Drug Undercover Investigative Techniques, Clandestine laboratory Investigations and Chemical Safety and Drug Awareness Training.

Jan Raemakers, Ph.D.

Dr Jan Ramaekers obtained his Ph.D. in psychopharmacology from Maastricht University, on behavioral toxicity of medicinal drugs. Dr Ramaekers spent 8 years of research at the Institute for Human Psychopharmacology at Maastricht University. During these years he conducted a large number of experimental studies on the effects of medicinal drugs, such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, anticonvulsants and antihistamines on cognition, psychomotor function and actual driving performance of healthy volunteers and patients. In 1995, the Institute for Human Psychopharmacology received the Widmark Award (International Counsel of Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety), “for numerous contributions to the advancement of the cause of alcohol, drugs and traffic safety and sustained contributions to the support in this field”. In 1998, Dr Ramaekers accepted a position as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Psychology at Maastricht University. He has been a co-organizer of courses in the field of Human Psychopharmacology, Biological Psychology and Traffic & Aviation Psychology. Dr Ramaekers is currently involved in research on the effects of illicit drugs, i.e. marijuana and MDMA, on driving. He is a member of the British Association of Psychopharmacology (BAP), the Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum (CINP) and the International Counsel of Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety (ICADTS).