James Caruso, MD is the recently retired Chief Medical Examiner and Forensic Pathologist for the City and County of Denver. He is also a retired United States Navy Medical Officer and former Armed Forces Medical Examiner. Captain Caruso served nearly 30 years in roles spanning shipboard medicine, diving and submarine medicine, aviation medicine, pathology, and forensic pathology. During his Navy career, he was a Diving Medical Officer with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit, completed a residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and a fellowship in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine at Duke University Medical Center, and trained in forensic pathology at the Office of the Maryland Chief Medical Examiner.

Dr. Caruso has personally performed more than 5,000 autopsies and supervised countless others, working in environments ranging from military hospitals to combat zones. His notable cases include the investigation of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and the autopsy of Pat Tillman. Widely published in forensic pathology and diving medicine, Dr. Caruso has contributed numerous scientific papers and book chapters throughout his career. He now resides in Castle Rock, Colorado, and works as a Forensic Pathologist in Colorado and California.

Dr. Culbreth joined the Toxicology Investigators Consortium/ACMT in May 2022. She received her PhD and MPH in epidemiology and biostatistics from Georgia State University. Her dissertation focused on the development of novel statistical methods to measure current and amount of substance use in a hybrid structural equation mixture model framework. She was an Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing and Health Professions at Georgia State University from 2019-2022, where she taught undergraduate and graduate-level research methods, healthcare leadership, and advanced statistical topics for pre-doctoral students. As ToxIC's Research Director, she leads new grant development and scientific dissemination through manuscripts and presentations, and enjoys working closely with clinical colleagues to advance medical toxicology research and practice.

Dr. Jessica Kent-Rice is an Emergency Physician and Medical Toxicologist at St. Michael’s Hospital and the Ontario Poison Centre in Toronto, an Investigating Coroner for North Peel and an Adjunct Assistant Professor – Clinician Investigator in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She completed her Emergency Medicine residency and Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology fellowship at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Kent-Rice’s work lies at the intersection of acute care, toxicology, and forensic medicine. Her academic and clinical interests include preventable drug-related deaths, the forensic applications of clinical pharmacology, and the use of toxicovigilance to inform public health and policy.

Dr. Alex J. Krotulski serves as a Director at the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education (CFSRE) working in the areas of forensic toxicology and forensic chemistry and is the Program Manager for NPS Discovery, the CFSRE’s drug early warning system and flagship program for the identification and characterization of new and emerging synthetic drugs. Dr. Krotulski is a chemist by training and practices as a forensic toxicologist. Dr. Krotulski holds faculty appointment and serves as the Program Director for the Thomas Jefferson University Master of Science in Forensic Toxicology (MSFT) program and is an Senior Associate Editor for the Journal of Analytical Toxicology.

Dr. Gwendolyn A. McMillin is the Vice President of Clinical Scientific Engagement at NMS Labs in Horsham, Pennsylvania. She is board-certified by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry in both Clinical Chemistry and Toxicological Chemistry. Before joining NMS Labs, Dr. McMillin spent over two decades at ARUP Laboratories and the University of Utah School of Medicine, where she served as Medical Director of Clinical Toxicology and Pharmacogenomics, Scientific Director of Mass Spectrometry, and Professor (Clinical) of Pathology.

Dr. McMillin’s research focuses on pharmacogenomics, newborn drug exposure, and analytical method development. She has received multiple awards for her contributions to laboratory medicine, including the Ellis Benson Young Investigator Award from the Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists and the Past Chair Award from the TDM and Toxicology Division of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (now ADLM).

Kari Midthun, PhD is a Forensic Toxicologist at NMS Labs with experience spanning academia, government, and industry at the intersection of biology and chemistry. She previously served as Assistant Laboratory Director at United States Drug Testing Laboratories and as a Forensic Scientist with the New York State Police. Dr. Midthun earned her PhD and MS in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Cornell University, where she was a National Science Foundation IGERT Fellow. Her professional background includes forensic science, chemistry, nanotechnology, chemical safety, and education, and she brings expertise in laboratory leadership, analytical methods, and applied forensic toxicology.

Lewis S. Nelson, MD, MBA, is Dean and Chief of Health Affairs at Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. A nationally recognized leader in emergency medicine, medical toxicology, and addiction medicine, Dr. Nelson brings over three decades of experience in clinical care, education, and academic leadership. Prior to joining FAU in 2025, he served as Professor and founding Chair of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, where he also led the Division of Medical Toxicology and Addiction Medicine and served as Chief of Service for the Emergency Department at University Hospital of Newark.

Dr. Nelson has held numerous national leadership positions, including President of the American College of Medical Toxicology and the Association of Academic Chairs in Emergency Medicine, and board roles with the American Board of Emergency Medicine, the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. A prolific scholar, he has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications and serves as lead editor of Goldfrank’s Toxicologic Emergencies, the definitive reference in medical toxicology. His work focuses on emergency medicine, toxicology, addiction medicine, and health policy, with an emphasis on improving patient safety and advancing evidence-based care.

Donna Papsun is a forensic toxicologist and business scientist with NMS Labs in Horsham, PA. She has dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemistry and Forensic & Investigative Science and a Master of Science degree in Pharmacology. She is also certified as a Diplomate in Forensic Toxicology 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, first as a bench analyst before promotion to toxicologist in 2012. Ms. Papsun’s main area of interest is novel psychoactive substances or NPS. 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. Ms. Papsun also serves in a secondary role as a business scientist, working to align the technical and scientific expertise of NMS Labs with commercial efforts.

Dr. Rodda is the Chief Forensic Toxicologist and Director of the Forensic Laboratory Division at the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner with 20 years of experience in drug detection and interpretation. He also holds the position of Assistant Adjunct Professor position at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Rodda is an ANSI National Accreditation Board certified Forensic Technical Assessor and ABFT Accreditation Assessor. He is a member of, and holds positions, in numerous state, national and international professional societies, including President of the California Association of Crime Laboratory Directors, and Past-President of the California Association of Toxicologist, TIAFT Bulletin Co-Editor and SOFT Postmortem committee Vice Chair. As an invited California state Drug-Impaired Driving Taskforce member, member of Sexual Assault Response and Preventions groups, and national and regional drug death expert groups, he actively promotes drug harm reduction in impaired driver, sexual assault, and decedent casework within the community. Dr. Rodda has authored over 50 published articles and book chapters, over 100 scientific abstracts, whilst also having reviewer and editorial board commitments. He is also the host for the upcoming 2026 SOFT-TIAFT joint annual meeting.

Karen S. Scott, PhD is Associate Professor and Director of the Clinical and Forensic Toxicology Laboratories at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, with more than 30 years of experience in forensic toxicology. She earned her PhD from the University of Glasgow, where she trained in postmortem toxicology alongside forensic pathologists, and later completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Japan’s National Institute of Health Sciences focusing on drug detection in hair. Dr. Scott has held leadership roles in both academia and forensic laboratories, including directing the MSFS program at Arcadia University and the Master’s in Forensic Toxicology program at Glasgow. She currently serves on the executive board of the National Safety Council’s Alcohol, Drugs, and Impairment Division, the editorial board of Clarke’s Analysis of Drugs and Poisons, and the OSAC Forensic Toxicology Subcommittee. In 2025, she received the Outstanding Service to Council of Forensic Scientists (COFSE) Award in recognition of her contributions to the field.

Dr. Wax is the Executive Director of the American College of Medical Toxicology. He received his B.A from Dartmouth College, his M.D. from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, his Emergency Medicine training at the UCLA Hospitals, and his Medical Toxicology training at Bellevue Medicine Center / New York University. He is Board-certified in both Medical Toxicology and Emergency Medicine, and is a Fellow of the American College of Medical Toxicology.

Dr. Rachel Wightman is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Epidemiology at Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Trained in Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology at Bellevue Hospital, New York University, New York City Poison Control Center Dr. Wightman currently serves as the Director of Toxicology and Addiction Medicine for Brown Emergency Medicine and is a Consultant Medical Director at the Rhode Island Department of Health. She is a NIH-funded Principal Investigator focused on cannabis and opioid use.