Luke Rodda: Appointed as Chief Forensic Toxicologist and Director of the Forensic Laboratory Division at the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Rodda also holds the position of Assistant Adjunct Professor position at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Rodda received his Ph.D. in Forensic Toxicology, and was awarded a First-Class Honors in his Pharmaceutical Sciences undergraduate degree.
Active for over 18 years, he provides forensic toxicological interpretation, expert court testimony, and oversees all forensic division operations, while also actively supervising and mentoring, interns, students, and fellows from universities within the U.S. and Internationally.
Dr. Rodda is an ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) certified Forensic Technical Assessor, ABFT Assessor, and Certified Californian Title 17 Forensic Alcohol Analyst.
He is the President of the California Association of Toxicologists (CAT); President-Elect of the California Association of Crime Laboratory Directors (CACLD), Chair of the Young Scientist Committee and a founding member of the Novel Psychoactive Substances Committee for TIAFT; founding Oral Fluid Committee member, and current Postmortem committee member for SOFT. As an invited California state Drug-Impaired Driving Taskforce member, Sexual Assault Response and Preventions groups, and national and regional drug death expert groups, he actively promotes drug harm reduction in impaired driving, sexual assault, and decedent casework within the community.
Dr. Rodda has authored over 40 published articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, whilst also acting as a reviewer for over 10 international journals. Additionally, he has authored over 80 conference abstracts proceedings, serves on the JAT a d FSI Synergy Editorial Boards, and in 2020 was the JAT SOFT Guest Special Editor.
Andre Sukta: Andre Sukta is currently the R&D Projects Manager at USDTL. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry (Forensics concentration) in 2002 from Benedictine University, Lisle, IL. In 2009, he received his Masters of Science degree in Forensic Science from University of Illinois at Chicago. He is currently working on his Ph.D. with Oklahoma State University and hopes to complete and defend his dissertation the summer of 2025. He has co-authored several peer-reviewed research articles, including papers in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology and Forensic Science International.
He began his career in toxicology with the Illinois Racing Board Laboratory, testing racehorses. Since then, he has worked with various toxicology groups, including University of Illinois at Chicago - College of Pharmacy, Indiana University - College of Medicine, and the Indiana State Department of Toxicology.
Andre Sukta has served SOFT at a Director on the Board of Directors from 2020-2024, YFT chair and served on the 2017 Joint SOFT and TIAFT Annual Meeting Planning Committee, YFT committee 2014 to 2018; Secretary 2016, Chair 2017, Past Chair 2018; and Mentoring committee member 2019-2021.
Scientific Program Coordinators
Suman Rana: Dr. Rana's commitment to advancing the field of toxicology is evident from her volunteer work with several scientific organizations. She currently serves on the Alcohol, Drugs and Impairment Division (ADID) of the National Safety Council (NSC) and helps advance their agenda of eliminating preventable deaths and injuries.
Dr. Rana played a pivotal role on the Toxicology Subcommittee of the Chemistry/Instrumental Scientific Area Committee of OSAC, and the Consensus Body of ASB.
A prolific author, Dr. Rana has contributed to several scientific papers and abstracts, presenting her findings at esteemed national and international toxicology conferences. Recognized internationally as a thought leader, she has been an invited speaker on numerous occasions and has facilitated technical workshops and training sessions. Her commitment to advancing the field is further evident in her roles as a reviewer for multiple scientific journals and her service on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Analytical Toxicology (JAT).
A Fellow with the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), Dr. Rana is an active member of SOFT and a member of the AAFS/SOFT joint Oral Fluid Committee. She is also an active member of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT), where she serves as the Regional Representative for the United States.
Dr. Rana served on the Board of Directors of the Society of Forensic Toxicology (SOFT) for eight years, culminating in her presidency in 2020. She was the first chairperson of the Designer Drugs Committee of SOFT.
Donna Coy: Dr. Coy is currently the Laboratory Director at United States Drug Testing Laboratories, Inc. (USDTL), specializing in newborn toxicology and drug testing in a variety of matrices including: hair, nail, blood spot, and urine. She earned her Ph.D. in Toxicology in 2012 at the University of Kentucky Graduate Center for Toxicology studying ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. Dr. Coy is a certified Toxicological Chemist through the National Registry of Certified Chemists (NRCC).
Dr. Coy has over 12 years of experience in the forensic toxicology field through drug detection in a variety of matrices. She has served as an expert witness in over 200 civil court cases. Additionally, she is a co-author on several peer-reviewed journal articles and poster presentations in the field.
Dr. Coy has been a member of SOFT since 2020 and has presented posters at 3 annual meetings. She is also a member of the Midwest Association for Toxicology and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (MATT) and served on the board from 2021 to 2024 as Vice President, President, and Past President. Dr. Coy hosted the 2024 MATT conference with her USDTL colleagues in Chicago, IL. Dr. Coy has also presented at the Drug & Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA), Federation of State Physician Health Programs (FSPHP), Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), and the National Neonatal and Advanced Practice Neonatal Nurses Conference.
Jennifer Schumann: Associate Professor Jennifer Schumann has over 17 years’ experience working in the field of Forensic Toxicology, serving as Head of the Drug Intelligence Unit at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.
A/Prof Schumann is President of the Forensic and Clinical Toxicology Association (FACTA) of Australasia and member of several boards and executive committees including TIAFT Bulletin Editor, Chair of the National Drug Testing Committee (FACTA), and Adviser for Pill Testing Australia, Executive Board Member for Stop the Coward Punch Foundation.
A/Prof. Schumann has served as a supervisor for 23 PhD and honors students, as well as coordinating the Forensic Toxicology program in the Master of Forensic Medicine degree at Monash University. She is an author on 88 publications in some of the highest impact journals for forensic toxicology and legal medicine and has been an investigator on funding totaling over AUD8.8M. Her research has had global media reach of millions of people worldwide.
A/Prof. Schumann has participated and presented at over 46 conferences throughout Australia, Asia, Europe and the Americas. She has given invited presentations at some of the world’s most eminent research organisations including NYU and the Karolinska Institutet.
A/Prof. Schumann has been a SOFT member since 2022 and has made a significant contribution to TIAFT since becoming a member in 2007. She has been TIAFT Bulletin Editor since 2016.
Jennifer was on the Conference Organizing Committee for the 2016 TIAFT Brisbane meeting, the Scientific Committee for TIAFT meetings in 2018 (Ghent), 2023 (Rome), and 2024 (St Gallen). In 2017, Jennifer was Conference Workshop Co-chair (Forensic Epidemiology) for the joint TIAFT/SOFT Boca Raton meeting.
Jennifer is on the Organising Committee for the upcoming 2025 TIAFT/FACTA Auckland meeting, as well as Scientific Chair, and co-host of the meeting as FACTA President.
Brigitte Desharnais: Brigitte Desharnais, Ph.D., is the Department of Toxicology Scientific Coordinator for Development and Quality Assurance at the Laboratoire de sciences judiciaires et de médecine légale, the forensic science laboratory for the province of Québec (Canada).
She is also an adjunct professor at the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health in Université de Montréal School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the application of mathematics and statistics in analytical chemistry and forensic toxicology.
Reviewer and Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Analytical Toxicology, she also contributes to standard practices documents as an OSAC Scientific & Technical Review Panel or an AAFS Standards Board Working Group Member.
A SOFT and TIAFT member since 2015, Brigitte has been substantially involved in both scientific societies. Co-chair of the TIAFT Communications Committee and Regional Representative for Canada since 2018, she has attended all but one of the TIAFT annual meetings since the beginning of her membership, and has been a member of the Scientific Committees for the 2023 and 2024 meetings. She also obtained the TIAFT Best Young Scientists Oral Presentation Award in 2015, and the TIAFT Best Bulletin Paper Award in 2019. Brigitte is also a member of the SOFT Applied Analytical Toxicology Committee, and has presented at four annual SOFT meetings in the workshops or scientific sessions.
Workshop Coordinators
Craig Chatterton: Dr. Craig Chatterton is the Chief Toxicologist at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in Edmonton, AB, Canada and an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology at the University of Alberta. Dr Chatterton earned his PhD from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom prior to taking up employment within the toxicology department of the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in 2001. Dr Chatterton is a board-certified forensic toxicologist (F-ABFT) and chartered chemist.
As a senior reporting officer and service delivery team leader, Dr Chatterton managed the National DUID and Road Traffic Alcohol units of the FSS before moving to Canada in 2011 to join the OCME as Deputy Chief Toxicologist; he was promoted to Chief Toxicologist in 2017.
Dr Chatterton is a member of numerous professional organisations including The Society of Forensic Toxicologists (SOFT), The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT), The Society of Hair Testing (SoHT), The American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) and The United Kingdom and Ireland Association of Forensic Toxicologists (UKIAFT).
Dr Chatterton has published peer-reviewed papers and book chapters on forensic toxicology and drugs in hair analysis, and most recently, post mortem toxicology in Clarke’s Analysis of Drugs and Poisons.
As an active member of these organisations Dr Chatterton has chaired scientific workshops, presented numerous platform, poster and workshop presentations and completed a large number of abstract reviews.
Sue Pearring: Sue Pearring is currently the Quality Manager at the Forensic Laboratory Division of the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. With over a decade of experience in forensic toxicology, she has served as Laboratory Manager and Supervisor at the same office as well as at the Los Angeles County Department of the Medical Examiner-Coroner and the Santa Clara County Crime Laboratory as a criminalist and toxicologist. Pearring earned her BS in Biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a MS in Pharmacy, Forensic Drug Chemistry, from the University of Florida.
She is certified as a Diplomate in Forensic Toxicology by the America Board of Forensic Toxicologists (D-ABFT-FT) and actively contributes to the field through her involvement with NIST’s Organization of Scientific Area Committee (OSAC) and as a technical assessor for ISO 17025 laboratory accreditation.
Currently serving on the SOFT Continuing Education Committee, Pearring has chaired four workshops at SOFT meetings and has present extensively to audiences of varying levels of expertise. In 2020, as part of the 2020 SOFT Planning Committee, she co-chaired the successful transition of workshops to the virtual SOFTember format. A member of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists (SOFT) since 2013 and the International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT) since 2019, she remains committed to advancing the field of forensic toxicology.
Karen Scott: Dr Karen Scott is the Director of the Forensic Toxicology Laboratory, Medical Director of the Core Toxicology Laboratory and an Associate Professor of Laboratory Medicine in the Department of Pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. She has 30 years of experience in the fields of forensic and clinical toxicology. She is published in the areas of post-mortem toxicology, drug stability, 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 degree in Forensic and Analytical Chemistry from the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, UK, 1994) and a PhD in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Glasgow (UK, 1998) where she also started out her career as a Research Assistant in Forensic Toxicology. On completion of her degrees, she carried out postdoctoral research in Tokyo, Japan investigating incorporation rates of drugs into hair. Dr. Scott has been a member of the Alcohol Drugs and Impairment Division of the National Safety Council since 2015 and sits on the executive board of this organization. She is also on the editorial board of Clarkes Analysis of Drugs and Poisons and a member of the OSAC Forensic Toxicology subcommittee. She is a member of TIAFT (1996), SoHT (2005), SOFT (2013) and AAFS (2014) and has regularly participated in annual meetings, at various levels, over her 28 years of memberships.
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