About the Forensic Toxicology Research Laboratory (FTRL)

A primary focus of research in the Forensic Toxicology Research Laboratory (FTRL) is the characterisation of xenobiotic disposition in skeletal tissues in a forensic context. This work involves the development of analytical methodologies ( sample preparation and instrumental analysis) for the determination of a variety of drugs in skeletal tissues (marrow and mineralized bone) of an animal model (rat) under a range of conditions associated with drug administration (e.g., dose, acute vs. chronic administration), time frame of drug administration and tissue harvest, and postmortem envrionmental conditions. The goal of this research is the ongoing development of a catalogue of such drug disposition data for a variety of drugs of forensic relevance with a range of pharmacological properties. Analytical techniques may include solvent and solid-phase extraction, immunoassay, gas chromatography and liquid chromatography.

A second general focus of research in the FTRL is forensic alcohol toxicology. Currently, work is focused on the analytical characterisation of instrumentation designed for use in the field for breath alcohol analysis of breath (The Intoxilyzer 8000C).