It seems nowadays you hear the word “Fentanyl” in local and national news sources daily. Montgomery County is currently leading the nation in overdose deaths per capita. Dr. Ioana Sizemore, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at Wright State, and I are in a 3-way collaboration with Dr. Raminta Daniulaityte, associate professor of Population and Public Health Sciences at Wright State and Dr. Matthew Juhascik, lead toxicologist at the Montgomery County Coroner's Office. At the Coroner's office, we developed an LC-MS/MS method for the detection of 24 different fentanyl analogs and metabolites. LC-MS/MS stands for Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and is a commonly used instrument in the forensic toxicology field.
The LC-MS/MS method is now being used at the Montgomery County Coroner's Office for their analysis. Along with current casework we are analyzing 400+ overdose case samples from 2015 to 2016 to see if any of these fentanyl analogs are detected. A positive test will help to establish a time frame of when these different analogs made their way into our area.
Finally, we are analyzing some undetermined death cases, which we are examining to see if any analog is detected using this new method.
I became interested in studying chemistry my first year in college. I always had an interest in forensic science so I was drawn to the science aspect of that field. I decided my best route into forensics would be in Chemistry. After finishing my bachelor's degree at Wright State, I had developed a love for analytical chemistry. I wanted to continue my education and get more "hands on" research in the field. Since then I had the opportunity to continue my education while working in a forensic toxicology setting. This position is essentially analytical chemistry working with biological substances. It has been a wonderful experience and I owe a lot of gratitude to Dr. Raminta Daniulaityte, and Dr. Ioana Sizemore, from Wright State and Dr. Matthew Juhascik, Dr. Kent Harshbarger from the Montgomery County Coroner's Office.
Once I graduate I would like to explore my options in the forensic or pharmaceutical fields for analytical method development or continue my education for a Ph. D. in analytical chemistry.
