Krotulski AJ
American Association of Clinical Chemistry- 2020 Conference MeetingThis session is intended for laboratory and public health professionals interested and/or actively engaged in toxicological testing, patient care, drug surveillance, and research in the area of novel psychoactive substances and the epidemiology of the opioid crisis. This session will focus on the expectations and skills needed for laboratory professionals positioned at the forefront of the opioid epidemic. An overview of vital surveillance efforts, analytical techniques, the positive impact of private/public partnerships, and available mechanisms for information sharing will be provided.
Needs assessment (Why is this education important for AACC Annual Scientific Meeting attendees? Must include at least one source to support why this education is needed.)
In recent years, there have been a staggering number of outbreaks related to the onslaught of new drugs in the illicit marketplace, resulting in a large number of hospitalizations and death. Commonly referred to as "research chemicals," "designer drugs," or "novel psychoactive substances" (NPS), these substances are used for their pharmacological effects similar to widely known drugs (Kacinko SL, Papsun DM. The Evolving Landscape of Designer Drugs. Methods Mol Biol. 2019;1872:129-135). The public recognition of an opioid epidemic has led to numerous calls to action and a need for collaboration between laboratories, public health and law enforcement agencies to monitor the appearance of new compounds and enable laboratories to be prepared with validated tests to detect these compounds in seized drugs and biological specimens (Morrow, J. B., Ropero-Miller, J. D., Catlin, M. L., Winokur, A. D., Cadwallader, A. B., Staymates, J. L., Goldberger, B. A. (2018).
The Opioid Epidemic: Moving Toward an Integrated, Holistic Analytical Response. Journal of Analytical Toxicology, 43(1), 1-9.) Laboratory professionals are often cited as a critical component to combating the opioid crisis though the skills and knowledge required to lead such an effort change as fast the compounds themselves. This session will provide an overview of how the laboratory plays this vital role and bring awareness to the focus and dedication required to stay at the leading edge to address this fast changing epidemic.
Learning objectives
At the completion of this session, participants will be able to 1) Demonstrate an understanding of the efforts required to comprehensively track and identify the emergence of novel psychoactive substances, 2) Describe the workflows required and technology available to identify and properly design testing for novel psychoactive substances, and 3) Summarize the requirements to turn available and disparate data into actionable intelligence.
Donna Papsun, MS, D-ABFT-FT, NMS Labs, Horsham, PA NPS Surveillance: Tracking and Responding to Emerging Trends
This presentation will give an overview of the efforts the laboratory can take in the tracking of the emergence, rise and disappearance of NPS and how the rapid turnover of these substances require unique solutions to maintain timely and accurate testing. Further, this presentation will highlight the critical role that laboratorians and toxicologists play in test design, test interpretation, and education of laboratories, public health, law enforcement agencies and the general public.
Alex Krotulski, MSFS, Center for Forensic Science Research and Education, Willow Grove, PA Keeping Pace: Leveraging Private and Public Partnerships to Enhance Chemical Identification of NPS in Seized Drug and Toxicological Casework for Optimal Test Development
This presentation will detail several different analytical workflows developed in conjunction with private-public partnerships for the identification of NPS in seized drug casework and authentic toxicology specimens.
Frederick G. Strathmann, Ph.D., MBA, DABCC (CC, TC), NMS Labs, Horsham, PA Right Test at the Right Time: Making the Data Accessible and Testing Actionable
This presentation will focus on best practices in manual and automated data collection as well as how to integrate these various data sets into larger analyses to promote information sharing, proper test utilization, and an understanding of testing limitations and gaps in available offerings.
Full Presentation
