The TIAFT Communications Committee supports the aims of the organization by promoting cooperation, discussion, and the exchange of ideas among members.
Aims of the Committee
The primary objective of the Communications Committee is to disseminate timely and accurate information about the organization’s policies, programs, services and events (such as the Annual Meetings). This is done via the website and social media pages (X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram).
The secondary objective is to serve the TIAFT community by providing platforms to members for sharing toxicology-related information. Amongst others, this is done via:
- The Facebook discussion group, where members can ask questions or disseminate relevant information.
- The Careers Centre, where toxicologists can look for job vacancies in their area of expertise posted by employers worldwide.
Current Committee
Chairs
Brigitte Desharnais (Canada)
Brigitte obtained her Ph.D. in chemistry from Concordia University (Montréal). She has been a TIAFT member since 2015 and is now the Communications Committee co-chair as well as the Regional Representative for Canada. Brigitte obtained several scholarships and awards through her career highlighting the quality of her research and outreach work. She received the TIAFT Young Scientists Award for Best Oral Presentation in 2015 and the TIAFT Best Bulletin Paper Award in 2019. She is currently the Toxicology Scientific Coordinator for Development and Quality Assurance at Laboratoire de sciences judiciaires et de médecine légale, the forensic science laboratory for the province of Québec (Canada). Her research focuses on the application of mathematics and statistics in analytical chemistry and forensic toxicology, as well as analytical method development. Member of the Journal of Analytical Toxicology Editorial Board, part of several TIAFT Annual Meeting Scientific Committees, member of the working group drafting the second edition of ANSI/ASB 036 on method validation, Brigitte aims to use her skills to best help the forensic toxicology community in their daily work.
e-mail: communications@tiaft.org
Alice Seywright (Scotland)
Alice is from Edinburgh in Scotland and currently works as a Forensic Toxicologist at the Scottish Police Authority’s Post-Mortem Toxicology department, where she reports casework (with the odd bit of method development). She completed her undergraduate degree (with honours) in Forensic Science at the Robert Gordon University, and her Masters degree in Forensic Toxicology at the University of Glasgow. Her PhD, also from the University of Glasgow, looked at Synthetic Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists in sub-populations in Scotland. She has presented some of this work at TIAFT meetings and won the Young Scientist Committee Best Poster Presentation award at the joint SOFT-TIAFT meeting in Boca Raton in 2018. She joined the TIAFT Communications Committee in 2022.
e-mail: communications@tiaft.org
Committee Members
Lars Ambach (Germany)
Twitter Account Manager, Facebook Discussion Group Manager
Born in Berlin, Germany, Lars graduated in Chemistry in 2009 at Humboldt University Berlin (Germany) and completed his Ph.D. at the Institute of Forensic Medicine Bern (Switzerland) in the Department of Forensic Toxicology and Chemistry. After spending three years as a postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Toxicology at Ghent University, Belgium, Lars is now the specialist coordinator for forensic toxicology at Labor Berlin, Europe’s biggest hospital laboratory. His research interests include new psychoactive substances and alternative matrices.
Lars has been a TIAFT member since 2011 and has received the TIAFT Young Scientists Award for Best Oral Presentation in 2012. He is also a member of AAFS and GTFCh. As a member of the Communications Committee, he manages TIAFT’s Twitter account as well as the Facebook discussion group.
Taís Betoni Rodrigues (Brazil)
Facebook Page Manager, Instagram Manager, Webmaster
Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Taís obtained her bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from the University of Campinas in 2017 and her Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the same institution in 2022. Her research, conducted at the University of Campinas and the Campinas Poison Control Center, focused on emerging sample preparation techniques for toxicological analysis.
Taís has been a member of TIAFT since 2018 and received an honorable mention from TIAFT Latin America Young Scientists for her oral presentation in the same year. She joined the Communications Committee in 2022 and is also a member of the Brazilian Society of Toxicology and the Brazilian Chemical Society.
She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the São Carlos Institute of Chemistry (University of São Paulo, USP). Her work, in partnership with the USP School of Medicine, focuses on enhancing the robustness, versatility, and effectiveness of analytical methods for the detection and quantification of performance-enhancing substances in biological samples.
Laurie Gheddar (France)
LinkedIn Page Manager, Webmaster
Born in Belfort, France, Laurie obtained her Ph.D. in toxicology from the University of Strasbourg in 2021. Her research focused on the identification of doping agents, including anabolic steroids, SARMs, and diuretics, in alternative specimens such as hair and nails. Laurie has been a member of the French Society of Analytical Toxicology (SFTA) since 2017 and received the award for the best publication in the French journal ToxAc in 2018. She served on the SFTA Communication Committee from 2021 to 2024 as manager of the LinkedIn page, and in 2024 she joined the SFTA board as secretary. In 2022, she was also awarded the Addictology Prize by the French National Academy of Pharmacy. She has been a member of TIAFT since 2018 and has attended every meeting since joining. She became a member of the TIAFT Communications Committee in 2022. Laurie is currently employed at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Strasbourg, where she continues her work on performance-enhancing substances and their detection in dietary supplements and biological specimens
Sarah McCabe (Australia)
Facebook Page Manager, Facebook Discussion Group Manager
Sarah is a Senior Forensic Scientist in Forensic Biology at PathWest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia, where she examines forensic specimens, prepares expert reports, and provides testimony in courts of law. Before joining PathWest in early 2025, she spent over a decade as a forensic toxicologist at ChemCentre, interpreting complex coronial and criminal casework and conducting analytical method development using LCMS, GCMS, and related instrumentation. She later worked as a Senior Laboratory Scientist in Biochemistry and Toxicology at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, leading a team and managing diagnostic testing for animal health investigations. Sarah holds Bachelor degrees in Chemistry, Biomedical Science, and Forensic Biology and Toxicology from Murdoch University. A TIAFT member since 2021, she joined the TIAFT Communications Committee in 2022. Her current interests include forensic biology and toxicology integration, laboratory quality systems, and professional communication in forensic science.
Winfred Nyaga (Kenya)
Instagram Manager, LinkedIn Page Manager
Born in Embu, Kenya, Winfred Nyaga obtained her degree in Forensic Science (BSc.) from Kenyatta University, Nairobi in 2021. She has been a member of TIAFT since 2019. She has previously interned at the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Forensics Division. She is currently volunteering as a Forensic Scientist at Vunja Kimya, a non-profit organization that is working to offer specialized forensic medical legal services in Kenya. She is also a member of SOFT and AAFS.
Winfred joined the TIAFT Communications Committee in 2022.
Svante Vikingsson (United States)
Webmaster
Dr. Svante Vikingsson is a Senior Research Forensic Scientist in the Center for Forensic Science Advancement and Application at RTI International. He provides scientific support for the National Laboratory Certification Program (NLCP). Research interests include New Psychoactive Substances, analytical methodology (LC-MS/MS), and drug testing in hair and oral fluid. Before joining RTI International he served as a Researcher and Toxicologist with the publicly funded National Board of Forensic Medicine and Linköping University, both in Sweden. Dr. Vikingsson has published more than 110 articles, book chapters, and abstracts related to forensic toxicology. He has also been a speaker in several symposia and workshops related to forensic toxicology. He is a member of the Oral Fluid Committee of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists (SOFT) and the Alcohol, Drugs and Impairment Division (ADID) of the National Safety Council (NSC).
Contact
To contact the TIAFT Communications Committee, write to communications@tiaft.org
Past Committee Members
Gianpaolo Brusini, PhD (Italy)