June 2025 Meeting Recap
Our most recent meeting on June 13th, 2025 was a fantastic day filled with expert presentations, engaging discussions, and great networking — all capped off with a lively Summer Social.
Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to making the event such a success. Whether you joined as a speaker, sponsor, or participant, your involvement was invaluable.
The day featured insightful talks from the following experts:
Brigitte Desharnais presented on the practical implementation of the standard addition method in forensic toxicology. She discussed how the approach can be reliably applied in complex or novel matrices without requiring full method validation, and introduced the EZMSA web app for rapid calculation of concentrations and measurement uncertainty. Her talk challenged traditional reliance on R² and promoted statistically robust calibration practices aligned with ASB and international guidelines.
In a second presentation, Dr Brigitte Desharnais demystified the process of estimating measurement uncertainty. Using a forensic case study, she walked through the NIST 8-step approach, including how to construct uncertainty budgets and calculate combined and expanded uncertainties. She emphasised a pragmatic, top-down approach and discussed how to maintain compliance through regular re-evaluation, while reassuring attendees that there is no single “correct” way to approach uncertainty — only defensible ones.
Dean Acreman (WEDINOS) presented an update on WEDINOS, the UK’s open-access drug testing programme. He shared data on over 8,000 samples analysed in 2024–25, highlighting trends such as high rates of benzodiazepine substitution, the presence of nitazenes in illicit tablets and prison samples, and the growing issue of SCRAs in cannabis vapes. His talk demonstrated WEDINOS’ crucial role in monitoring UK drug markets and informing harm reduction strategies across communities, services, and prison estates.
Dr. Joseph Westaby delivered a compelling presentation on the causes of sudden cardiac death and the critical role of toxicology in investigating these cases. He outlined the pathology of inherited cardiac conditions, the challenges in identifying structural versus toxicological causes of death, and shared insights from a large autopsy series. His talk highlighted the importance of thorough toxicological analysis in unexplained deaths to avoid unnecessary genetic screening of family members.
Pascal Kintz explored the challenges surrounding contamination in doping cases and the use of hair discrimination techniques to detect cheating athletes, emphasizing the scientific and ethical complexities involved.
Jim Shingler from the National Crime Agency delivered an overview of the National Investigative Capabilities (NIC), highlighting their role in supporting UK law enforcement with specialist expertise in serious and organised crime investigations. The presentation detailed the NCAs involvement in major operations such as Op SPIRE and Op HUMMINGBIRD, and showcased the wide range of forensic and advisory services provided, from forensic psychology and DNA strategy to crime scene reconstruction and psychopharmacology support.
Sulaf Assi presented on the detection of drugs concealed in food products using spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS). She described the principles of SORS, its advantages over conventional Raman techniques, and its application in analysing real-world concealment scenarios involving peppers, potatoes, and courgettes. The presentation explored the spectral and algorithmic considerations involved, concluding that SORS offers a promising non-destructive method for detecting illicit substances in complex matrices.
Michael Bryan delivered a presentation on the global problem of counterfeit spirits and the development of analytical tools to detect them. He outlined the creation of a large spectral database using techniques such as NMR, FTIR, UV-VIS, and near-infrared spectroscopy, and demonstrated how chemometric tools like PCA can effectively identify counterfeit alcohol, even through packaging. His talk highlighted the potential for rapid, low-cost detection methods in both laboratory and field settings.
All presentations from the meeting are now available to members on our website on the June Meeting page.
We also extend our sincere thanks to our sponsors — Shimadzu, Chiron, and Restek — whose generous support was instrumental in making the day a success.
Looking Ahead to September 2025
We’re excited to welcome you all back for our next meeting on September 5th, 2025. Some initial details are available on the website, and the programme is being finalised — it should be ready in the next couple of weeks.
If you are interested in sponsoring the September meeting, please get in touch — we’d love to hear from you!
