Dr. Curt E. Harper has over 16 years of experience as a Forensic Toxicologist. He was appointed Chief Toxicologist for the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences (ADFS) in 2012. As Chief Toxicologist, he oversees technical operations, method development and validation, and the quality assurance/quality control program. He manages productivity, serves as training coordinator, and develops and maintains standard operating procedures. Dr. Harper has a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology and a Master’s of Science in Forensic Science from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He holds board certification as a Fellow of the American Board of Forensic Toxicology (F- ABFT) and serves as Chair of the Oral Fluid Committee and former Chair of the SOFT/AAFS Drugs and Driving. In addition, he acts as a President of the International Association for Chemical Testing (IACT) and an Executive Board member of the National Safety Council’s Alcohol, Drugs and Impairment Division (NSC-ADID). Dr. Harper serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the Department of Justice Sciences, an adjunct professor at Oklahoma State University within the School of Forensic Sciences, and faculty for the Borkenstein Alcohol Course at Indiana University. His interests include oral fluid drug testing, DUID testing and interpretation, and automation, robotics, and AI. ADFS is the first state crime laboratory to implement a comprehensive DUI/D oral fluid drug testing program in the United States. As an Alabama Peace Officer, Dr. Harper has been certified as a Drug Recognition Expert since 2015 and is an Alabama Impaired Driving Prevention Council member. Before becoming Chief Toxicologist at ADFS, he served as Toxicology Supervisor in Richmond for the Virginia Department of Forensic Science for two years. Dr. Harper has testified on the effects of alcohol and other drugs in over 235 criminal or civil cases during his tenure in Alabama and Virginia
Mr. Christopher Kirby is the Impaired Driving Enforcement Law Enforcement Liaison for the State of Indiana. He assists agencies across the state with training officers, issuing equipment that is provided by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, and implementing measures such as OWI checkpoints. He joined the Highway Traffic Safety Department in Indiana in 2021 after serving for over thirty years as a City Police Officer in Muncie Indiana.
While serving as an Officer in Muncie Indiana Chris served as a road Sergeant, Traffic Unit Commander, Traffic Crash Reconstruction Team Commander, Drug Recognition Expert, Standardized Field Sobriety Test Instructor, Drug Recognition Expert Instructor and Hostage Negotiator. He has also serves as a Deputy Coroner for Blackford County Indiana. He is also a proud Veteran that served in the United States Army as a Military Police Officer.
Mr. Bill Lindsey has 20 years of experience as an attorney in Alabama and currently serves as the Deputy Director of the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI). He started his prosecutorial career in Tuscaloosa County and served there for a decade. He then became Alabama’s only Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor (TSRP) for the next 9 years providing education and resources on traffic-related issues to judges, law enforcement, prosecutors, other traffic safety professionals, and the public at-large.
Amy Miles is the State Toxicologist at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) and has over 20 years of experience in forensic toxicology. Amy provides expert court testimony and interpretation of laboratory reports for coroners, medical examiners, attorneys, and law enforcement officers. Amy also provides expert consultation for drug impaired driving cases both locally and nationally. In addition to her work at the WSLH, Amy is also the National Resource Toxicologist and Project Manager for the NHTSA/SOFT Regional Toxicology Liaison program.
Amy has given hundreds of presentations on the topic of drugs, alcohol and human performance, and public health at state and national conferences and in-service trainings and has contributed several articles to national publications. She is a member of several professional organizations and committees that pertain to alcohol, drugs and human performance and public health. Amy is the Past President of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists and is a National Judicial College faculty member. In 2020, Amy received the IACP DRE Ambassador Award, and in 2023 the Association of Public Health Laboratories’ Gold Standard Award, the Governor’s Highway Safety Association’s Kathryn JR Swanson Public Service Award and the SOFT Teaching and Mentoring Award.
In his current role as Director of Traffic Safety Advocacy & Research for AAA, Jake is an influential communicator who provides thought leadership on issues related to traffic injury prevention. From interpreting fatal crash statistics to assessing solutions to keeping drivers safe, Jake excels at translating complex research into evidence-based policies, research-validated interventions, and easy-to-understand language for the media. Jake has been featured in a variety of national media outlets, from USA Today and the New York Times to appearances on NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s World News Tonight, and The Dr. Oz Show.
As an epidemiologist, Jake considers traffic injuries and deaths an overlooked public health threat to Americans. He applies rigorous research and the sciences of public health to AAA’s public policy development, governmental advocacy and consumer education activities. Jake has developed nationwide advocacy strategies, brokered national partnerships and negotiated strategic alliances to influence consumers and policymakers in an effort to protect those who travel U.S. roads each day.
As the Association’s chief safety expert, Jake regularly works with transportation stakeholder groups, public health practitioners and elected officials at all levels of government. He frequently represents the AAA federation before state policy audiences, Congress and U.S. federal agencies, to persuasively state the case for AAA’s public policy recommendations and evidence-based interventions.
Inducted into the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health, Jake is a Mid-American Public Health Leadership Fellow alumnus and a member of the National Public Health Leadership Society. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, completed his graduate studies in public health at the George Washington University, and in public policy at the University of Chicago. While in Chicago, he was named a McCormick Tribune Leadership Fellow. Jake also holds a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University and has completed the Leadership Development Program through Eckerd College and the Center for Creative Leadership- the largest and most respected global program of its kind.
Prior to joining AAA, Jake managed a state-certified health department in the Chicago area where he directed public health education campaigns, a portfolio of governmental grant work, health-focused research and public health policy support for state and local policymakers. He advised on a wide range of issues from HIV prevention and childhood obesity, to the prevention of substance abuse and heart disease.
Though he began his career as a researcher in the medical field, Jake shifted his focus to applying research to policy development, and honed his skills in the real-world application of data and rigorous academic research to protect and improve the public’s health, and to help people reach their full potential.
Chuck DeWeese is the President of Connecting Clients Consulting, LLC, based in Saratoga, New York. He provides strategic consulting services in traffic safety, including initiatives targeting impaired driving, distracted driving, Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety, younger drivers, speed, pedestrian and bike safety, automated vehicles, traffic enforcement issues and risky driving behaviors. He has over thirty years of experience in federal and state government, including 17 years as a Special Agent and Field Office Supervisor for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulating the trucking industry. Most recently, Chuck served as the Assistant Commissioner of the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee from 2007-2022. Chuck was the Governor’s State Highway Safety Office director and administrator of the $60 million National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) grant program, administering over 500 grants annually in all 62 counties. He coordinated traffic safety grant activities of the 14 agencies comprising the committee and created, implemented and evaluated the state’s annual Highway Safety Plan. He was additionally responsible for the $20 million statewide STOP-DWI program and the $3 million Office of Cannabis Management sub-allocation. In addition, Chuck served on the executive board of the Governor’s Highway Safety Association and was Chair from 2020-2022. Chuck currently is on contract with Responsibility.org and speaks at conferences across the country on the benefits of roadside oral fluid screening.