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