Episode Eighty-Three | Just Throwing DARTs at the Opioid Crisis
Just Throwing DARTs at the Opioid Crisis
In episode seven of the forensic advancement season, Just Science interviews Amber Burns, Chemistry Section Manager for the Maryland State Police Department, to discuss the role of technology in the fight against the current opioid epidemic. Opioid overdose is on the rise and fentanyl, one of the most prevalent opioids out there, is becoming more difficult to identify. By using the Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART) Mass Spectrometer, Burns and her team can detect the presence of fentanyl and other chemicals in recovered samples. Listen along as she discusses the technology they use and the current state of the opioid crisis in Maryland in this episode of Just Science.
This episode of Just Science is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence [Award 2016-MU-BX-K110].
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Ms. Burns has a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology and a Masters of Forensic Science. She has been employed by the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division since 2005 and serves as the Forensic Chemistry Manager overseeing the three Controlled Dangerous Substances Units and the Toxicology Unit. In addition to being an ANAB assessor and a very experienced CDS examiner, Ms. Burns has taken a lead role in the quest for safer, more efficient and more effective methods for detecting synthetic opioids.