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LAUREEN MARINETTI,
PH.D, F-ABFT
LAB DIRECTOR, CHIEF TOXICOLOGIST
Laureen J. Marinetti, M.S. Ph.D., F-ABFT, joined Axis Forensic Toxicology in March 2024 as the Assistant Laboratory Director and assumed the role of Director on June 1, 2024. Dr. Marinetti has over 30 years of experience in human performance and postmortem forensic toxicology in the areas of oral and written expert opinion testimony, drug interpretation, method development, quality assurance and control, laboratory accreditation and drug abuse demographics. Dr. Marinetti is a nationally recognized lecturer and expert witness in analytical and interpretive forensic toxicology and pharmacology and is also board certified by the American Board of Forensic Toxicology. Dr. Marinetti has authored several peer reviewed publications and book chapters in forensic toxicology.
Dr. Marinetti received her B.S. in Forensic Science (1983) and M.S. in Criminal Justice (1991) from Michigan State University. She worked as a forensic toxicologist from 1987 to 1998 at the Michigan State Police (MSP) Crime Laboratory. From 1998 until 2002, Dr. Marinetti pursued her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Wayne State University and completed a Forensic Toxicology Fellowship at the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office in Detroit, Michigan. From 2003 to 2014, Dr. Marinetti worked as the Chief Forensic Toxicologist for the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office and Miami Valley Regional Crime Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio. From 2014 to 2022, Dr. Marinetti worked as the Head of Alere (name changed to Ascertain Forensics) then from 2022 to 2024 as a Senior Forensic Toxicologist and subject matter expert for Ascertain Forensics. Professional affiliations include; the Society of Forensic Toxicologists (past chairman of the Drug Facilitated Crimes Committee), Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Midwest Association of Toxicology and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (past president), The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists and the California Association of Toxicologists (past president).
KEVIN SHANKS,
M.S. D-ABFT-FT
SENIOR TOXICOLOGIST
Kevin has been with AIT Laboratories/Axis Forensic Toxicology for more than 20 years. He has extensive experience in research and development as well as laboratory management. His areas of expertise include liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC/MS) and the analytical detection and toxicology of new psychoactive substances (NPS) such as substituted cathinones, synthetic cannabinoids, NBOME hallucinogens, fentanyl analogs, and opioid research chemicals. Kevin consults on method development and validation of analytical methods for NPS at Axis. He has provided fact and expert witness testimony in drug chemistry, human performance toxicology, and postmortem toxicology matters in numerous states.
His educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana, and a Master of Science in Forensic Toxicology form the University of Florida’s Veterinary School of Medicine. He is certified as a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Toxicology in forensic toxicology (D-ABFT-FT) and holds regular membership with the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology (AACT) and the Society of Forensic Toxicologists (SOFT). Kevin has published papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals such as the Journal of Analytical Toxicology (JAT) and Forensic Science International (FSI) and presented research at national meetings such as the SOFT annual conference and the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC).
GEORGE BEHONICK,
PH.D, F-ABFT
FORMER LAB DIRECTOR, CHIEF TOXICOLOGIST
Dr. Behonick joined AIT/Axis in 2009 and served as Lab Director and Chief Toxicologist until his retirement in 2024. Prior to coming to AIT, he directed a laboratory serving the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (more than 4,000 cases/year) and was an Assistant Professor of Pathology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts. Prior to that role, Dr. Behonick completed six years of service as a Forensic Toxicologist with the Virginia Department of Forensic Science Western Laboratory in Roanoke, Virginia. Dr. Behonick has extensive experience in complex postmortem drug-related cases, notably involving the opiate and opioid classes, with extensive scientific expert witness testimony experience in driving under the influence (DUI/DUID) of alcohol and/or drug(s) criminal court cases.
His educational background includes a Bachelor of Science from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, a Master of Science from Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. from St. John’s University in Queens, New York. In 1998 Dr. Behonick completed a postdoctoral Research Associateship through the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, Aberdeen-Edgewood Area, Maryland. He was awarded board certification as a Fellow American Board of Forensic Toxicology ( F-ABFT) in November 2004.