Four people standing next to each other while smiling
From left, VCU forensic science alum Bailey Jones; VCU forensic science doctoral student Tyson Baird; VCU forensic science alum and former lab manager Laerissa Reveil; and Michelle Peace, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Forensic Science in the College of Humanities and Sciences. (Contributed photo.)

Nov. 16, 2022

VCU forensic science department wins three research awards

Scientists, who each worked in VCU’s Forensic Toxicology Research lab, honored at Society of Forensic Toxicologists meeting.

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By VCU News staff

A doctoral student, an alum and a researcher in the Department of Forensic Science in the College of Humanities and Sciences all received awards in recognition of research they presented at a recent meeting of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists.

Tyson Baird, a doctoral student, received the Doctorate Level Educational Research Award for his paper “Opioid-like Adverse Effects of Tianeptine in Male Rats and Mice.” After receiving his doctorate, Baird will serve as the chief forensic toxicologist at the Regional Forensic Science Center in Sedgwick County, Kansas. Baird is a Ph.D. candidate in the Center for Integrative Life Sciences Education.

Bailey Jones, who graduated from the VCU forensic science master’s degree program, received the Master Level Educational Award for her master’s thesis, “Developing Unified Method for the Analysis of Five Ethanol Metabolites: EtG, EtS, GTOL, HTOL and 5-HIAA Using UPLC-MS/MS.” Jones is a forensic chemist with the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences.

Laerissa Reveil, who graduated from VCU with a master’s degree in forensic science and was manager of the lab of Michelle Peace, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Forensic Science, received the Young Scientist Meeting Award that is awarded each year to an outstanding bench scientist. Reveil is now a doctoral student in the Department of Pharmaceutics in the VCU School of Pharmacy. Reveil received the award for her paper, “The Aerosolization Efficiency of Cocaine in a Eutectic Mixture with Nicotine in Electronic Cigarettes.”

All three worked in Peace’s Forensic Toxicology Research lab and were supported by National Institute of Justice grants.