Michelle R. Peace, Ph.D.

From the Desk of Dr. Peace

I am a Full Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in the Department of Forensic Science. I have been funded by the National Institute of Justice since 2014 to study the efficacy of electronic cigarettes, particularly as they pertain to substance use and abuse. The work in LFTR has highlighted emerging issues of electronic cigarettes as a tool for vaping drugs other than nicotine and has characterized the merging of the cannabis and e-cigarette industries. The current project supported by NIJ are a clinical study to assess the impact of vaping on roadside impairment evaluations for suspected DUI and develop methods to analyze the emerging THC analogs and determine useful biomarkers. 

We are also supported by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youths to evaluate e-cigarettes that are confiscated in middle and high schools across the Commonwealth of Virginia. We believe it is critical to understand what children have access to and what chemicals they are inhaling, particularly understanding that many vape devices are counterfeits and illegal imported into the U.S.. We hope to impact policy and legislation at the state and federal levels with the data we collect.

We have evaluated the adulteration of CBD products which have created a rash of poisonings nationwide of innocent people. I have testified to the FDA about how the lack of regulations for this industry has led to questionable quality assurance of products and jeopardized public safety and public health.

We also collaborate on several other exciting research projects. One project began as a hope to develop a predictive tool to know whether or not a newborn baby will have withdrawal symptoms if they are born to women who have struggled with drug addiction. Since then, we have determined that to work on this issue, we need to figure out a better collection device for neonates. This is promising work.

We believe in conducting research that translates into practice – our goal is to empower agencies, schools, and communities to make robust science-based decisions. Our work has informed addiction treatment specialists, school systems, educators, law enforcement, probation/parole officers, medical examiners, forensic toxicologists, and crime labs as to the nature of e-cigarettes.

I believe in nurturing students and trainees to think independently while they learn the fundamentals of working in a laboratory and the necessary information for them to make thoughtful, well-formed decisions. I believe in mentoring our future and developing courageous leaders.

Be sure to join the conversation and let me know if you have any tox-related questions you’d like me to address in a blog!

Be sure to follow the lab team on Instagram at vcu_lftr – and you can reach me by email: mrpeace@vcu.edu

GRANT AWARDS

• Characterization and Abuse of Electronic Cigarettes: The Efficacy of “Personal Vaporizers. National Institute of Justice: 2014-R2-CX-K010
• Chasing the E-Cigarette Dragon: Characterizing the Evolution and Impact of Design and Content. National Institute of Justice: 2016-DN-BX-0150
• Abuse of the Evolving Electronic Cigarette and the Impact of Vaping Ethanol in the Evaluation of Impairment. National Institute of Justice: 2018-75-CX-0036 and 2019-MU-MU-0007
• Chemical Characterization of Confiscated E-Cigarette Products Across Virginia. Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth
• Analytical Challenges with Proliferating THC Analogues. National Institute of Justice