Supervisor, FIRM Specialty Testing Laboratory and Forensic Toxicology Laboratory; Affiliate Professor, Department of Forensic Sciences, College of Humanities and Sciences; Assistant Professor Department of Pathology, School of Medicine

Department: Pathology

Phone: (804) 828-4420

Fax: (804) 828-8166

Email: Carl.Wolf@vcuhealth.org

Dr. Wolf received his BS in Chemistry from Gannon University, Erie, Pennsylvania in 1986, where he received the CRC Press’ Outstanding Freshman Chemist Award.  He received his MS in Criminal Justice, with a Forensic Science option from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in 1994, and received his Ph.D. in Pathology, with a focus on Forensic Toxicology from the Medical College of Virginia Campus at VCU in 2005.

Since 1987, Dr. Wolf has been employed at Medical College of Virginia Hospitals in various roles in the Clinical and Forensic Toxicology Laboratories.  He regularly consults and/or lectures on toxicology and drug testing issues, and provides expert testimony in the Commonwealth of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and the States of Nebraska, North Carolina and West Virginia.

Dr. Wolf contributed to over 160 presentations and peer-reviewed publications. He is a full member of both the Society of Forensic Toxicologists and The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists. He is a Fellow of the American Board of Forensic Toxicologists (ABFT), and is certified by ABFT since 2001. In 2007, he was a member of the group that received an Educational Innovation Award from the School of Medicine at the MCV campus of VCU for developing and maintaining an online CE program for chronic non-malignant pain management curriculum.

Dr. Wolf was awarded three grants from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ): (2017) studying the matrix effects that liver tissue has on the analysis of opiates, (2018), studying the stability of cannabinoids in marijuana infused edibles, and (2022) studying the ability to detect new cannabinoid analogs in urine.

Dr. Wolf is a member of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, Inc. (CLSI) Expert Panel on Clinical Chemistry and Toxicology, Vice-Chairholder for the document development committee for Guideline C40: Measurement Procedures for the Determination of Lead Concentrations in Blood, and member of the document development committee for Guideline C38: Control of Preanalytical Variation in Trace Element Determinations.

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Education

2005   Doctorate of Philosophy, Forensic Toxicology, Department of Pathology, Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia. Dissertation: "Prevalence of Alcohol and Drugs in Second Sample Blood Specimens from Potentially Impaired Drivers in the Commonwealth of Virginia, 2001-2002".

1994  Master of Science, Forensic Science Option, Department of Administration of Justice, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia

1986  Bachelor of Science, Chemistry, Gannon University, Erie, PA

Licenses & Certifications

2014 - Present  Fellow, American Board of Forensic Toxicology, Inc. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Recertified in 2018

2012 - 2014      Diplomate, American Board of Forensic Toxicology, Inc. Colorado Springs, Colorado

2001 - 2012      Forensic Toxicology Specialist, American Board of Forensic Toxicology, Inc. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Recertified 2006 & 2011

Selected Awards & Honors

2007   School of Medicine Teaching Excellence Award; The Educational Innovation/Educational Research Award, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia. Chronic Non- Malignant Pain Management Curriculum.

Recent Grants and Funding

2022    National Institute of Justice, Research and Development in Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes, 15PNIJ-21-GG-04188-RESS. “The problems with Cannabinoid Analogs (Delta-8 THC, Delta-10 THC and CBD) and their metabolites detectability in urine drug testing for potential cannabinoid abuse.” Principal Investigator (PI),

2018    National Institute of Justice, Research and Development in Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes, 2017-R2-CX-0029. “Development of Matrix Matched Quality Control Materials and Sample Preparation Techniques for the Analysis of Marijuana Infused Products and their Application to Edible Testing”, Principal Investigator (PI)

2017   National Institute of Justice, Research and Development in Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes, 2016-DN-BX-0148. “Evaluation of sample preparation techniques for Matrix Effects and Absolute Recovery using UPLC-MS/MS using opiates and liver tissue specimens as the model and application to post-mortem toxicology.” Co-PI.

Editorial Advisory Boards

2018 - 2024           Vice-Chairholder, Guideline C40: Measurement Procedures for the Determination of Lead in Whole Blood, Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, Inc. (CLSI), Wayne, Pennsylvania

2020 - 2024          Committee Member, Guideline C38-A: Control of Preanalytical Variation in Trace Element Determination. Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, Inc. (CLSI), Wayne, Pennsylvania

2018 - 2024         Member, Expert Panel on Clinical Chemistry and Toxicology, Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, Inc. (CLSI), Wayne, Pennsylvania

Professional Service

2015 - Present     Lecturer, Ambulatory Clinic Rotation for Primary Care Interns, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.

2004 - Present     Mentor, Departments of Forensic Science and Medical Laboratory Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond Virginia.

2013 - Present      Committee Member, Ambulatory Pain Committee, VCU Health, Richmond, Virginia.

2000 - Present     Inspector, College of American Pathologists, Northfield, IL. Clinical Toxicology and FDT.

Recent Invited Presentations

Wolf CE. Potentially Blemished Nature’s Superfood: Cannabinoids in Breast Milk and Participant Self-Reports of Recent Use. Stirring the Pot: Recent Findings on Perinatal Cannabis Exposure. The College on Problems of Drug Dependance Meeting, Montreal, Canada, June 2024.

Selected Publications

Peer Reviewed Papers

Wolf CE, Pokhai AA, Poklis JL, Williams GR. The Cross Reactivity of Cannabinoid Analogs (Delta-8-THC, Delta-10-THC and CBD), their metabolites, and Chiral Carboxy HHC metabolites in Urine of Six Commercially Available Homogeneous Immunoassays. J Anal Toxicol. 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/jat/bkad059

Pokhai AA, Poklis JL, Williams GR, Wolf CE. The Preanalytical Stability of Emerging Cannabinoid Analogs (Delta-8 THC and its Metabolites, Delta-10 THC, and Carboxy-HHC) in Urine. J Anal Toxicol. 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/jat/bkad061

Williams GR, Akala MA, Wolf CE. Detection of 58 fentanyl analogs using ARK fentanyl II and Immunalysis fentanyl immunoassays. Clin Biochem. 113:45-51, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2023.01.001.

Singh K, Alagarraju MR, Wolf CE, Poklis JL, Kulkarni N, Tharpe W, Joshi PH. Ivabradine toxicity: a case report. Journal of Medical Case Reports. 16:393, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13256-022-03554-w.

Provost RG, Downs JW, Wolf CE, Williams GR. The high cost of low quality: recurring hypoglycemia in a 63-year-old man. Clin Chem. 67(11): 1450-1454. 2021.    https://doi.org/10.1093/clinchem/hvab174

Downs J, Wolf CE, Williams G, Cumpston KL, Kershner E, Wills BK, Negligible nux vomica: homeopathic nux vomica remedies don’t contain strychnine? Toxicon, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2021.06.014

Gesseck AM, Poklis JL, Wolf CE, Xu J, Bashir A, Hendricks-Muñoz KD, Peace MR. A Case Study Evaluating the Efficacy of an Ad Hoc Hospital Collection Device for Fentanyl in Infant Oral Fluid. J Anal Toxicol, 4 (7): 741–746, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1093/jat/bkaa069

Wolf CE, Pierce KL, Dempsey SK, Nanco CR, Poklis JL, Korzun WJ. Using papaverine and its metabolites, 6-desmethyl papaverine (6-DMP) and 4, 6- didesmethyl papaverine (4, 6-DDMP) as biomarkers to improve the detection time of heroin use J Anal. Toxicol, 10.1093/jat/bkz069.

Ramnarine RS, Poklis JL, Wolf CE. Determination of Cannabinoids in Breast Milk using QuEChERS and Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MSMS). J Anal. Toxicol. 10.1093/jat/bkz072.

Book Chapters and Monographs

Williams GR, Wolf CE, Fentanyl Contamination in Street Drugs. Clinical and Forensic Toxicology News, 28 Feb. 2023, pp. 1–7.

 

 

 

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