Dr. Curt E. Harper has over 18 years of experience as a Forensic Toxicologist. He was appointed Chief Toxicologist for the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences (ADFS) in 2012. In 2026, he was appointed as Discipline Chief and Technical Director of the Implied Consent program. As Chief
Toxicologist, he oversees technical operations, method development and validation, and the quality assurance/quality control program. He manages productivity, serves as the training coordinator, and develops and maintains standard operating procedures. Dr. Harper holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology and a Master of Science in Forensic Science from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Before becoming Chief Toxicologist at ADFS, he served as Toxicology Supervisor in Richmond with the Virginia Department of Forensic Science for two years.
Dr. Harper holds board certification as a Fellow of the American Board of Forensic Toxicology (F-ABFT) and has served as Past-Chair of the SOFT/AAFS Oral Fluid Committee and the SOFT/AAFS Drugs and Driving Committee. Additionally, he is a Past President of the International Association for Chemical Testing (IACT) and the Alabama State Association of Forensic Sciences (ASAFS). Dr. Harper serves as a member of the National Safety Council’s Alcohol, Drugs, and Impairment Division (NSC-ADID) and as faculty for the Borkenstein Alcohol Course at Indiana University. He serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the Department of Justice Sciences and Oklahoma State University within the School of Forensic Sciences.
His interests include expert witness testimony, oral fluid drug testing, DFSA, DUID testing and
interpretation, and automation/robotics. ADFS is the first state crime laboratory to implement a
comprehensive DUID oral fluid drug testing program in the United States. As an Alabama Peace Officer, Dr. Harper has been certified as a Drug Recognition Expert since 2015 and is a member of the Alabama Impaired Driving Prevention Council. Dr. Harper has testified on the effects of alcohol and other drugs in over 325 criminal or civil cases during his tenure in Alabama and Virginia.