Dani C. Mata, MSFS, is currently the Toxicology Technical Leader at the Houston Forensic Science Center. Previously, she was a Senior Forensic Scientist in the Forensic Chemistry Bureau of the Orange County Crime Lab (CA) from 2007 to 2025. Ms. Mata has been certified by the American Board of Forensic Toxicologists as a Diplomate in Forensic Toxicology since 2015 and is currently a director on its board. In 2015–2016, she served as an affiliate on the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) Task Group on Reports and Testimony. She became a member of the OSAC Toxicology Subcommittee in 2020 and its vice chair in 2025.

Ms. Mata has been a member of the California Association of Toxicologists (CAT) since 2009, has co-hosted two meetings, and has presented at nine CAT meetings. For CAT, she co-chaired the Research Grant Committee (2012–2014) and the Literature Review Committee (2012–2018). She has been a member of the Society of Forensic Toxicology (SOFT) since 2011 and served on the Young Forensic Scientist Committee (2013–2016), the Award Committee (2017–2020), the Toxicology Resource Committee (2020–2024), and the NPS Committee (2016–2023), which she chaired from 2017 to 2022. She was the volunteer co-coordinator for the 2016 SOFT meeting, co-host for the 2020 SOFT meeting (canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and workshop coordinator for the 2025 SOFT meeting. She received the SOFT 2012 Young Scientist Meeting Award, the SOFT 2021 Young Forensic Toxicologist Service Award, and the 2022 AAFS Toxicology Section’s Ray Abernethy Award for Outstanding Forensic Toxicology Practitioner.