Dr Karen Scott is the Director of the Forensic Toxicology Laboratory and an Associate Professor of Laboratory Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has over 30 years of experience in the fields of forensic and clinical toxicology and is published in the areas of post-mortem and human performance toxicology, and hair and alternative matrix testing. She is also a reviewer for three of the main Forensic Toxicology journals.

 Dr. Scott has a Bachelor of Science degree in Forensic & Analytical Chemistry from the University of Strathclyde(Glasgow, UK, 1994) and a PhD in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Glasgow (UK, 1998)). On completion of her degrees she carried out postdoctoral research in Tokyo, Japan investigating incorporation rates of drugs into hair. Dr. Scott has been a member of the Alcohol Drugs and Impairment Division of the National Safety Council since 2015 and sits on the executive board of this organization. She is also on the editorial board of Clarkes Analysis of Drugs and Poisons and a member of the OSAC Forensic Toxicology subcommittee.