Dr. Catherine Dasenbrock is the Laboratory Director at the FDA’s National Forensic Chemistry Center (NFCC), bringing over two decades of experience in analytical chemistry and forensic science. She earned her B.S. in Chemistry from Youngstown State University and her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Cincinnati. Following her graduate studies, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Maryland–Baltimore County, where she contributed to an FDA-funded project focused on developing methods to detect beta-lactam antibiotics in milk.Dr. Dasenbrock began her FDA career in 2002 as a Chemist at the NFCC, where her early work centered on the development of ion chromatography methods for forensic applications. Her strong technical expertise and leadership capabilities led her into laboratory management in 2009. She served for a decade as Supervisor of the Chromatography and Elemental Section (CES), followed by three years as the Inorganic Branch Director. In her current role as Laboratory Director, she oversees the NFCC’s scientific operations, advancing the laboratory’s mission to protect public health through support of criminal, regulatory and public health outbreak investigations through cutting-edge forensic analysis.