Criminal Poisoning: Clinical and Forensic Perspectives: .

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Christopher P. Holstege, M.D. is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine and Chief of the University of Virginia’s Division of Medical Toxicology. His clinical practice is associated with the University of Virginia’s Center of Clinical Toxicology. He has published extensively in the medical literature with over 100 publications in medical journals, periodicals, and books. Dr. Holstege speaks extensively on various topics in the field of medical toxicology, with a focus on areas such as criminal poisoners and chemical weapons of mass destruction. He has been integrally involved in the diagnosis and management of a number of high profile criminal poisonings, including the dioxin poisoning of the Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. In appreciation of his work in both education and clinical service, Dr. Holstege received the Dean’s Award for Clinical Excellence form the University of Virginia, the National Faculty Teaching Award from the American College of Emergency Physicians, and the Attending Teacher of the Year Award from the University of Virginia’s Department of Emergency Medicine. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and on the Steering Committee of the University of Virginia’s Critical Incident Analysis Group (CIAG). He is a consultant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).Dr. Holstege received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Calvin College (Grand Rapids, Michigan) and his Doctor of Medicine from Wayne State University School of Medicine (Detroit, Michigan); he completed his residency training in Emergency Medicine at Butterworth Hospital (Grand Rapids, Michigan) and his fellowship training in Medical Toxicology at Indiana University (Indianapolis, Indiana). He is a Diplomate of both the American Board of Emergency Medicine and the American Board of Medical Toxicology.

Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) Thomas Neer is a 25-year veteran of the FBI with extensive experience in complex criminal and counterterrorism investigations. Since 1995, he has been assigned to the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, Virginia where he provides FBI field offices, state, local and foreign police with behavioral assessments on cases involving unusual circumstances or serial offenders. Among his many cases, SSA Neer served as the FBI’s principal behavioral advisor during the investigation of Michael Swango, a medical doctor who was convicted of murdering several patients in hospitals. Prior to his career with the FBI, SSA Neer was employed by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. SSA Neer’s diverse law enforcement career includes extensive operational travel to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.A 1976 graduate of the University of Florida, SSA Neer pursued graduate studies in 1977 at the Southern Illinois University’s Center for the Study of Crime Delinquency and Corrections. A 2001 graduate of the Police Staff College in Bramshill, England, SSA Neer is currently a candidate for a Master of Arts degree at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

Gregory B. Saathoff, M.D. is Associate Professor of Research in Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, and Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine. A veteran of the First Gulf War, he has treated male and female violent and nonviolent prison inmates who suffer from mental illness since 1991. He also serves as Executive Director of the University of Virginia’s Critical Incident Analysis Group (CIAG). In this capacity, he directs the group, which operates as a “ThinkNet” that provides multidisciplinary expertise in developing strategies that can prevent or mitigate the effects of critical incidents.He has written The Negotiator’s Guide to Psychotropic Drugs for the FBI’s Crisis Negotiation Unit, and he was a co-author of the FBI’s threat assessment monograph: The School Shooter. In addition to this, he has published in the areas of personality disorders, police psychiatry, post-traumatic stress disorders, public response to weapons of mass destruction, and biologic psychiatry. He assembled and led a University of Virginia medical team that served as the U.S. component of the international medical group charged with diagnosis and treatment of President Viktor Yuschenko who was poisoned in 2004. He has served as an expert witness on espionage and terrorist-related cases in federal court. Since 1996 he has served as a Conflict Resolution Specialist, and in 2006, he was appointed to the Research Advisory Board of the FBI’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. Dr. Saathoff received M.D at the University of Missouri and completed his residency in Psychiatric Medicine at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

Brent Furbee, M.D. was trained in medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine (1977). He completed an Emergency Medicine Residency at Methodist Hospital of Indiana (1980) and a Fellowship in Medical Toxicology at Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona (1991). He has served as the Medical Director of the Indiana Poison Center since 1988. In 1992 he started the state’s only medical toxicology service followed by a medical toxicology fellowship in1994. He consults at Methodist, Indiana University, and Wishard hospitals in Indianapolis. He is active in the education of fellows, residents, medical students, and nurses.Dr. Furbee has served as a consultant in several criminal and civil cases in the United States. He was a member of the investigative team for the Indiana State Police in the State of Indiana v. Orville Lynn Majors case, the largest criminal investigation in that state’s history. He has authored publications regarding homicidal poisoning and the toxicity of heavy metals, manganese, plants, drugs of abuse, pharmaceuticals, and venomous animals. Dr. Furbee is an Associate Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a fellow of the American College of Medical Toxicology.