Areas of Expertise: Accident Investigations; Carbon Monoxide; Alcohol, Drugs, DUI; Criminal Forensics; Criminology; Crime Foreseeability; Evidence Analysis & Spoliation; Fingerprints; Firearms & Ballistics; Forensic Photography; Private Investigators; Crime Scene Analysis; Criminal Investigations; DNA Forensics; Drug Testing; Drug & Alcohol Testing; Ink Identification, Dating; Law Enforcement; Questioned Documents; Weapons; Chemistry; Analytical & Consulting Labs; Laboratory Testing; Addiction Medicine & Substance Abuse; Drug Abuse; Alcohol Abuse; Toxicology; Pharmacology; Pharmacy; Forensic Toxicology; Medical Toxicology.
Dr. Sara J. Schreiber is a worldwide leader and highly accomplished forensic toxicologist, educator, and consultant whose work has earned recognition at both the national and international levels through leadership, teaching, professional service, and participation in major forensic pursuits. She has more than two decades of experience in forensic science, including over 25 years in toxicology and controlled substance analysis, and has served in senior laboratory, technical director, academic, and expert roles in governmental forensic institutions.
Dr. Schreiber currently serves as Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Program Chair at Wisconsin Lutheran College, where she teaches and helps prepare the next generation of forensic science professionals. Before entering academia, she served over 10 years as the Forensic Technical Director at the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office, where she supervised daily forensic toxicology laboratory operations, reviewed analytical data, authored reports, validated methods, and maintained laboratory instrumentation and systems.
Earlier in her career, Dr. Schreiber served as a Forensic Toxicologist with the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory in Milwaukee, where she examined biological specimens and suspected drug materials for alcohol, drugs, and poisons, provided technical review, and helped oversee toxicology unit operations. In addition, Dr. Schreiber served in Drug Identification with the crime lab, conducting controlled substance analysis and presenting expert testimony when required.
Dr. Schreiber's professional qualifications are strengthened by substantial academic and board credentials. She earned a Ph.D. in Forensic Toxicology and Chemistry from Oklahoma State University, a Master of Science with a concentration in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Florida, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a minor in Biology from Drake University. She has been certified as a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Toxicology (ABFT) since 2010, reflecting recognized expertise and sustained professional competence in forensic toxicology.
Her national and international notoriety stems from holding numerous leadership positions in major forensic organizations, including President of the Midwestern Association of Forensic Scientists, Secretary of that organization, and multiple committee leadership appointments. She also serves in significant roles with the Society of Forensic Toxicology (SOFT), the American Board of Forensic Toxicology, the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) as a technical assessor, the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME), OSAC's Toxicology Subcommittee, and The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT).
Dr. Schreiber's national notoriety is reflected in her repeated invitations to lecture, train, and present on forensic toxicology, opioid deaths, toxicology trends, medicolegal death investigation, expert testimony, and related forensic topics for professional associations, public defenders, prosecutors, medical and university audiences, public health groups, and scientific meetings across multiple states throughout the U.S. Her work has also contributed to public-health and death-investigation initiatives through overdose fatality review teams, national overdose fatality review consulting, Department of Justice (DOJ), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and the RTI Center for Forensic Sciences technology Working Group participation, and overdose-related strategy teams.
Dr. Schreiber's scholarly work has addressed issues of broad forensic significance, including opioid mortality, drug prevalence in motor vehicle fatalities, designer benzodiazepine screening, lethal drug concentrations, and the use of forensic toxicology to enhance medicolegal death investigations. She has authored and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications in respected scientific journals, including the Journal of Forensic Sciences, the Journal of Analytical Toxicology, WMJ, and The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. Her scholarship and presentations demonstrate sustained subject-matter expertise in postmortem toxicology, opioids, emerging drug trends, toxicology interpretation, laboratory quality practices, and medicolegal applications of forensic science.
She has received professional recognition for her contributions to the field, including the Outstanding Scientist Award from the Midwestern Association of Forensic Scientists in 2021. Taken together, her extensive operational experience, board certification, leadership in professional organizations, publication history, training and teaching record, and service to forensic and public-health initiatives establish Dr. Schreiber as a well-qualified forensic toxicology expert with both national and international prominence.