BRIDGET LORENZ LEMBERG:
 
Bridget Lorenz Lemberg




 
 
 
 
 
Founder and Lab Director of Forensic Fluids Laboratories in Kalamazoo. Lorenz Lemberg is a forensic toxicologist with more than 20 years of experience in toxicology and pharmacology. Forensic Fluids is a leader in oral fluid drug testing, which analyzes a person's saliva for levels of illegal or prescription drugs. Oral fluid drug testing is easy to administer and can detect more than 100 different compounds. The company has 36 employees, and its revenue is projected to grow from $5.6 million last year to about $10 million this year. Its offices are in the former headquarters of the Gibson guitar company, including a room paneled in every kind of wood Gibson used to make guitars. Lorenz Lemberg is a pioneer in the development of oral fluid testing techniques in the United States. In 2001, she worked for one of the first oral fluid drug testing labs, developing LC/MS/MS (liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry) methods for oral fluid. Since then she has developed an extensive drug list on the LC/MS/MS. Her experience includes testimony as an expert witness and work with the central crime lab of the Kentucky State Police and the South Bend Medical Foundation. Privately owned, Forensic Fluids placed 538th on the 2011 Inc. Magazine 5000 list with three-year revenue growth of 623 percent and among the Michigan 50 Companies to Watch. Lorenz Lemberg received her bachelor's degree in agriculture and her master's degree in toxicology/pharmacology from the University of Kentucky.


WHERE BORN: “Baltimore. I grew up in Pittsburgh.”

MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS: “Several college professors were inspirational in making me want to learn more about the sciences.”

LAST BOOK READ: “I read science fiction and read them in series. The last series is by C. Dale Brittain, A Bad Spell in Yurt.”

WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME: “Sparky, vertically challenged, energetic, intense, enthusiastic, and funny.”

WHERE MY FIELD/INDUSTRY IS HEADED: “Drug testing will progress from drug of abuse testing to diagnostic testing. Oral fluid is currently making the leap from drug of abuse testing to therapeutic drug monitoring. The future holds promise for oral fluid to be an alternative matrix to blood for diagnostic testing. Imagine a future free from needles. Currently, Forensic Fluids' lab measures or monitors a wide variety of prescription drugs, including pain management medication, mental health medications, seizure medications, and some hormones, along with drugs of abuse such as new synthetic drugs like synthetic marijuana, LK2, spice, and bath salts.”

FAVORITE TECHNOLOGICAL GADGET: “My favorite is an acronym: LC/MS/MS, the equipment we have in the lab. It's state of the art when it comes to measuring the amount of drugs in oral fluids.”

FAVORITE PLACE: “Four – Lahaina in Maui, Keweenaw peninsula, Napa Valley, and a place in California called Elkhorn Slough.”

FAVORITE HOBBIES: “Kayaking. I'm also a biker, basket weaver, master gardener, and I sew.”

FAVORITE FOOD: “Poke, a Hawaiian-style sashimi.”

MY HIDDEN TALENT: “In the late '70s, I was an award-winning female pool player in Florida. I'm also fluent in American sign language.”

HOW I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED: “As the 'self-made spit lady' – in other words, the one entrepreneur who built an oral fluid drug-testing lab from scratch and who inspired others, especially women, to do the same thing.”


Grant Thornton Website At the annual awards reception in April 2014, one Leader & Innovator from the previous 12 months will be selected as the Grant Thornton Leader & Innovator of the Year.