By Sherry F. Pruitt

JONESBORO -- An ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY graduate student is working to develop a portable 5-substance drug test that could completely revamp employee drug testing.

Lynn Heard of Lakeland, Fla., a graduate student in chemistry, joined the research group under the direction of Dr. Robyn Hannigan, associate professor of chemistry and physics, in March.

"My thesis is to create a method using an instrument called the gas chromatography mass spectrometer," she said.

Using the GCMS, she found that she could create a method that could detect the five main drugs of abuse -- marijuana, cocaine, PCP, opiates and amphetamines.

"The key is to create a test to test all five in one run," she said.

After learning the properties and the characteristics of the drugs, she said she believes that all five could be tested in a process that only takes 25 minutes. Prior to research at the Arkansas Biosciences Institute at ASU, that 5-substance test did not exist, Heard and Hannigan said.

"Each drug could take up to 17 minutes," Heard said.

The next step is to make artificial saliva, put the drugs in the saliva and determine whether the drugs can be detected.

"The test is the foundation for everything," she added. "We potentially hope to do gumline swabbing of the mouth. It's very unobtrusive."

With a handheld drug tester, the suspected drug user could be tested at the workplace by the employer or by law enforcement authorities during a traffic stop.

ABI officials are working to patent the idea now, said Hannigan.

But it's the workplace where Heard said she sees the device being the most useful because there are fewer legal issues involved.

"The science part of it is very complex. It takes predictions, and then solving problems. The science is sometimes the barrier," the young researcher said.

A student at the Arkansas High School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts in Hot Springs helped Heard with the PCP element of the test.

That student helped develop the test as part of an 18-month research project required for his graduation, Heard said. His portion of the research has been completed, and he plans to present his results at the school's science fair in the spring.

Heard said the method part went by faster than she expected.

Hannigan, in earlier research along with Dr. Roger Buchanan, associate professor of biological sciences at ASU, came up with the idea that they could find the stuff in the saliva that others hadn't reported in saliva.

"We thought there could be a faster way," Hannigan said. "We asked Lynn to 'get 'er done.'"

Presenting her work

When giving a graduate student a project, her mentors do not want her to fail, Hannigan said.

"You want the research to work. She picked up and she ran with it," Hannigan said.

Heard added that science can be boring and sometimes dry, but her research has "everyday life applications," which makes the topic more interesting.

"Every day something changes," Hannigan added.

sherry@jonesborosun.com