BARRY LEVINE, Ph.D., DABFT, DABCC-T
Dr. Levine is a forensic toxicologist and toxicological sciences researcher at FireTox, LLC. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from Loyola College and his Ph.D. in Toxicology from the Medical College of Virginia. He served as the Chief Toxicologist for the State of Maryland, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for over 20 years and was the Director of the Forensic Toxicology Laboratory at the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System for 25 years. Dr. Levine is an Adjunct Professor in the Forensic Sciences Department at Stevenson University and was an Instructor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He is a fellow of the American Board of Forensic Toxicology and a Diplomate of the American Board of Clinical Chemistry – Toxicological Chemistry. He is well known as the editor of Principles of Forensic Toxicology and has provided expert testimony in over 200 cases.
BRENDAN MCCARRICK, P.E., C.F.E.I.
Mr. McCarrick is a senior project engineer at FireTox, LLC. He received his B.S. in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Maryland in 2013, and his M.Eng. in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Maryland in 2017. During his time in college, Mr. McCarrick also served as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician.
Before joining FireTox, Mr. McCarrick served as a fire protection engineer and code official for the federal government. In this capacity, Mr. McCarrick was responsible for developing campus-wide, as-built drawings for existing fire alarm and fire suppression systems, reviewing design and construction submittals, and designing and commissioning fire protection and life safety systems. Mr. McCarrick was also responsible for fire incident investigation and management of the organization's hot work and fire protection inspection, testing, and maintenance programs.
In addition to his federal government experience, Mr. McCarrick worked as a fire protection consultant responsible for sprinkler and fire alarm system design, building code interpretation, building inspections, and evacuation planning. He is a licensed FPE in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia and is a Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator (CFEI).
ZELDA ZHAO, B.Sc.F.P.E.
Ms. Zhao is a staff fire protection engineer at FireTox, LLC. She graduated in December 2022 with her B.S. in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is currently pursuing her M.S. in Fire Protection Engineering. In addition, Ms. Zhao has passed the NCEES Fundamentals in Engineering (FE) exam and holds the Engineer in Training (EIT) credential. Ms. Zhao has experience in the areas of fire safety research, fire modeling and tenability analysis, risk assessments, code compliance, and fire investigation.