James DeFrancesco
Program Director
Teaching Professor
Dr. James V. DeFrancesco is the Director of the Forensic Science Program and a Teaching Professor of Forensic Science at Loyola University Chicago. In his professional career, he was a senior forensic chemist with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (18 years) and a senior staff chemist working in product development with Mobil Oil Research and Development Corporation (2 years). Other positions include technical director, supervisor, and consultant in areas such as controlled substances, pharmaceutical analysis, plastics production, wood finishing chemistry, and laboratory safety. He is also a certified on-site assessor for FEPAC. He has taught chemistry and forensic science at Northwestern University, DePaul University, and National Lewis University.
Courses Taught
FRSC 343 (Physical Organic Chemistry for Forensic Science)
FRSC 360 & FRSC 360L (Forensic Drug Chemistry & Drug Chemistry Lab)
FRSC 361 & FRSC 361L (Forensic Toxicology & Forensic Toxicology Lab)
FRSC 394 (Forensic Science Research)
CHEM 212 and 214 (Quantitative Chemical Analysis Lecture and Lab)
Publications/Research Listings
Enrichment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Metabolizing Microorganisms on the Oral Mucosa of Tobacco Users; Tao L, Chiarelli MP, Pavlova S, Kolokythas A, Schwartz J, DeFrancesco J, Salameh B, Green SJ, Adami G.
2024. PeerJ 12:e16626;
http://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16626 Quantifying Phosphatidylethanol from Blood Samples: J.V. DeFrancesco and M. Afshar, US Patent 11,085,939 B2 (2021)
Extraction and Analysis of Eugenol from Cloves, J.V. DeFrancesco, Journal of Forensic Science Education, 2021, 3(1)
GHB Free Acid: I. Solution Formation Studies and Spectroscopic Characterization by 1HNMR and FT/IR; J.V. DeFrancesco, M.R. Witkowski, and L.A. Ciolino, Journal of Forensic Sciences, Vol 51, No. 2, p. 321 (
2006);
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2006.00073.x GHB Free Acid: II. Isolation and Spectroscopic Characterization for Forensic Analysis; M.R. Witkowski, L.A. Ciolino, and J.V. DeFrancesco, Journal of Forensic Sciences, Vol. 51, No. 2, p. 330 (
2006);
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2006.00074.x Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate, Silver Salt (AgGHB): Identification of gamma-Hydroxybutyrate (GHB) via Conversion to the Silver Salt; J.V. DeFrancesco, Microgram Journal, 3, No. 1-2 (January/June 2005)
The Analysis of GHB and 1,4-BD; J.V. DeFrancesco. DVD-based training produced by the Midwest Forensic Resource Center-Institute for Physical Research and Technology at Iowa State University, under Contract #W7405ENG82 with the U.S. Department of Energy; Supported by the National Institute of Justice (copyright 2004)
Analysis of Methamphetamine Hydrochloride Exhibits Containing a Hydrocarbon Wax; J.V. DeFrancesco, Microgram, 32, No. 12 (1999)
