Cynthia Lewallen

Cynthia Lewallen is a manager of RTI’s Lab Quality Assurance and Standardization Program. She serves as the Deputy Director for the National Laboratory Certification Program (NLCP), the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) accreditation program for forensic toxicology laboratories that conduct drug testing for federally regulated job applicants and employees. RTI operates the NLCP under contract with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Ms. Lewallen serves as the task leader for the urine performance testing portion of the program. She also developed and implemented a quality management system and led the PT production team to accreditation to ISO Guide 34 as a reference material producer in 2015. She continues to serve as the quality manager for the accreditation and has led the team to expansion of the accreditation to the updated ISO 17034 standard and as a proficiency test provider in accordance with ISO 17043 in 2020.

Before coming to RTI in 2009, Ms. Lewallen worked as a forensic toxicologist in a crime laboratory/medical examiner's office. In this role she conducted blood alcohol analyses, as well as toxicology testing, for both human performance impairment and postmortem cases. She was responsible for analyzing evidence, interpreting results, and testifying in court cases across the state of Georgia.