NDSLJAX Leadership

Commanding Officer

CDR Hak Auth, Ph.D., USN
 

CDR Hak Auth
Medical Service Corps

Commander Hak Auth was born in 1978 in Cambodia and spent the first six years of his life in several United Nations Refugee Camps at the border of Cambodia and Thailand before immigrating to the United States in 1985.  In 1996, he graduated from Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra, CA.  In 2000, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry.  In 2008, he received a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  His dissertation focused on the identification and analysis of cellular proteins involve in the post-transcriptional regulation of messenger RNA stability.

CDR Auth was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps in September 2008, completed Officer Development School in Newport, RI, in November 2008, and reported directly to his first duty station, Navy Drug Screening Laboratory, Jacksonville, FL.  While stationed there from November 2008 through April 2012, CDR Auth served in both Deputy Director for Operations positions.  From May 2012 to May 2015, CDR Auth was assigned to Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit (NEPMU) FIVE, San Diego, CA.  At NEPMU FIVE, he served as the Department Head of Education and Training and as the Biochemist / Chemical & Radiological Component Lead for Forward Deployable Preventive Medicine Units FOUR and FIVE.  From May 2015 to July 2017, he was assigned to Navy Drug Screening Laboratory, San Diego, CA, and served as the Director for Operations and Technical Director.  CDR Auth reported to Navy Drug Screening Laboratory, Great Lakes, IL, as the Executive Officer in August 2017 and fleeted-up to Commanding Officer in August 2018.  In August 2020, CDR Auth transferred to Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center and served the Department of the Navy Drug Testing Program Manager and as the Director of Laboratory Services, responsible for oversight of four field activities:  Naval Dosimetry Center, Navy Bloodborne Infection Management Center, and two Navy Drug Screening Laboratories.  In June 2022, CDR Auth reported onboard Navy Drug Screening Laboratory, Jacksonville, FL as its Commanding Officer.

CDR Auth has previously completed two internships:  in natural products synthesis at Yale University, New Haven, CT, and in molecular pharmacology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He was a Ronald McNair Scholar and served as a course instructor in pharmacology for the College Access Program at the University Wisconsin-Madison. CDR Auth is an author on two peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts and three scientific abstracts / poster.  CDR Auth’s military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (four awards).

Executive Officer

CDR Katherine V. Dozier, Ph.D., USN
 

CDR Katherine Dozier 
Medical Service Corps
Commander Dozier received her B.S. in Biochemistry from Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas in 2004.  In 2009, she received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.  Her dissertation focused on studying the physical properties that cause aggregation of the Aβ peptide which is linked to Alzheimer’s disease.  Among other service schools, she has completed the Joint Professional Military Education Phase I course through the Naval Warfare College.
 
CDR Dozier was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Medical Services Corps in November 2010.  Her first duty station was the US Naval Academy (USNA) in Annapolis, Maryland, where she taught courses in chemistry, biology, and biological and chemical warfare agents.  In August 2014, LT Dozier reported to the Navy Drug Screening Laboratory (NDSL), San Diego.  While at NDSL, San Diego, she served as the Deputy Director for Operations over Initial Screening, then as the deputy Senior Officer.  She was promoted to LCDR in September 2017.
 
In October 2017, CDR Dozier was assigned to the Division of Forensic Toxicology at the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES), Dover, Delaware, where she served as Chief, Special Forensic Toxicology Drug Testing Laboratory (SFTDTL) and a Forensic Toxicologist for the Human Performance/Postmortem Laboratory (HP/PM).  In February 2020, she filled the mission critical billet of Financial Administrative Officer, overseeing budget, contracting, and government purchase card programs.  In October 2020, CDR Dozier was selected to serve as Deputy Director, Division of Forensic Toxicology, and was subsequently named Director in March 2021.  In June 2022, CDR Dozier onboarded as the Executive Officer of Navy Drug Screening Laboratory, Jacksonville, and promoted to CDR September 2023.
 
CDR Dozier is certified by the American Board of Forensic Toxicology and is the only Active Duty Naval Officer who currently holds that certification.  Her military awards include the Joint Service Commendation Medal (1), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (2), Joint Service Achievement Medal (1), and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (1).  She has authored peer-reviewed articles and presented scientific talks at national conferences.  She is an active member of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists, The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and the American Association for Clinical Chemistry.  She also serves on the American Board of Forensic Toxicology Examination Committee. 
 
Her military education includes Executive Officer Leadership Course, Joint Senior Medical Leaders Course, the MedXellence course, and Navy Medicine’s Advanced Readiness Officer Course.