Edward J. Cone, Ph.D. joined Pinney Associates to lead development of novel drug delivery systems for the pharmaceutical industry after his retirement from the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) in 1998.

Recognized world-wide for his expertise on the chemistry and pharmacology of drugs of abuse, Ed has published over 250 research and review articles and chapters on a broad array of topics concerning human drug administration.

He has extensive experience in the design and execution of clinical research studies and has trained six doctoral candidates. During his career, Ed has developed extensive technical knowledge of drug delivery systems, pharmacokinetics, and drug testing methodologies.

Ed joined the PHS in 1973 as a research chemist at the Addiction Research Center, National Institute on Drug Abuse. While there, he completed a series of seminal studies on the metabolism and excretion of opioid agonists and antagonists. In 1984, Ed assumed the role of Chief of the Chemistry Section and was responsible for executing a variety of clinical studies concerning the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of psychoactive drugs.

Science Watch later cited Ed as the most highly cited author in forensic science over the period of 1981-1993. He received the Irvine Sunshine Award in Clinical Toxicology, "In Recognition of Pioneering Work in Clinical Toxicology," in 1995, at the International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology meeting. In 1996, Ed was recognized by the Commissioned Officer's Association as the SciPAC Career Scientist of the Year Award, "To acknowledge an exemplary career of pioneering research on the detection of psychoactive drugs in human and for the broad implication of discoveries to improve drug abuse prevention and treatment." He also received the 2000 Rolla Harger Award from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences for "Outstanding Contributions to Forensic Toxicology" and the Irvine Alan Curry Award in 2006 for his extensive research in Clinical Toxicology from the International Association of Forensic Toxicologists.