ReSearching for the Common Good: Hirudini Fernando

March 18, 2026

As an interdisciplinary academic institute, the Institute for Social Concerns leverages research to respond to the complex demands of justice and to serve the common good. This series, ReSearching for the Common Good, highlights some of the scholars in our community.

Hirudini Fernando is a Ph.D. candidate in the Marya Lieberman Lab in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and a 2025–26 Graduate Justice Fellow at the Institute for Social Concerns. 

What is the focus of your current research?

My research mainly focuses on the opioid epidemic. In 2021, US drug-related overdose deaths topped 100,000, primarily due to illicitly manufactured fentanyl mixed with other drugs. Harm reduction strategies like drug checking are vital, but most communities lack proactive analysis, and transporting street samples to a lab for analysis is legally complicated.

My research bypasses these hurdles by optimizing ways to extract drug residues from used materials—like discarded test strips—that are usually thrown away. Since most of these materials are considered trash after use, they can easily be transported to the lab. I extract unregulated residues from this “drug trash” and develop analytical techniques like liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify the substances present. Information about samples is then shared with the stakeholders, including harm reduction organizations, care providers, and the public.

How did you get interested in this topic?

I started this project when I joined the Lieberman Lab. Initially, I was focused on the lab process efficiency—data, chromatography, and technical challenges. As lab chemists, we rarely get the opportunity to see the real-world impact of our work. That changed for me when I spoke with someone in recovery at a local harm reduction group.

They explained how our findings and results empower people to make safer, informed decisions. That conversation grounded my work in reality. It showed me the importance of drug checking and was a deep, personal motivation to continue, improve, and expand our drug-checking methodologies.

How do you view your research advancing the common good?

Our research is shifting the response to the opioid crisis from reactive to proactive. By the time an overdose happens, it’s often too late to warn others. My method provides an early warning system. For example, in a case study, my method detected carfentanil—an opioid 100 times more potent than fentanyl—in Ohio. By identifying emerging drugs like carfentanil and other drug trends before they become mass casualties, we are able to help address a national opioid crisis and take a step toward more healthy, flourishing communities.

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