Dr. Jessica Kent

Dr. Jessica Kent-Rice is an emergency physician, clinical pharmacologist and medical toxicologist at St. Michael’s Hospital. She is also a medical toxicologist at the Ontario Poison Centre, and an investigating coroner with the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario. She is a clinician investigator in the University of Toronto’s Department of Medicine and the St. Michael’s Hospital site principal investigator for the Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC), an international toxicosurveillance network. Her academic work focuses on opioid overdose and treatment, the clinical effects of novel psychoactive substance use and forensic aspects of medical toxicology. 

PUBLICATIONS

1. Ledlie S, Tadrous M, Bayoumi AM, McCormack D, Kent JT, Besharah J, Munro C, Gomes T. Initiation of opioid agonist treatment following hospital-treated opioid toxicities and the risk of repeat events in Ontario, Canada: a cohort study using inverse probability of treatment weights. BMJ Public Health Accepted for publication (in press), October 2025.

2. Kent JT, Sathya A, Juurlink DN, Austin E, Thompson M, Pakes B, Gollob M. Mass aconite poisoning from a contaminated spice product. Clinical Toxicology. 2025;63(9):633-693.

3. Kent JT, Mok G, Austin E. Nicotine toxicity from repeat use of nicotine pouches. Nicotine Tob Res. 2025;27(4):767-768.

4. Kent JT, Aldy K. (2025). Opioid adulterants: Is Medetomidine the New Xylazine? The ToxIC NOSE (Novel Opioid and Stimulant Exposure). Report #17 – ToxIC’s Rapid Response Program for Emerging Drugs.

5. Hu T, McCormack D, Juurlink DN, Campbell TJ, Bayoumi AM, Leece P, Kent JT, Gomes T. Initiation of opioid agonist therapy after hospital visits for non-fatal opioid poisonings in Ontario. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2023. Dec; 195(49) E1709-E1717.

6. Brianna N Stang, Jessica T Kent, Sara E Walton, Kim Aldy, Rachel Culbreth, Alyssa Falise, Sharan Campleman, Barry K Logan, Jeffrey Brent, Paul Wax, Alex J Krotulski, Comprehensive toxicological characterization and quantitation of drugs identified among nonfatal opioid and stimulant overdose presentations to US emergency departments, Journal of Analytical Toxicology, Volume 50, Issue 6, June 2026, bkag036, https://doi.org/10.1093/jat/bkag036

7. Kent JT, Culbreth R, Lebin JA, Burkhart K, Hendrickson RG, Dezman ZDW, Aldy K, Brent J, Falise A, Campleman S, Logan BK, Levine M, Chary M, Krotulski A, Perrone J, Wax P. Interpreting fentanyl and norfentanyl concentrations among patients seen in the emergency department after a nonfatal opioid overdose: A multicenter study. Journal of Medical Toxicology. Published online March 4, 2026. Principal Author.

MEDIA COVERAGE

Featured as a toxicology expert for CBC News, CTV’s W5, and international media outlets on emerging drug-related harms.