Katie Laughery

Melissa Kellstrom joined the DEA in 2009 and currently serves as a
Legislative/Diversion Policy Analyst within the Diversion Control Division. She is a
principal advisor to the Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Policy Office on
legislative, regulatory, and policy matters related to controlled substances and
diversion control equities under the Controlled Substances Act.
Prior to her current role, she served as a Congressional Liaison within DEA’s Office
of Congressional and Public Affairs and was detailed to the Senate Drug Caucus to
work on legislation related to the Controlled Substances Act. She graduated from the
University of Maryland.

Mrs. Katie Laughery serves as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of
Diversion Control Policy at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), where she
provides executive leadership on national policy issues affecting the regulation and
oversight of controlled substances.
Mrs. Laughery’s previous roles in DEA include serving as the Business Operations
Chief for DEA’s Rocky Mountain Field Division, the Chief Policy Advisor for the
Diversion Control Division, and, the Chief of the Office of Congressional Affairs.
Mrs. Laughery began her DEA career as a Drug Science Specialist in the Quota and
UN Reporting Unit. Prior to joining DEA, she served as a Department of the Army
chemist and forensic drug analyst, and as a research chemist at The Johns Hopkins
University.
She has more than 20 years of federal service, is a U.S. Army veteran and former
Combat Medic, and holds degrees from the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins
University, and Liberty University.