Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

The following four BMFS students will be presenting their research at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Annual Meeting (February 2012) in Atlanta, GA.

• Ms. Christina Padilla – Challenges in Evaluating Cause and Manner of Death in Palliative and End of Life Care Patients
  
• Ms. Corissa Rodgers – Further Studies Investigating Zeolites for the Recovery of Oxygenated Compounds from Fire Debris Samples
  
• Ms. Jessica Shea – Development of Streptavidin-Biotin Binding of DNA Amplicons: Methods for the Typing and Re-typing of Forensically Relevant Short Tandem Repeats
  
• Ms. Emily Kinnaman (presenting at the student forum) – Evaluating the Efficacy of Post-Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Purification using Qiagen MinElute® on Low Template Samples

Check the AAFS program on www.aafs.org for dates and times.

The BMFS faculty would like to congratulate Corissa Rodgers.

Corissa Rodgers was the winner of the Peter DeForest Graduate Collegiate Competition Award at the 2011 NEAFS Meeting for her presentation entitled “Further Studies Investigating Zeolites for the Recovery of Oxygenated Compounds from Fire Debris Samples”

See the full length interview entitled “Interview with Dr. Robin Cotton on Being an Expert Witness” in Appendix 4 of John Butler’s new book “Advanced Topics in Forensic DNA Typing:  Methodology”. 

Portions of the responses were used to create the content for Chapter 18 of the book.

BMFS faculty member Dr. Laposata was the Technical and Creative Forensic Pathology Consultant  for ABC’s Body of Proof, Season 1.

The BMFS Program receives NIJ funding for research in the field of forensic DNA analysis

New research into the characterization and development of low-template complex DNA mixtures is supported by NIJ (National Institute of Justice) Applied Research and Development in Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes Grant.  This project endeavors to develop an enhanced method to characterize complex DNA mixtures by the development of a complex DNA mixture interpretation tool designed to enhance traditional DNA interpretation by utilizing a likelihood ratio which makes no assumptions regarding the number of contributors or by determining the likelihood that a certain number of individuals contributed to the DNA mixture.  We use statistical signal processing methods to accurately infer the number of contributors to a DNA stain. Specifically, we calculate the a posteriori probability (APP) of the number of contributors to a stain based on the genotyping results. The APP is the probability that the stain came from a certain number of contributors given what is observed during genotyping. If it is strongly peaked, i.e. the APP says that there is a particular number of contributors that is highly likely and all others are highly unlikely, then the APP tells us the number of contributors that gave rise to the stain. If not, the APP will nevertheless tell us the range in which the number of contributors is overwhelmingly likely to lie, which can then be used to calculate a range for the LR. The APP formulates the process of assigning a number of contributors, which currently must be performed by subjective judgment, into an accurate, objective process. This not only would help crime laboratory analysts in appropriately determining the number of individuals and the uncertainty with respect to the number assumed, but it would ultimately aid in the ability of these laboratories to state the likelihood that it is n individuals. Furthermore, the LR that is ultimately reported should and can incorporate the uncertainties of the number of individuals into the likelihood calculation.

This project is being done in collaboration with a number of highly motivated graduate students.

Amy Brodeur of Melrose, a forensic scientist, will give a talk about crime scene forensics and more before the screening of ‘Dirty Harry’ at Coolidge Corner Theatre’s ‘Science on Screen’ series on Monday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.

For more details:  http://www.wickedlocal.com/melrose/fun/entertainment/x1272812772/Melrose-forensic-scientist-gives-Dirty-Harry-pre-screening-talk

Danielle L. Conklin won the 35th annual NEAFS collegiate competition based on her work entitled  “Elemental Analysis of Float Glass Samples Using a 193nm Excimer Laser Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer to Identify Forensic Glass Evidence”.

The Biomedical Forensic Sciences Program at Boston University School of Medicine is FEPAC accredited.

“The mission of the FEPAC is to maintain and enhance the quality of forensic science education through a formal evaluation and recognition of college level academic programs. The primary function of the committee is to develop and maintain standards and administer an accreditation program that recognizes and distinguishes high quality undergraduate and graduate forensic science programs.”

See www.aafs.org for more information regarding FEPAC and other AAFS committees.