Catherine Grgicak Ph.D., Instructor
Biography
Dr. Grgicak recently received her doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Ottawa and has been hired as an Instructor in the Biomedical Forensic Sciences Program at Boston University School of Medicine. She is interested in designing and carrying out research relevant to forensic DNA testing. Dr. Grgicak fully participates in the instruction of BMFS students by supervising Masters level research projects and teaching the DNA laboratory course. Prior to her doctoral work, Dr. Grgicak received her M.S.F.S. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham while working at the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. Her Masters research focused on elucidating the nature of primer binding site mutations in forensically relevant markers. She continued her forensic casework and research at the Cellmark Diagnostics Laboratory in Germantown MD.
Research Interests
Our research interests include designing and conducting studies relevant to forensic DNA testing. Current research focuses on the statistical evaluation of stutter intensity and heterozygosity ratios in 15 STR loci used in forensic analysis and the effect on mixture deconvolution and interpretation. Additional research involves the use of Laser Microdissection for forensic DNA applications, and the evaluation of degraded DNA and its effect on amplification. Characterizing the various types of DNA degradation will allow us to determine which in-vitro repair mechanism to employ in order to improve PCR efficiency. Other projects focus on optimizing differential extraction procedures, where sperm cell ‘pre-lysis’ is negated during the initial stages of extraction, and improving overall DNA recovery during extraction. We’ve also studied effective and accurate quantification of human DNA by using real-time PCR while concurrently developing an electrochemical biosensor for reliable and fast quantification of degraded and non-degraded DNA.
Recent Presentations
2009
Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists 35th Annual Meeting, Long Branch NJ
Catherine Grgicak, Ruiyi Ren, Zena Urban, Catherine Hennekens, Laura Flint and Robin W. Cotton. Investigation of Reproducibility and Error Associated with qPCR Methods using Quantifiler Duo DNA Quantification Kit.
American Academy of Forensic Sciences 61st Annual Meeting, Dever Colorado
Sarah Phillips, Catherine M. Grgicak, Robin W. Cotton. A Comparative Study of DNA Extraction Methodologies: Variation on DNA Yield and Effects on Downstream PCR Analysis.
2008
Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists 34th Annual Meeting, White Plains NY
Elisse Ruiz, Catherine M. Grgicak, Robin Cotton. Amplification Reproducibility of Profiles Generated Using Identifiler and MiniFiler PCR Amplification Kits: Effects on Mixture Interpretation.
2008 Symposium for Human Identification, Hollywood CA
Catherine M. Grgicak, Ruiyi Ren, Laura Flint, Robin Cotton. Investigation of Reproducibility and Error Associated with Real Time Quantitative PCR Methods.
