Students

There are  approximately 60 full- and part-time students enrolled in the Biomedical Forensic Sciences Program.  Currently our students are engaged in coursework and research spanning many forensic science disciplines – including but not limited to forensic chemistry, DNA, Biology, Trace and Pathology.

Presentations/Publications

Travel grants for students presenting at conferences are available through the Division of  Graduate Medical Sciences and the Biomedical Forensic Sciences Program. 

Recent Presentations given by our students at various conferences is given below.

2012

American Academy of Forensic Sciences 64thd Annual Meeting, Atlanta GA

Cristina Padilla. Challenges in Evaluating Cause and Manner of Death in Palliative and End-of-Life Care Patients

Corissa Rodgers. Further Studies Investigating Zeolites for the Recovery of Oxygenated Compounds from Fire Debris Samples

Jessica Shea. Development of Streptavidin-Biotin Binding of DNA Amplicons Methods for the Typing and Re-Typing of Forensically Relevant Short Tandem Repeats

Emily Kinnaman. Evaluating the Efficacy of Post-Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Purification Using Qiagen MinElute® on Low Template Samples (Student Forum)

Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists 38th Annual Meeting, Saratoga Springs, NY

Amanda Garrett.  Improving DNA Evidence Collection via Quantitative Analysis: A Systems Approach

James Joseph.  Identification of the “Legal High” Phenylalkylamine Analogues: 5-Iodo-2-Aminoindane (5-IAI) and 5, 6-Methylenedioxy-2-Aminoindane (MDAI) by Colorimetric Tests and GC-MS

David Patlak.  Evaluation of Wet Vacuum Collection Versus Traditional Methods for Collection of Biological Crime Scene Samples

2011

American Academy of Forensic Sciences 63rd Annual Meeting, Chicago IL

Jackson Jeong. Validation Studies of Allele Drop-out and Heterozygote Peak Imbalance of Single and Mixture profiles generated with AmpFlSTR® Identifiler® PCR Amplification Kit and analyzed with GeneMapper® ID-X.

Jonathon Dunn. Effects of DNA Degradation on Single-Source and Mixture Profiles Generated Using Traditional and Mini- STRs.

Elyse Cooper. Differential Extraction Conditions: Effects of Aging and Dehydration on DNA Mixture Quantification and Amplification.

Kathryne St. Pierre. Evaluation of a Novel Methodology for the Recovery of Volatiles from Fire Debris Samples.

Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists 37th Annual Meeting, Newport RI

Corissa Rodgers presented her work on Further Studies Investigating Zeolites for the Recovery of Oxygenated Compounds from Fire Debris Samples and won the Peter DeForest Collegiate Competition for her presentation.

2010

Northeastern Association of Forensic Sciences 36th Annual Meeting, Manchester, VT

Katie Webster presented her graduate work during the NEAFS poster section. Katie used advanced solid state materials characterization techniques as well as traditional corrosion testing to determine whether a time-since-deposition of metal items left in aqueous environments can be reliably determined.  The mechanism by which corrosion occurred was signficantly impacted by the material, suggesting a detailed understanding of the charge transfer mechanism and phase composition is needed before a time-since-deposition can be elucidated.

Crystal Simson-Oechsle was able to directly compare the ability of immunochromatographic test strips and qPCR to quantify low levels of biological material by deriving a LOD utilizing the theory of the propagation of error.

Southwestern Association of Forensic Sciences Annual Conference, TX

Katie Cerow presented her work on Peak Area and Peak Height Analysis at this years SWAFS meeting in Texas and by using statistical analysis and traditional analytical methods, found that for purposes of mixture analysis, there is no significant impact when either is used.

American Academy of Forensic Sciences 62nd Annual Meeting, Seattle WA

Catherine Hennekens‘ work on “Differential Extraction Conditions and the Premature Lysis of Spermatozoa” was presented in the Criminalistics section on Thursday afternoon.  (Principle Investigator –  Catherine Grgicak)

Mallory Littman, a recent graduate of the BMFS program, presented her graduate work on Aquatic Decompostion in Freshwater and Saltwater Environments at the AAFS conference in poster form.  (Principle Investigator – Tara Moore)

2009

Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists 35th Annual Meeting, Long Branch NJ

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”.  (Principle Investigators – Frank Padula and Adam Hall)

Lisa R. Tozier presented her work entitled ” Evaluation of Commercially Available Presumptive Drug Testing Kits for the Forensic Analysis of Salvia Divinorum”. (Principle Investigator – Adam Hall)

61st Annual American Academy of Forensic Sciences Meeting, Denver CO

Sarah Phillips presented her work entitled “A Comparative Study of DNA Extraction Methodologies:  Variation in DNA Yield and Effects on Downstream PCR Analysis.”  (Principle Investigator – Catherine Grgicak) Abstract: Extraction Methodologies

Jane Mak presented her forensic biology research on “The Effects of Substrate, Blood Volume, and Washing on the Performance of Luminol, Bluestar® Forensic, and Bluestar®Forensic Magnum.” (Principle Investigator – Amy Brodeur).   AAFS 2009 Latent Blood Detection

The United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology Annual Meeting

Will Minett presented his work entitled “Concentrations of Opiates and Psychotropic Agents in Polydrug Overdoses: A Surprising Correlation between Morphine and Antidepressants” (Principle Investigators – Mindy Hull and Tara Moore).

2008

Northeastern Association of Forensic Sciences 34th Annual Meeting, White Plains NY

Brian Cawrse presented his work on the “Forensic Chemical Analysis and Characterization of Salvia Divinorum and Salvinorin A” 

Elisse Ruiz presented her work on ”Amplification Reproducibility of Profiles Generated Using Identifiler and MiniFiler PCR Amplification Kits:  Effects on Mixture Interpretation”