Meet Your ISHI 37 Speakers: Scientific and Legal Lessons from the Gilgo Beach Frye Hearing
In September 2025, a New York court admitted DNA evidence built from SNP analysis, whole genome sequencing, and rootless hair samples in a criminal trial for the first time in the state’s history. Getting there took a Frye hearing with nine separate hearing days spread across the spring and summer of 2025. The case itself […]
Meet Your ISHI 37 Speakers: Jo Bright
Autosomal STR interpretation moved to probabilistic genotyping years ago. It’s now the standard in most U.S. labs. Y-STR interpretation didn’t make the same jump. Most labs still rely on database comparison and manual counting, even in the sexual assault cases where Y-STR is often the only way to pull a male profile out of a […]
From Profiling to Prevention: What Ann Burgess Has Learned from Fifty Years of Violent Crime Research
Ann Burgess has spent more than five decades studying the people who commit the most violent crimes and the people they hurt. She helped create the scientific foundation for behavioral profiling, co-developed the concept of rape trauma syndrome, and worked with the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit on the first systematic study of serial killers. At […]
Profiling the Criminal Mind: A Conversation with Dr. Ann Burgess
Interview written and condensed by Ann MacPhetridge, Promega. Reposted from the ISHI Report with permission. For nearly five decades, Dr. Ann Burgess has been at the forefront of forensic psychology and criminal profiling, transforming the way investigators understand violent offenders. Her groundbreaking work with the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit laid the foundation for modern criminal […]
Breaking Barriers in Forensics: Anna Barbaro on Empowering Women and Demystifying True Crime
How do we empower women in forensic science while bridging the gap between true crime media and reality? At #ISHI35, Dr. Anna Barbaro, President of the Worldwide Association of Women Forensic Experts (WAWFE), shared her mission to support women in forensics globally, especially in developing countries. In this inspiring interview, Dr. Barbaro discusses: 🌍 The […]
Under the Microscope – Meradeth Houston Snow
The intersection between identifying human remains that may be of Native American ancestry, and genetic testing, is one that is fraught with misunderstandings and cultural insensitivities. As the numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous persons (MMIP) continues to rise, the ability to bridge the world of forensic identification and cultural respect is becoming one that […]
Under the Microscope 2023 – Greg Hampikian
The National Registry of Exonerations reported that misleading forensic evidence is a prominent factor in wrongful convictions. Because DNA evidence resonates with jurors, even small mistakes have large effects. For example, when male DNA is reported in a “sperm fraction”—even though no sperm are present—the profile is referred to as “sperm DNA” by lawyers and […]
Mobilizing the DNA Laboratory: Rapid DNA for Mass Identification Events
Nothing taught the forensic DNA community, arguably the world, more about mass identification than the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. This singular event solidified DNA’s role in the identification of those who could not identify themselves. The use of DNA analysis in this, and other like events, has become a pivotal and […]
Under the Microscope – Ray Wickenheiser
DNA databases have been very effective at developing investigative leads, providing new suspects for unsolved forensic cases. To date, the majority of forensic laboratories utilize DNA databases with direct matching, where forensic profiles found at crime scenes are compared to profiles from known individuals and must match exactly. Expanding the size of a law enforcement […]