Jun 16 2022

Meet the ISHI Advisory Committee: Dr. Claire Glynn

As you’ve heard, the ISHI planning team has expanded by six members as we’ve formed an inaugural advisory committee. The committee was formed to steer the content and format of the annual symposium to reflect the interests of the diverse stakeholders in the forensic science community.

We will be conferring with the advisory committee throughout the planning of the ISHI conference, and are grateful for the experience and expertise that they bring. While we’ve introduced each member in this blog post, we thought it might be nice to get to know each member a little better.

Dr. Claire Glynn previously worked as a forensic scientist at Eurofins Forensic Services (formerly named LGC Forensics) in Oxfordshire, England. Eurofins Forensic Services is one of the United Kingdom’s leading forensic science providers for the UK’s police forces. Dr. Glynn worked in the forensic biology department, within the homicide and sexual assaults team, which has investigated some of the UK’s most high-profile crimes.

For her Doctoral degree, Dr. Glynn chose to pursue cancer research, specifically breast cancer, as she wanted her research to be truly impactful, translational, and patient-oriented. The research team that Dr. Glynn worked with is world-renowned in the field of breast cancer research. Her research focused on developing novel biomarkers (microRNAs) for disease diagnosis and treatment. The molecular profiling skills she learned throughout her Ph.D. research are now being researched and applied to forensic applications for the identification of forensically relevant body fluids.

Dr. Glynn, who joined the University of New Haven in 2014, teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in forensic science, focused on forensic biology, forensic DNA analysis, and forensic/investigative genetic genealogy (F/IGG). Her research interests are focused F/IGG, and a broad range of applications for this novel investigatory tool. This includes investigating the effects of degraded samples and novel technologies, establishing best practices, the international feasibility of this tool, historical applications, and ethical considerations, to name just a few. Her other research interests include Rapid DNA analysis, RNA (mRNA and miRNA) analysis, Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNPs) applications, and DNA Methylation markers.

Dr. Glynn is the founding Director of the University of New Haven’s online Graduate Certificate in Forensic Genetic Genealogy, and she actively consults and provides subject matter expertise on the topic to law enforcement agencies, both nationally and internationally.

In these video interviews, Dr. Glynn discusses her love of genealogy, how the certificate program at the University of New Haven was born, and her wishes for the future of forensic investigative genetic genealogy. She also talks about what it’s like to be a woman blazing trails in a traditionally male dominated field, why forensic science is the field for her, the benefits of ISHI for students and how they can get the most out of the symposium, and why it’s an exciting time to be working in the field of forensic science.

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