Speakers

Stephen J. Barborini, Resident Agent in Charge-Special Agent (RET) worked at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for 24 years of service. He is currently a Detective for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Barborini is an elite expert in the field of firearms and firearms investigations. He is highly regarded as a subject matter expert in the fields of social media firearm investigations, international and domestic firearms trafficking investigations, firearm cybercrime investigations, and the procedures, rules, and laws as they pertain to the import, manufacture, and sale of firearms.

Kelly Behnke is a Forensic Scientist at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in West Palm Beach, Florida in the Forensic Biology Unit. She has been with PBSO for approximately 8 years, conducting both biological screening and DNA analysis as well as training new analysts.

Cairenn Binder is the Assistant Director of the IGG Center and the Director of the IGG Certificate Program. Cairenn has been at the forefront of IGG since its inception, applying genetic genealogy to identify human remains with the nonprofit organization DNA Doe Project from 2018 through 2023.

Jo-Anne Bright is a Senior Science Leader within the Forensic Biology group at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited (ESR) New Zealand, where she has worked since 1999. Jo is one of the co developers of STRmix™, expert software for the interpretation of forensic DNA profiles and the new Australasian standard.

Alexandra Burgess graduated from MIT in 2016 with a degree in Neuroscience, where her passion for science and data took root. In 2018, she began pursuing a doctorate in Biology at Boston College, driven by her growing interest in molecular cell biology where she honed her scientific skills.

This led her to collaborate with her grandmother, applying her scientific expertise and love of data to research violent individuals and explore the emerging field of computational forensics. Throughout her doctoral program, Alex consistently pushed the boundaries of innovation, a mindset she carries into her current work. Her ultimate goal is to deepen the understanding of violent behaviors and contribute to reducing violence and mass shootings in the United States.

Ann Wolbert Burgess, with Lynda Lytle Holmstrom (Boston College), co-founded one of the first hospital-based crisis intervention programs for rape victims at Boston City Hospital.  Dr. Burgess has testified as an expert witness in 32 states and has received grant and pub­lished articles on the topics of rape trauma, child sexual abuse, child pornography, serial offenders, crime classification, post-traumatic stress, elder abuse, mental disorders and standards of nursing practice.

John M. Butler holds a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Virginia. He has written five textbooks on Forensic DNA Typing (2001, 2005, 2010, 2012, and 2015) and given hundreds of invited talks to scientists, lawyers, and members of the general public throughout the United States and in 26 other countries so far. Dr. Butler is a NIST Fellow (highest scientific rank at NIST) and Special Assistant to the Director for Forensic Science in the Special Programs Office at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Dr. Jennifer Cihlar is an Assistant Professor in the Microbiology, Immunology, and Genetics Department at UNTHSC and a member of the UNTHSC Center for Human Identification’s Research Unit where her efforts focus on improving the forensic community’s ability to identity humans associated with crime, missing persons, and human and wildlife trafficking victims through forensic genomic research.

Michael Coble, PhD, is an Associate Professor and the Executive Director of the Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Texas. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and a member of the International Society for Forensic Genetics. He serves as a commissioner of the Texas Forensic Science Commission and is an invited guest at the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM).

Todd Cohen is currently one of the senior most Forensic Scientists in the Forensic Biology Unit of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. Located in West Palm Beach, FL, Todd has been employed for 11 years conducting DNA analysis, Y-STR analysis and serology on criminal cases in Palm Beach County.

John Collins is a High-Stakes Leadership Consultant and Executive Coach at Critical Victories, a company he founded to help people, teams, and organizations thrive in high-pressure environments where perfection is an expectation and failure is a ticket out the door.  He is also among the most respected forensic experts in the United States, recently publishing his first book on leadership and management in forensic science, which was released by Academic Press just last month. 

Jeffrey Deskovic, Esq., M.A., is an internationally recognized wrongful conviction expert and the founder of The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, which has freed 15 wrongfully convicted people and helped pass nine laws, including: video-taping interrogations; identification reform; the Commission On Prosecutor Conduct, and Discovery Reform. Under Jeff’s supervision, The Foundation is trying to free 13 innocent people while pursuing policy initiatives in NY, PA, and CA. The motivation for his advocacy work is that he was wrongfully imprisoned for sixteen years- from age 17 to 32- despite a negative DNA Test, based upon a coerced, false confession, prosecutorial misconduct, fraud by the medical examiner, and an inept public defender before being exonerated via the DNA Database. A documentary short about his life post-exoneration and advocacy work, “Conviction”, is available on Amazon Prime. 

Kelly Elkins, PhD, is Professor of Chemistry and co-Director of the TU Human Remains Identification Laboratory at Towson University and a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American Chemical Society.

Ms. Grossweiler is the National DNA Index System Program Manager in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's CODIS Unit. Lisa has over 33 years of experience in the forensic DNA field, serving in the private and public sectors. She joined the Federal DNA Database Unit of the FBI Laboratory in 2010 as a DNA Examiner and in 2019 transferred to the CODIS Unit where she accepted her current role as NDIS Custodian.

Dr. David Gurney, JD/PhD is an assistant professor of Law & Society and Director of the Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center at Ramapo College. He is president of the Investigative Genetic Genealogy Accreditation Board and a board member of the Forensic Genealogy Special Interest Group of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Dr. Hares is the Rapid DNA Implementation Program Advisor for the FBI’s Biometric Analysis Section.  He joined the DNA Analysis Unit II of the FBI Laboratory in 2000 as a Forensic Examiner.  In 2006, Dr. Hares transferred to the CODIS Unit where he served as the NDIS Custodian for over 13 years. 

Briel Hay is a Forensic Scientist with the Forensic Biology Unit at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. She has been in this role for over two years, specializing in forensic DNA analysis.

In March of 2017, Ms. Horan joined the Kings County District Attorney’s Office as a DNA Specialist in the Forensic Science & Cold Case Unit. She became the first forensic scientist to be hired on staff at a prosecutor’s office in New York State. Ms. Horan is responsible for providing training in serology and DNA testing for staff attorneys and local law enforcement. She also assists in grand jury and trial preparation for all DNA prosecutions and works with the NYPD Cold Case Squad in their homicide investigations.

Special Agent (SA) Mark James has 20 years of law enforcement experience as an FBI SA assigned to the Baltimore Field Office investigating gangs, narcotics, and violent crimes. Since March 2020, SA James has been the East Region Team Leader of the FBI Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) Team, which is responsible for conducting IGG on violent crime and unidentified human remains cases on the East Coast of the United States. The East Region FBI IGG Team has been responsible for the successful resolution of numerous violent crimes—including rapes and murders—and the identification of unknown homicide victims.

Eugene is actively involved in the community and is a member of many forensic working groups.  Throughout his career, he seems to be directly involved with standards and guidelines – both following them and helping to write them.  He has been a participant of the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM) for more than 17 years and a participant of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Science since its inception. 

Alyse Margetts is a distinguished forensic DNA analyst and casework supervisor with over a decade of expertise in the field. In 2020, Alyse transitioned into a training coordinator role to meet the ever-growing training demands of the unit. As a training coordinator, she worked closely with the technical leader to develop new training programs that emphasized theoretical knowledge, hands-on learning, and speaking opportunities.

Dr. Marshall has extensive graduate and undergraduate teaching experience in the forensic disciplines of serology, DNA, and microscopy. Her research interests include low copy number DNA, human and wildlife DNA identification challenges, nanoparticle technology, pressure cycling technology, and PCR enhancement.

In 2016, Candace Matthews became the crime scene supervisor at the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, where she currently serves as the CSU Manager. She also holds positions as the RDSTF Region 6 Forensic Lead, is a board member of the Florida Sheriff’s Association Cold Case Committee, and she served as the FDIAI Region 3 Director for three years.

Dr. Nicole Novroski is the Associate Director of the Center for Human Identification and holds an Associate Professor position within the College of Biomedical and Translational Sciences at UNTHSC.  Her current focus is the exploration of previously uncharacterized genetic markers for improved DNA mixture deconvolution and in the optimization of genetic workflows for forensic genetic genealogy.  

Craig O’Connor is a Deputy Director in the Department of Forensic Biology at the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner, the largest public DNA Lab in the country with over 200 analysts and technicians. He manages the daily operations in the department ensuring that the analytical work conforms to state and national accreditation requirements and federal quality assurance standards.

Rachel Oefelein is currently the Chief Scientific Officer at DNA Labs International (DLI) and Laboratory Director. Since joining DNA Labs International in 2014, Rachel was instrumental in implementing STRmix™ for five profiling systems, rootless hair shaft testing, and Next Generation Sequencing in three profiling systems. She also innovated and implemented DLI’s successful SpentShell™ technology for fired cartridge casings.

Carol Retamozo is the Assistant Forensic Quality Assurance Manager at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. She has 20 years of experience in forensic science and has worked for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. She has experience in various roles, including Forensic Technologist, Forensic Scientist, and Forensic Laboratory Supervisor.

Erica Romsos is a Research Biologist with the Applied Genetics Group at NIST focusing on rapid DNA testing, digital PCR analysis, and standards development. Her work in Standard Reference Material characterization has assisted the creation of many SRMs produced by NIST and the creation of a Research Grade Testing Material (RGTM 10235) for the forensic DNA community. Additionally, Erica is the Leader of the Forensic Science Quality Assurance Program, supporting method testing, validation, and technology performance across different forensic science disciplines.

Julie Conover Sikorsky is the Forensic Biology Manager at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. She joined PBSO in 2002 as a Senior Forensic Scientist and became Forensic Biology Manager in 2012. Julie holds a B.S. in Molecular Biology from UC San Diego and M.S. degrees in Forensic Science and Biomedical Science from Marshall University. ABC-certified in Molecular Biology and a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, she serves on multiple forensic science committees and frequently presents at industry conferences. Dedicated to advancing forensic science, Julie focuses on innovation, process improvement, and mentorship.

Ms. Rachel Singer has served as an Assistant District Attorney for 20 years. She began her career at the Bronx District Attorney's Office in the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Bureau, where she prosecuted both domestic violence and sexual assaults cases involving adults and children.

Dr. Henry Swofford is the Lead Scientist with the Forensic Science Research Program in the Special Programs Office at NIST. Over his career, Swofford has authored several articles and given approximately 150 professional presentations throughout the United States and International community related to forensic science methods and practices. He has testified in federal, state, and military courts as an expert and served on numerous committees and boards related to forensic science.

Melissa Taylor is a Senior Forensic Science Research Manager within the Special Programs Office at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Her work within the Forensic Science Program focuses primarily on integrating human-factors principles into forensic sciences, process mapping, and expert decision-making.

Samantha Wandzek is the Technical Leader of Signature Science’s Forensic DNA Laboratory in Austin, Texas. Ms. Wandzek oversees all technical aspects of the laboratory including validation and implementation of all forensic methods. In addition, she continues to function as a Forensic DNA Analyst by reporting and performing technical review of DNA analyses and case files.

Regina Wells has been employed by the Kentucky State Police for 19 years and the supervisor of the DNA Database for 3 years. She also serves as the State CODIS Administrator for Kentucky.

Dr. Ray Wickenheiser, is the retired Director of the New York State Police Crime Laboratory System, formerly headquartered in Albany, New York.  Ray is now located in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he provides forensic consulting and training. His areas of expertise include crime lab administration, quality management, conflict resolution, forensic DNA and mixture interpretation, serology, hair and fiber trace evidence, physical matching and comparison, glass fracture analysis, forensic grain comparison and forensic investigative genetic genealogy. 

Richard Wivell is a Senior Scientist within the STRmixTM  team at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited, New Zealand where he has worked since 2008.  Before moving to New Zealand, Richard was a Forensic Scientist for the Metropolitan Police Service and the Forensic Science Service in the UK.

August Woerner is an Assistant Professor in the department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Much of August’s current research focuses on whole genome sequencing, particular, its application to forensic genetic genealogy.