The Science of DNA Profiling: A National Expert Forum

Speaker Biographies (in alphabetical order):

Travis Doom, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Wright State University. His research interests include computational biology and automation of forensic DNA evidence analysis to help standardize reviews of this evidence. doom@cs.wright.edu

Simon Ford, Ph.D., Trained primarily in molecular biology and biochemistry, Dr. Ford is the Founder and President of Lexigen Science and Law Consultants, a firm that specializes in providing advice to lawyers about genetic evidence since 1988. He has personally reviewed the DNA evidence from thousands of criminal investigations and has conducted numerous workshops for agencies on the analysis of STR test results. ford@bioforensics.com

Jennifer Friedman, J.D., Deputy Public Defender and Forensic Science Coordinator with the Los Angeles Public Defender's Office. She has litigated several high-profile cases where DNA testing played a pivotal role and is also the founder and former head of the Los Angeles County Innocence Project. jfriedma@co.la.ca.us

Jason Gilder, M.S., Mr. Gilder is a Systems Engineer at Forensic Bioinformatics, Inc. and Computer Science and Engineering Ph.D. student. His master's thesis involved developing the GenophilerTM software system for evaluation of forensic DNA testing results. He has used GenophilerTM to analyze the electronic data in more than 150 cases over the past two years. gilder@bioforensics.com

Keith Inman holds a B.S. and M. Crim., both from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a Fellow of the American Board of Criminalistics. In his professional career he has been employed as a criminalist by the Orange County Sheriff's Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner, and the Oakland Police Department. Mr. Inman is currently employed as a senior criminalist by the California Department of Justice DNA Laboratory. He has co-authored a book that has become the preeminent reference for both attorneys and crime laboratories, and a book aimed at practicing criminalists. He has taught in the Criminal Justice Administration department at California State University, Hayward, and currently teaches a variety of general forensic science and forensic DNA courses for the University of California at Berkeley Extension and on-line. kinman@ix.netcom.com

Elizabeth Johnson, Ph.D. has been a practicing forensic scientist for the past thirteen years, specializing in forensic biology and DNA issues. Dr. Johnson established and directed the DNA laboratory at the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office in Houston, Texas from 1992-1996. She then worked at Technical Associates, a private criminalistics laboratory in Ventura, California, for six years. After leaving Technical Associates, Dr. Johnson has gone into solo practice, based in Thousand Oaks, California, providing testing, review, consultation, testimony, and education to those in need of assistance with forensic DNA. circej@earthlink.net

Dan Krane, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Wright State University, his research lab generates thousands of DNA profiles each year as well as the lead author of the best selling undergraduate textbook on bioinformatics. A leading authority on forensic DNA evidence, he is founder and CEO of Forensic Bioinformatics, Inc. and has testified as an expert witness in approximately fifty cases. dan.krane@wright.edu

Larry Mueller, Ph.D., Dr. Mueller is a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine. He has testified in nearly five hundred criminal cases, primarily on issues pertaining to population genetics and the statistics associated with forensic DNA profiling. ldmuelle@uci.edu

Michael Raymer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Wright State University. An expert in the field of genetic algorithms as well as experienced in the field of protein biochemistry, Dr. Raymer has been at the forefront of introducing bioinformatics to the undergraduate curriculum nation-wide. His research includes evolutionary computation and statistical pattern recognition. raymer@bioforensics.com

Carolyn Rowland, M.S., Mrs. Rowland is currently an analyst at Forensic Bioinformatics, Inc. in where she reviews case files (including GenophilerTM output, laboratory notes and serological results) associated with forensic DNA testing. She has reviewed and consulted with the lead attorneys of more than 120 cases over the past two years. rowland@bioforensics.com

William Shields, Ph.D., Dr. Shields is a Professor of Biology at the State University of New York, Syracuse. Dr. Shields has become one of the most easily recognized experts in the field of DNA profiling through his participation as a testifying expert in countless highly publicized trials including the on-going CA v. Peterson. He has published widely in the areas of population genetics and mitochondrial DNA testing. wms1@syr.edu

Marc Taylor, As President and Senior Forensic Scientist at Technical Associates, Mr. Taylor performs trace evidence analysis on hundreds of samples each year both for prosecutors and defense attorneys. A former criminalist at the Los Angeles Medical Examiner.s Office, he also served as the principal technical advisor for the Quincy television series. marc.taylor@tai-labs.com

William Thompson, J.D., Ph.D., Dr. Thompson is a Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine, and a member of the California Bar. He has been a member of the NACDL DNA Strikeforce and has represented a number of defendants in cases that utilized DNA evidence. His work into flaws with the Houston, TX Police Department Crime Laboratory has recently been featured prominently in stories by the television news show 60 Minutes. thompson@bioforensics.com

Richard Willing covers crime and punishment with an emphasis on forensics for USA TODAY. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post Style section, Sankei Shimbum and the Journal of U.S. Intelligence Studies. He holds honors degrees from the Ohio State University and Yale University. rwilling@usatoday.com

Sandy Zabell, Ph.D., As a Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at Northwestern University, Dr. Zabell conducts research pertaining to mathematical probability and Bayesian statistics. He also participated in the first blue ribbon panel called by the National Research Council to discuss DNA testing in 1993 and has testified on statistical issues pertaining to forensic DNA testing across the United States. zabell@mac.com

Last modified: 05/16/06