ISFG 2024

Marta Diepenbroek works as post-doc at the Institute of Legal Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany where she transferred in late 2018 from the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Poland.

For the past six years Dr. Diepenbroek was a team member of the Polish Genetic Database of Victims of Totalitarianisms, a DVI project with the purpose of employing forensic methods to identify victims of Communist and Nazi totalitarian regimes in Poland. She was involved in establishing a DNA database which held the results of analyzing over 800 bones and more than 1500 reference samples. Dr. Diepenbroek's work included finding first genetic evidence supporting the discovery of Jewish remains at the Sobibor death camp. For that research she was awarded a prize for the best oral presentation during the 27th Congress of the International Society for Forensic Genetics.

Currently, Dr. Diepenbroek's target is the practical use of the state of art forensic methods in routine investigations and presenting them to the law enforcement. Her work focuses on the newest MPS-based solutions like STR sequencing and forensically relevant SNP markers. Author of a dozen papers published in peer-reviewed journals and many presentations at international congresses.

Jack Ballantyne is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Central Florida (UCF) and an Associate Director of the National Center for Forensic Science in Orlando, Florida.  He possesses a B.Sc. (with Honors) in Biochemistry from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, a M.Sc. in Forensic Science from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland and a PhD in Genetics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, NY. 

Dr. Ballantyne's current duties include teaching and conducting research in forensic molecular genetics.  Prior to entering academia, he was a casework forensic scientist in Scotland, Hong Kong and New York where he proffered expert testimony in the criminal courts of these jurisdictions.  Dr. Ballantyne was the full time DNA technical leader in Suffolk County, New York, and then served as a part-time consultant DNA technical leader in public DNA laboratories in Mississippi, Delaware, Texas and Kansas.  He served as the Chair of the New York State DNA Sub-committee, is a regular visiting guest at the FBI's Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM) and, in the recent past was a member of the NIST Mixture Resource Committee and the Y-STR Interpretation Commission of the International Society of Forensic Genetics.  

Dr. Ballantyne's current research interests involve developing methods and approaches to help forensic scientists retrieve more information from biological traces transferred during the commission of a crime. Specifically, his current projects include the efficient use of Y chromosome and other biomarkers for sexual assault investigations, RNA profiling for body fluid identification and DNA association, single-cell forensic genomics and DNA mixture deconvolution.

Cordula Haas studied Biology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich. In her PhD at the Institute of Toxicology (ETH Zurich) and Postdoc at the Institute of Anatomy (University of Zurich) she studied glomerulonephritis and cytokines. Since 2003 Dr. Haas has been a research scientist at the Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Zurich and since 2017 head of the Forensic Genetics research team. Her current duties are research in forensic molecular genetics, supervision of master and PhD students, teaching and casework. Dr. Haas's research interests include RNA profiling for forensic applications and genetic determinants of sudden unexplained death (SIDS and SUD). She is a member of the Swiss Society of Legal Medicine (SGRM) and the International Society of Forensic Genetics (ISFG). 

Dr. Mark Barash is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the San Jose State University (SJSU) Forensic Science program. He is an enthusiastic advocate of forensic science and criminal justice with over 23 years of professional experience in the Forensic DNA field, including 10 years of operational experience as a DNA Reporting Police Officer. During his Police career, he contributed to over 600 hundred criminal investigations by analyzing biological evidence from armed robberies, sexual assaults, homicides, and terrorist attacks.

In his current role at SJSU, Dr Barash teaches the forensic science curriculum, performs research on various aspects of forensic genetics and supervises undergraduate and post-graduate students. His research interests span multidisciplinary areas such as craniofacial genetics, anthropology, biometrics, bioinformatics, machine learning, forensic genealogy, indirect DNA transfer, and massively parallel sequencing operational applications. Dr. Barash's primary research focuses on building innovative forensic intelligence tools for the prediction of externally visible characteristics such as facial appearance and other visible traits of potential investigative value from a DNA sample.

Vanessa Lynch is the Regional Leader for DNA for Africa, and a Senior Government Affairs Consultant at GTH-DNA.  Dr. Lynch launched DNA for Africa in 2021 which is dedicated to the use of advocacy outreach and forensic expertise to aid the development of DNA databases and casework programs throughout Africa, where she has extensive experience leading nationwide policy initiatives and working with governments to advance dynamic legislative and policy changes.

Dr. Lynch is regarded as a key opinion leader in the field of Forensic DNA policy and law has been lauded for her leadership to drive the adoption of DNA legislation to administer South Africa’s national DNA database, the first of its kind on the African continent. She served as Deputy Chair of the DNA Oversight Board (SA) which monitored the implementation of the provisions of the DNA Act in its first five years and now serves on the Forensic Databasing Advisory Board (FDAB) for the ISFG. 

Dr. Lynch completed her Law degree at the University of Cape Town in 1992 and in 2022 presented her dissertation in forensic DNA profiling for the degree of Doctor of Laws at the University of Stellenbosch.

Dr. Sheree Hughes is currently an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Forensic Science at Sam Houston State University (SHSU), and the Director of the Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science (STAFS) human decomposition facility.  She also served as a commissioner on the Texas Forensic Science Commission from 2014-2018.

Dr. Hughes holds a Ph.D. in Health Sciences (Forensic Genetics) from Bond University, Australia. She merges her research interests of DNA typing, human anatomy, and forensic anthropology by investigating degraded and challenging biological samples for human identification (HID) and forensic intelligence purposes.

Dr. Hughes leads a research group of graduate students where the main research focusses on improving DNA collection, room preservation, sample preparation, and DNA typing methods for skeletal and highly decomposed tissues for missing persons and DVI applications. Other current research includes exploring alternate DNA workflows and NGS technologies, improving genotyping methods from handled items (e.g. “touch” samples, firearms, and explosive devices), workflows for sexual assault samples, proteomics, and microbiome applications.