chemical compounds behind glass tube

Best Practices in Novel Psychoactive Substances Testing for Laboratory Practitioners

Date September 2019 Overview New psychoactive substances (NPS) have always presented a challenge to analytical laboratories tasked with identifying drugs in biological and nonbiological material. The pace at which new compounds appeared on the illicit drug market increased exponentially in…

Juror comprehension of forensic expert testimony: A literature review and gap analysis

Publication Forensic Science International: Synergy, March 2019 Author Heidi Eldridge | RTI International Abstract Forensic scientists and commentators including academics and statisticians have been embroiled in a debate over the best way to present evidence in the courtroom. Various forms…

Process and Outcome Evaluation of Forensic DNA Unit Efficiency Improvement Program

Date November 2018 Overview A 2009 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Forensic DNA Unit Efficiency Improvement (EIP) Program solicitation provided crime laboratories’ DNA testing services with a funding opportunity to meet the increasingly numerous requests from the criminal justice community.…

A Landscape Study of SOPs to Collect and Process Arrestee and Convicted Offender DNA Samples

Date September 2018 Overview The Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCOE) is conducting a landscape study and root cause analysis which seeks to (1) identify factors that may result in potential barriers related to the collection, testing, and uploading of…

In-Brief: Applying Internal Validation Guidelines for Expanded STR Loci Kits

Date January 2017 Overview The familiar ‘13 Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) core loci’ expanded to ‘20 CODIS core loci’ as mandated by the FBI on January 1, 2017. Because of this FBI mandate, participating CODIS laboratories will need to internally…

A Landscape Study of Federal Investment in Forensic Science R&D

Date December 2016 Overview Federal government involvement in forensic science improvement has accelerated in recent years. Federal investments have transformed DNA capacity and demonstrated the power of scientific advances to address criminal justice challenges. In its 2009 report, Strengthening Forensic Science…