Working Group on Data Exchange in Medicolegal Death Investigation
The National Institute of Justice and its Forensic Technology Center of Excellence convene the Working Group on Data Exchange in Medicolegal Death Investigation in collaboration with and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). This working group is a diverse assembly of medicolegal death investigation professionals and ancillary professionals working to document and provide recommendations to enhance data exchange and collection in death investigation. This Medicolegal Death Investigation-Data Exchange-Working Group (MDI-Data-WG) gains insight from medical examiners, coroners, forensic investigators, epidemiologists, public health analysts, researchers, crime laboratory directors, law enforcement, federal agencies, toxicologists, and forensic pathologists acting as members, observers, and facilitators. Specific emphasis is placed on three subcommittees:
- Commonly Exchanged Data for Death Investigations
- Drug Taxonomy
- Forensic Science Data Integration
The goals of this working group are to 1) document the types of data that are commonly exchanged with public health and public safety partners and determine collective usage points, 2) provide suggestions on how to improve the naming process for emerging drugs, 3) guide the drug mapping/classification process, and 4) recommend needed enhancements to the operation of exchanging forensic data with other organizations.
Working Group Participants
| Aliese Alter | *Matthew Gamette | Marquis Johnson | Julie O'Donnell |
| Micaela Ascolese | *Bruce Goldberger | Robert Johnson | DeMia Pressley |
| Kate Brett | Laura Gould | Kelly Keyes | Prachi Mehta |
| Nichole Bynum | Megan Grabenauer | Alex Krotulski | Jeri Ropero-Miller |
| Carri Cottengim | Jason Graham | Christine Mattson | Frances Scott |
| Laura Gould | Kathryn Haden-Pinneri | Jonathan McGrath | Lindsey Thomas |
| Chris Delcher | Emma Hall | Danielle Mcleod-Henning | Margaret Warner |
| Daniel Dye | Christopher Harrison | Lewis Nelson | Agnes Winokur |
| *Brian Ehret | Bruce Houlihan | Chantel Nijwaji | Lucas Zarwell |
| Erica Fornaro | Donna Iula | Rebecca Noe | |
| John Fudenberg | Linda Jackson | Mallory O'Brian | * Designates Subcommittee Chair |
Working Group Products
Related Resources
- A Landscape Study of Electronic Case Management Systems for Medical Examiners and Coroners
- Death in Custody: A Comprehensive Review Webinar
- Opioids and Death Investigation: A “Perfect Storm” Webinar
- Just the NIJ Needs Assessment of Forensic Laboratories and Medical Examiner/Coroner Offices Podcast
- Just Being Vocal about Vicarious Trauma Podcast
- FTCOE MDI Stakeholders Meeting
- FTCOE Pathology and Medicolegal Death Investigations Resources
- FTCOE ABMDI CE Resources
- Investigation & Certification of Drug Toxicity Death Training
External Resources
- REPORT TO CONGRESS: Needs Assessment of Forensic Laboratories and Medical Examiner/Coroner Offices
- Strengthening the Medicolegal Death-Investigation System: Improving Data Systems
- Modernizing the National Vital Statistics System
- How Tracking Deaths Protects Health: Data We Count on
- Deaths of Despair: How Connecting Opioid Data Extends the Possibilities for Suicide Research
- Breaking Down Barriers for Drug Death Data
- Drugs, Death, and Data
- Data Modernization Initiative
Funding for this Forensic Technology Center of Excellence report was provided by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. This work was also supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Contract Number HHSM500201200008I, Task Order Number 200-2016-F-91567).
The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Justice or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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