The genetics of forensic medicine: Episode 6

Walther Parson holds an associate professorship at the Institute of Legal Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria and an adjunct professorship at the Pennsylvania State University. Together with his colleagues he set up the Austrian National DNA Database Laboratory in 1997 in Innsbruck, where he currently supervises the High Through-put DNA Database Laboratory and the research group Forensic Genomics. Professor Parson is representing Austria in international boards including the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI) DNA Working Group and the European DNA Profiling Group (EDNAP) and he is an elected active member of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. He served as President of the International Society for Forensic Genetics (ISFG) from 2015-2019 and is currently Vice-President. His research focuses on various fields of genetics and genomics and he entertains collaborations with other fields of research such as anthropology, archaeology, mathematics and history. His group was repeatedly consigned to handle international requests on Forensic DNA fingerprinting of victims of mass fatalities (e.g., the 2004 Tsunami, the 1973 victims Chile, the 2014 Missing Mexican students), international human identification cases (e.g., the Russian Tsar family Romanov) and identification of historic individuals (e.g., Friedrich von Schiller, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart). His group developed (1999-2006) and has since been curating the EDNAP Mitochondrial DNA Population Database (EMPOP; https://empop.online), the world’s largest forensic mitochondrial DNA database for forensic purposes, as well as the STRs for Identity ENFSI Reference Database (STRidER; https://strider.online) to quality control and disseminate Short Tandem Repeat allele frequencies and sequenced alleles. His current research is focussing on predictive DNA analysis, also known as Forensic DNA Phenotyping. He and his group partner in the EU Horizon 2020 Research Project VISAGE (http://www.visage-h2020.eu), for which they develop and validate molecular genetic tools for the prediction of appearance, ancestry and age.

Professor Shepherd has worked in the Home Office and as a Coronial Forensic Pathologist for 40 years with extensive experience in all types of natural and unnatural death.

Professor Syndercombe-Court is a geneticist, statistician, editor and author of medical and forensic text-books, with over twenty years’ experience in forensic research, evidential examination and an accredited expert witness, giving evidence on many occasions. Her appointment as a Professor in Forensic Genetics at King’s College London has allowed her to teach forensic genetics at under- and post-graduate levels and to supervise those undertaking research for their doctorates.

Her expertise relates to human DNA analysis for identification, both analysis and interpretation, and she specialises in the use of molecular biology techniques involving sequencing in the analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, particularly those presented in complex matrices, methylated DNA and RNA in all body fluids, phenotypic and ancestral inference. She leads an ISO17025 Ministry of Justice accredited laboratory as part of King’s Forensics. She is a member of several professional associations (Biochemical Society, British Academy of Forensic Sciences, Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences, Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine, Academy of Forensic Medical Sciences, Institute of Biological and Medical Sciences, International Society of Forensic Genetics, Royal Society of Biology and the Royal Statistical Society), represents the UK on the European DNA profiling group, is the International Society of Forensic Genetics representative to the UK Forensic Regulator’s DNA Working Group, a member of the Home Office Biometrics and Forensic Ethics Group and a member of the BSI Committee on Standards in Forensic Science.

Her research group has been the UK partner, with other European Forensic Institutes, undertaking research in the European forensic arena in STADNAP, SNPforID and EuroforGen, presenting her research and attending international meetings. She has an active interest in promoting an ethical view of science and especially the use of DNA injustice to a wider audience via television, radio and external lecture