Moses Schanfield at the George Washington University (GWU) Department of Forensic Science will conduct a planning meeting and related activities to assess interest in forming a Center for Forensic Science (CFS) as a national Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) for basic research advancing forensic science. The prospective Center will address needs related to those called for by the 2009 National Academy of Sciences National Research Council report ?Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward.? Forensic science is critical to the criminal justice system and is fundamentally an interdisciplinary field of science. Technological and scientific innovation created through scientific and engineering research is needed to improve the reliability and utility of the work of forensic scientists in their investigations. Industrial participation is key to translating basic scientific advances to community application.
GWU will plan to serve as an academic research site for the Center. The GWU Department is large and well established with eleven full-time faculty members that span the disciplines of forensic toxicology, forensic chemistry (including trace evidence), forensic molecular biology, crime scene investigation, digital evidence/computer forensics, forensic pathology, and law. They have garnered interest from prospective industrial partners representing a diverse array of interests including DNA collection, mass spectrometry, and investigation of crimes committed by drones. They will hold a planning meeting with prospective industrial partners and associates in order to advance creation of a Center to address the needs of the forensic sciences.
This planning grant is jointly supported by NSF and the National Institute of Justice.
