Bridging the gap: from biometrics to forensics
Professor Anil Jain, Michigan State University, USA
Abstract
Biometric Recognition, or simply biometrics, refers to "Automated recognition of individuals based on their behavioral and biological characteristics." The success of fingerprints in forensics and law enforcement applications, coupled with growing concerns related to national security, financial fraud and cyber attacks, has generated a huge interest in utilizing fingerprints, as well as other biological traits, for automated person recognition. It is, therefore, not surprising to see biometrics permeating various segments of our society. Applications include smartphone security, mobile payment, border crossing, national civil registry, and access to restricted facilities. Despite these successful deployments, there are several existing challenges and new opportunities for person recognition using biometrics. In particular, when biometric data is acquired in an unconstrained environment or if the subject is uncooperative, the quality of the ensuing biometric data may not be amenable for recognition. As an example, recognizing subjects from face images captured in surveillance video frames is substantially more difficult than recognizing controlled mug shot images. Therefore, additional cues such as scars, marks and tattoos may have to be used in conjunction with partial low-resolution face images to recognize a person. In some situations, a face image of the suspect may not even be available. Rather, a composite image rendered by a forensic artist based on verbal descriptions provided by witnesses, may have to be used for recognition purposes. Indeed, some of the more recent biometric applications have a forensic “twist” to them. This talk will discuss how biometrics evolved from forensics and how its focus has shifted back to its origin in order to solve some of the challenging problems in forensic science.
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Professor Anil Jain, Michigan State University, USA
Professor Anil Jain, Michigan State University, USA
Anil K. Jain is a university distinguished professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State University. His research interests include pattern recognition, biometric authentication and computer vision. He served as the editor-in-chief of the IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (1991-1994).
The holder of eight patents in the area of fingerprint matching and face recognition, he is the author of a number of books, including Introduction to Biometrics (2011), Handbook of Face Recognition (2011), Handbook of Fingerprint Recognition (2009), Handbook of Biometrics (2009), Handbook of Multibiometrics (2006), BIOMETRICS: Personal Identification in Networked Society (1999), and Algorithms for Clustering Data (1988). He served as a member of the Defense Science Board, and The National Academies studies on Whither Biometrics and Improvised Explosive Devices.
Dr. Jain received the 1996 IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks Outstanding Paper Award and the Pattern Recognition Society best paper awards in 1987, 1991, and 2005. He is a fellow of the AAAS, ACM, IAPR, and SPIE. He has received Fulbright, Guggenheim, Alexander von Humboldt, IEEE Computer Society Technical Achievement, IEEE Wallace McDowell, ICDM Research Contributions, and IAPR King-Sun Fu awards, and currently serves on the NIST Forensic Science Standards Board.
The future of forensic DNA analysis
Dr John Butler, NIST, USA
Abstract
The author’s thoughts and opinions on where the field of forensic DNA testing is headed for the next decade are provided in the context of where the field has come over the past 30 years. Like the Olympic motto of “faster, higher, stronger”, forensic DNA protocols can be expected to become more rapid, sensitive, and provide stronger investigative potential. New short tandem repeat (STR) loci have expanded the core set of genetic markers used for human identification in Europe and the United States. Rapid DNA testing is on the verge of enabling new applications. Next-generation sequencing has the potential to provide greater depth of coverage for information on STR alleles. Familial DNA searching has expanded capabilities of DNA databases in parts of the world where it is allowed. Challenges and opportunities that will impact the future of forensic DNA are explored including the need for education and training to improve interpretation of complex DNA profiles.
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Dr John Butler, NIST, USA
Dr John Butler, NIST, USA
John M. Butler is NIST Fellow and Special Assistant to the Director for Forensic Science at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He is author of the internationally acclaimed textbook Forensic DNA Typing as well as more than 140 scientific articles and invited book chapters. ScienceWatch.com named him as number one in the world as a high-impact author (number of citations per paper published) in legal medicine and forensic science for the decade of 2001-2011. Dr. Butler has a B.S. in chemistry from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Virginia.
Advances in analytical forensic chemistry
Dr Kenneth G Furton, Florida International University, USA
Abstract
Advances in the analytical forensic sciences have resulted in increasingly lower detection limits, more rapid analysis and greater portability of detection devices. These increased capabilities allow for the improved location of trace evidence but also the detection of the odours associated with forensic traces even if the evidence has been removed. This talk will discuss the challenges in reliably detecting transient odour chemicals and the probative value of detecting the odour chemicals of forensic materials including drugs, explosives, live human scent and the scent of death. The ability to detect the odour chemicals of forensic materials is of great importance to forensic science and as such detection is often crucial to locating a crime scene and pinpointing the source of the odour. While instruments have improved significantly in the past two decades, in most cases the detection capabilities of canines are still superior to electronic sensors for detecting forensic odours. The talk will cover recent advances in improving odour detection by and the standardization efforts that are underway to improve the reliability of odour evidence. Several case studies will be shown where odour evidence has been useful to solve crimes and this novel scientific evidence has been declared reliable in a variety of courts of law including the US Supreme Court. The increased development of best practice guidelines for dogs and sensors should continue to improve their reliability, increase adoption of these methods and expand the use of odour as forensic evidence.
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Dr Kenneth G Furton, Florida International University, USA
Dr Kenneth G Furton, Florida International University, USA
Kenneth G. Furton is the current provost and executive vice president of Florida International University. Having started at FIU in 1988 as an assistant professor in chemistry, Dr. Furton is a leading scholar in forensic chemistry, specializing in scent detection. He founded FIU's International Forensic Research Institute (IFRI) in 1997, which is globally recognized as a premier institute on forensic science. Before ascending to the Provostship, Dr. Furton served as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 2007. There, he transformed the university's largest college into three mission-based interdisciplinary schools, helped raise nearly $50 million in philanthropic gifts and strategically increased research funding from $27 million to $60 million annually. Dr. Furton earned a B.S. in Forensic Science at the University of Central Florida in 1983, a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at Wayne State University in 1986 and completed post-doctoral studies in Nuclear Chemistry at the University of Wales, Swansea U.K in 1988. His expertise has led him to serve in numerous local, national and international professional organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences, the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Scientific Working Group on Dog and Orthogonal Detector Guidelines (SWGDOG) and most recently appointed as chair for the Organization for Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) Dog and Sensors subdivision. Dr. Furton has authored and co-authored over 700 publications and presentations and currently directs the research of 11 graduate students.
Imaging and virtual autopsy
Dr Stephan Bolliger, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Abstract
In forensic medicine, a thorough and clear documentation of findings is essential if the case is to be presented at court.
In order to create a three-dimensional documentation of findings which can be reassessed if necessary by other experts, the research project “Virtopsy®” was launched in the late 1990s. This project combined autopsy results with forensic imaging in the form of computed tomography, magnetic resonance tomography and surface scanning. The success of this project eventually succeeded in convincing the courts in Switzerland to accept these novel methods as evidence. As opposition toward autopsies has grown over the last decades, Virtopsy® also strives to elaborate additional methods which can answer the main forensic questions without autopsy. These methods comprise of post-mortem angiography for illustration of the vascular bed and image-guided tissue and fluid sampling for histological, toxicological and microbiological examinations.
To our opinion, forensic imaging is an objective method which offers the possibility for a reassessment of the findings by other experts, even after burial or cremation of the corpse, thus leading to a greater security at court. Augmented by tissue and fluid sampling as a minimally invasive technique, forensic imaging offers a viable alternative to autopsy in certain cases.
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Dr Stephan Bolliger, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Dr Stephan Bolliger, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Stephan Bolliger, MD, studied medicine at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and earned his doctorate in 2000 on an experimental study on TNF signalling pathways in mice.
After a year in clinical pathology and working as a resident in a geriatric hospital in Basel, Dr. Bolliger worked at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bern, Switzerland, where he was board-certified in forensic medicine in 2005.
He has authored and co-authored over 60 journal publications and has written numerous book chapters on forensic imaging. His main fields of interest are biomechanical aspects of trauma and imaging of these. He is a frequently engaged reviewer, especially regarding articles on ballistics, his main field of expertise.
In March 2013, Dr. Bolliger joined the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Zurich, Switzerland, where he is deputy head of the Department of Forensic Medicine and Imaging.
Chair: Ms Sue Ballou
Ms Sue Ballou, NIST, USA
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Ms Sue Ballou, NIST, USA
Ms Sue Ballou, NIST, USA
Susan Ballou is the Program Manager for the Forensic Sciences Program within the Office of Special Programs, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD. Prior to her current position, she served as the lead serologist for the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) Crime Laboratory. She holds a Master of Science degree in Biotechnology from The Johns Hopkins University and an Undergraduate degree, Forensic Science, within the Criminal Justice Program from the University of New Haven, West Haven, Connecticut.
Qualified as an Expert in 179 court cases she has assisted with crime scene investigations and has taught this information at The Judge Advocate General's Legal School and Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. Ms. Ballou has held the position of ASTM E30 chair receiving the honour of the Forensic Science Award for the establishment of a new subcommittee. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), a recipient of the AAFS Criminalistics Section Mary E. Cowan Outstanding Service Award and a trustee of the Forensic Science Foundation. She has given numerous presentations on a wide variety of forensic science topics and writes articles for the International Association of Identification newsletter.