AAFS BYOS

by blogger jgl

The Bring Your Own Slides session is often a highlight of the AAFS annual meeting. This year was no exception. The BYOS session is an opportunity for forensic scientists to share interesting stories from their work. There is always a mix of entertaining, light stories, along with more somber stories that are part of the profession (medical examiners are usually featured).

This session was hosted by Dr. Michael Baden of HBO's Autopsy. I think he usually hosts it. His talks are always good. Tonight he didn't have a feature, but threw in good comments throughout.

One of the top talks was by Sam Brothers, a computer forensics guy from US customs. He is a magician! I liked the card counting demonstration.

The feature of his talk focused on cell phone/GPS forensic work. iphones are unique for retaining voicemail in the phone... windows washer doesn't wash log files... a smashed (or chewed) sim card can still be analyzed... and your GPS knows where you are and where you've been. technology helps the good guys!

The always entertaining Mark Benecke (www.benecke.com) gave a "fun" talk on a german cannibal. He pointed out that cannibalism can be a tricky category when it comes to charging the crime. Homicide doesn't necessarily fit when a person volunteers to be killed and eaten by another person. Trust me, the details are even weirder than it sounds.

The real bones herself, Kathy Reichs stopped by and told a neat story about how research for one of her books helped lead to an answer in one of her cases. I'm not sure if i have the details right, but basically while researching a deceased Canadian who died in a Guatemalan civil war and a past leper community on Tracadie in New Brunswick, the local press (and possible accompanying documentary) led to someone coming forward admitting to raiding a graveyard when he was a 12-year-old kid. After a couple failed pranks, the bones were ditched in some woods. Years later, in 1989, the skull wound up in kathy reichs' hands and has remained unidentified. eh... i think i messed up the story... maybe it will be featured in an episode of bones.

other good talks as well. Did you know Dickens worked for a coroner? and wrote some articles for the Lancet?

AAFS Annual Meeting

by blogger jgl

Pictures later. I forgot the camera cable, although i noticed a radio shack on the 16th street mall.

I arrived at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences annual meeting (convention) on wednesday. I wonder if there is any chance that people will start to refer to this as For Sci Con or FSC for short...

One noticeable improvement was that the conference organizers had many bulletin boards available to the "public". In recent years there have been as little as 3, covered with junk.

The cybercafe was also terminal plentiful, and not that crowded. Perhaps it was just due to the time of day. Perhaps it is due to the fact more and more people have their own laptops... or netbooks. I didn't try out the wifi in the convention center (if it exists). I'm in a hotel that is a couple blocks from the convention center and notice that there is something called DowntownDenverWifi. Great! Except i can't get the DowntownDenverWifi to work. maybe it is just my laptop...

One potential non-improvement is the poster session. My complaint is that the posters are usually too close together. there isn't enough room to move around. Tonight, the 31 toxicology posters were neatly arranged in a closet. at least they took the coats out. when i left, i was wearing someone else's shoes... i don't know what that means.

the denver convention center is very nice and i was impressed with the 16th street mall. for those who never have been to denver the 16th street mall is basically where 16th street is closed to traffic for 6 or so blocks (except for the buses). shops and food, etc.

And the new AAFS webpage is really nice.

good start!

AAFS Vendors!

by blogger jgl

Like any convention, there are always vendors around demonstrating their latest products. At AAFS, there's always something interesting... until this year. Nothing very exciting, although I suppose it all depends on your specialty. In the DNA world, nothing really grabbed me. Applied Biosystems big thing was Quantifiler Duo which combines two old kits into one new kit... wow! (i'm sure it is a little more advanced than that, but still). Qiagen seemed to be more robot heavy than in years past. Maybe the most exciting thing I saw were microfuge tubes that opened from the back. Wait 'til Grandma hears about this!

No bikini models at the convention (yet), but the displays are getting more elaborate. The award for most HDTVs used goes to Promega...


Most elaborate display (most floor space)? QIAGEN!

More on Keynote Session

by blogger jgl

Following Sen. Biden was the US Senate Sgt. at Arms Terrance Gainer. He was a lively fellow, even volunteering to entertain the crowd during some technical difficulties. Sgt. at Arms Gainer is an experienced law man; it was interesting to hear his take on what was currently important in forensic science.

He began by talking about low copy number (or touch) DNA analysis. He was very impressed with the potential for recovering DNA from triggers, steering wheels, etc. I'm still wondering how well this works in the real world. It looks like most researchers get mixed results.

He also mentioned the DNA initiative and the DNA backlog that needs to be resolved.

He mentioned the need for proper training of law enforcement personnel, especially in rural areas. This was good to hear since communication between the evidence collectors and lab scientists is needed in the field. It's probably a surprise to much of the outside world that it is not one person taking samples from the cradle to the grave (like on CSI). As a lab scientist, I know very little about the training and thought processes of officers in the field and I'm sure the officers have a limited knowledge of the scientists as well.

Mr. Gainer also touched on some new methods, like familial searches, and it was good to hear the necessary caution against rights to privacy of citizens.

He capped it off by repeating Sen. Biden's comment that it is now time to expand funding of forensics beyond DNA to other areas of the lab (applause).

AAFS Wednesday - Images

by blogger jgl

Wednesday was my first day here at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences annual meeting. After buying some new batteries at the end of the day, I snapped some pics of the empty convention center.

I think these picures may be large in MB size. I didn't have time to shrink them. I'll only post a couple.


Typical vendor and poster area



Typical employment board. Hey, maybe next year... 2 boards?


Typical out of focus cyber cafe. This place is usually packed and is the only place (i think) to use the virtual message boards (showmail). Maybe more kiosks next year? Can we access this stuff through the "normal" internet? Is there a way to get free wifi at the convention center?

Alright, that's enough of that.

BYOS - Katrina

by blogger jgl

AAFS Annual Meeting (Bring Your Own Slides - BYOS):

Anyone see that movie Magnolia? It begins with a scene where a forensic scientist is describing a case where a person jumps out a window and gets shot on the way plummeting to his death. If I have my facts straight, that was a real case described in one of these BYOS events. It is occasionally heralded as the best part of the AAFS meeting. It is a 2 hour informal session of forensic scientists talking about unique cases.

This year was pretty decent. The following is my interpretation of some of the stories told. I try to be as accurate as possible.

There were a couple presentations concerning the identification of Katrina remains. New Orleans coroner Frank Minyard told the story of how FEMA wanted him to go to Houston after the storm; instead, he drove back into the city, then swam back to his flooded coroner's office. The morgue there was useless. A group was stranded there for the famous 4 days without food or water.

Dr. Minyard and some other noble forensic pathologists, along with DMORT (a federal group that did a GOOD job during the disaster), put forth quite an effort in the aftermath processing and identifying the dead in a make-shift morgue created north of the city. One of the highlights of his story included them having to use a tent to "hide" the transfer of bodies from the morgue to the hearse - This was in order to prevent the media from hovering in helicopters hoping to get a money shot. Also, apparently FEMA spent a good bit of money building a nice morgue that was finished just as the last body was identified in the "make-shift" morgue. When New Orleans wanted to use it to perform autopsies once normal crime picked up in January of '06, they were denied use because federal regulations do not allow the morgue to be used for "normal" state autopsies. Apparently it just sits there unused. Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.

RFID for Everything!

by blogger jgl

AAFS Annual Meeting:

I didn’t get chance to talk to the people from Verichip since they always seemed to be surrounded by people in a debate mode. The one argument I overheard seemed to be about whether you could legally chip a dead body (I think it ended with body = no; body bag = yes, but natural disatsters may create an exception to the rule). Their display seems to be promoting chipping all types of evidence for tracking.

Their brochure didn't mention chipping criminals (which is what I was hoping for), but it did promote chipping you, old man! For safety reasons, of course. All your health information on a chip inside of you. See... you WANT a chip inside of you. Conspiracy theorists go wild.

Here's Lookin at You, Crook.

not your typical serial killers

by blogger jgl

AAFS Annual Meeting:

On Wednesday, there is not much going on other than some posters and the exhibits. I didn’t make it in time for the posters, but all the exhibits were out in full force.

One that was interesting to me was the Trace Genetics booth. Some other companies are doing this too. It seems most of their work is done for the public. They send you a swab, you send them your cheek cells, then they analyze your DNA and tell you about your ancestry (80% European, 20% Native American, etc.). Now you know if you can open that casino you always wanted.

Why not do it in casework? They can also analyze DNA from a crime scene and tell you about the ancestry of the perpetrator. Not a lot of police agencies are spending the money to do this, but in some circumstances they are. We’re getting closer to being able to produce a “picture” of an individual from DNA alone. Good thing or potential for abuse? What the heck, I say good thing. Maybe we can get a more accurate profile of serial killers beyond "white male, mid-30s, military background, loner".

More to come…

Welcome to the AAFS Annual Meeting

by blogger jgl

Every group has their annual convention. Forensic science is no different. In the states, every February forensic scientists gather at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences annual meeting. This year, we are storming the city of San Antonio.

Although the conference rages all week, I’ll be in town Wednesday through Saturday. I’ll be checking out the Exhibits, Bring Your Own Slides program, Poster Sessions, and Presentations. Maybe some pictures if I can find out where to buy some new rechargeable batteries.

There doesn’t appear to be any big celebrities in this year, with the exception of Bill Bass (founder of the Body Farm) who is in town to sign/sell a new book. But I think he’s always here anyway.

One complaint… no free wi-fi. Is it typical at conventions to try to milk 12.95 per day out of people?

More to come…