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Speakers


  • Rashed Alghafri

    Rashed Alghafri

    Director of Research and Development Department at General Department of Forensic Sciences and Criminology, Dubai Police

  • Chris Asplen

    Chris Asplen

    Executive Director of the National Criminal Justice Association, National Criminal Justice Association, US

  • Jack Ballantyne

    Jack Ballantyne

    Professor, University of Central Florida, US

  • Jaime Brachold

    Jaime Brachold

    Senior Technical Applications Scientist, Thermo Fisher Scientific, US

  • Bruce Budowle

    Bruce Budowle

    Executive Director, Institute of Applied Genetics at the University of North Texas, US

  • Marta Diepenbroek

    Marta Diepenbroek

    Postdoctoral Researcher, Institut fûr Rechtsmedizin LMU, Munich

  • Fred Harran

    Fred Harran

    Director of Public Safety, Bensalem Township Police Department, US

  • Dave Jackson

    Dave Jackson

    Supervising Criminalist | DNA Technical Leader, Washoe County Sheriff's Office, US

  • Adrian Linacre

    Adrian Linacre

    Chair, Forensic Sciences, Flinders University, Australia

    BIOGRAPHY
  • Vanessa Lynch

    Vanessa Lynch

    Founder and Executive Director, The DNA Project, South Africa

  • Walther Parson

    Walther Parson

    Associate Professor, Institue of legal Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria

  • Luke Ryan

    Luke Ryan

    Senior Scientist, Forensic and Scientific Services, Queensland Health, Australia

  • Tim Schellberg

    Tim Schellberg

    President Gordon Thomas Honeywell, Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs, US

  • Jayann Sepich

    Jayann Sepich

    Founder, DNA Saves, US

  • Annie Marie Shubert

    Annie Marie Shubert

    Sacramento County District Attorney, Sacramento County District Attorney, US

  • Klaas Vervloet

    Klaas Vervloet

    Superintendent, Korps Nationale Politie, The Netherlands

JUN 24 - 25 2020

HIDS Virtual Conference - Partnership in Criminal Justice

Join us for a unique opportunity to hear from forensic scientists, practitioners, and criminal investigators during the 6th annual Human Identification Solutions (HIDS) conference as a virtual experience. With more than 40 speakers during several live sessions, this virtual edition of HIDS will enable delegates from  all over the world to interact and share their experience.

 

 

Join us during June 24th and 25th to experience HIDS Virtual Conference

HIDS Virtual will be a 24 hour event, including three live sessions across different timezones.

  • Session 1 June 24th (Europe-Middle East-Africa-India): London 9:00 AM / Paris 10:00 AM / Moscow 11:00 AM / Dubai 12:00 PM / New Delhi 1:30 PM
  • Session 2 June 24th (America): San Francisco 8:00 AM / Mexico 10:00 AM / New York 11:00 AM / Sao Paulo 12:00 PM
  • Session 3 June 25th (Asia-Pacific-China):  Beijing-Singapore 9:00 AM / Tokyo 10:00 AM / Melbourne 11:00 AM

 

 

 

During the HIDS Virtual Conference you’ll have the opportunity to:

  • Attend any of the three live sessions, including Q&A. Following the opening remarks, a panel of speakers will discuss the impact of forensic DNA analysis on criminal justice and the importance of partnerships between investigators and forensic scientists in solving crimes faster.
  • Gordon Thomas Honeywell Government Affairs (GTH-GA) will announce the selected case in the 4th annual DNA Hit of the Year. We’ll hear stories of how forensic DNA evidence was used to find answers, identify suspects, and help make the world a safer place. During each of the live sessions, the selected case will be presented in detail.
  • The closing regional sessions will include presentations from experts who will share their use of DNA technologies and DNA databases in their jurisdictions. This session will include details on what applications have been used in case studies.
  • Each live session will last approximately 4 hours and will include two breaks for delegates to visit the other parts of the virtual HIDS experience:
    • Explore the Applications Hall and its many specialty content.
    • Visit our Virtual Exhibition where you’ll be able to review the latest Thermo Fisher Scientific forensic genetics products and solutions.
    • Meet with our technical experts at the Networking Hall for interactive Q&A sessions. 
    • Review the Poster Hall for the latest advances in forensic genetics.

Speakers
  • Rashed Alghafri

    Director of Research and Development Department at General Department of Forensic Sciences and Criminology, Dubai Police
  • Chris Asplen

    Executive Director of the National Criminal Justice Association, National Criminal Justice Association, US
  • Jack Ballantyne

    Professor, University of Central Florida, US
  • Jaime Brachold

    Senior Technical Applications Scientist, Thermo Fisher Scientific, US
  • Bruce Budowle

    Executive Director, Institute of Applied Genetics at the University of North Texas, US
  • Marta Diepenbroek

    Postdoctoral Researcher, Institut fûr Rechtsmedizin LMU, Munich
  • Fred Harran

    Director of Public Safety, Bensalem Township Police Department, US
  • Dave Jackson

    Supervising Criminalist | DNA Technical Leader, Washoe County Sheriff's Office, US
  • Adrian Linacre

    Chair, Forensic Sciences, Flinders University, Australia
    BIOGRAPHY
  • Vanessa Lynch

    Founder and Executive Director, The DNA Project, South Africa
  • Walther Parson

    Associate Professor, Institue of legal Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria
  • Luke Ryan

    Senior Scientist, Forensic and Scientific Services, Queensland Health, Australia
  • Tim Schellberg

    President Gordon Thomas Honeywell, Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs, US
  • Jayann Sepich

    Founder, DNA Saves, US
  • Annie Marie Shubert

    Sacramento County District Attorney, Sacramento County District Attorney, US
  • Klaas Vervloet

    Superintendent, Korps Nationale Politie, The Netherlands

Agenda: EMEA-India

Timing
(CET - Paris)
Timing
(BST - London)
Session 1 June 24th  (Europe-Middle East-Africa-India)
Start time: London 9 AM / Paris 10 AM / Moscow 11 AM / Dubai 12 PM / New Delhi 1:30 PM
9:00-10:00 8:00-9:00 Doors Open for Delegates to Access HIDS virtual 1 hour before the start
10:00-10:35 9:00-9:35 Real Life Stories: why is forensic DNA critical for criminal justice? - 35 min
Every minute that a crime remains unsolved is time for someone else to become a victim. We'll hear from the people responsible from solving crime and learn how they are working together to speed up this process.

Vanessa Lynch, Founder and Executive Director, The DNA Project, South Africa - Victim Advocate
Klaas Vervloet, Superintendent, Korps Nationale Politie, The Netherlands - Investigator
Mark Smith, Supervising Forensic Scientist, Arizona Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory, U.S.  - Forensic Lab Supervisor

 

10:35-11:00 9:35-10:00 Break: opportunity to explore the HIDS virtual halls  - 25 min
11:00-11:50 10:00-10:50 Panel Discussion: how can we maximize the impact of forensic DNA? - 50 min
Moderator:
Prof. Walther Parson, Associate Professor, Institue of legal Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria
Victim Advocate:
Vanessa Lynch, Founder and Executive Director, The DNA Project, South Africa
Investigators:
Klaas Vervloet, Superintendent, Korps Nationale Politie, The Netherlands
Stephanie van Zoelen, Korps Nationale Politie, The Netherlands
Forensic Expert:
Ten. Col. Sylvain Hubac, French Gendarmerie, Paris, France
Legal Expert:
Chris Asplen, Executive Director of the National Criminal Justice Association, National Criminal Justice Association, US
11:50-12:00 10:50-11:00 Short Break  - 10 min
12:00-12:50 11:00-11:50 Announcement of the 4th DNA Hit of the Year - 50 min session

Gordon Thomas Honeywell Government Affairs (GTH) will announce the selected case in the 4th annual DNA Hit of the Year. We'll hear stories of how forensic DNA evidence was used to find answers, identify suspects, and help make the world a safer place. During each of the live sessions, the selected case will be presented in detail.

Tim Schellberg, President, Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs, US

12:50-13:15 11:50-12:15 Break: opportunity to explore the HIDS virtual halls  - 25 min
13:15-14:15 12:15-13:15 Simultaneous Regional Expert Presentations
 How is DNA used by Law Enforcement Agencies and Crime Labs to solve crime? - 60 min (parallel sessions)
English Session
Chairman: Dr. Sander Kneppers, NFI, The Hague, The Netherlands 
Arabic Session
Chairman: Dr.  Rashed Alghafri, Director of Research and Development Department at General Department of Forensic Sciences and Criminology, Dubai Police
Solving the unsolvable? The molecular identi-kit - validation of a custom Ion AmpliSeq Panel combining ancestry-informative autosomal and Y- chromosomal SNPs with phenotype prediction
Dr. Marta Diepenbroek, Institute of Legal Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany
Greetings and Introduction to the Arabic Speaking Session at HIDS 2020.

Advances in forensic technologies as they apply to the Arabic world: YSTRs, NGS, Mix Analysis, Rapid and Automation

Dr. Rashed Alghafri, Director of Research and Development Department at General Department of Forensic Sciences and Criminology, Dubai Police

When new technology meets small realities: implementation of the Applied Biosystems™ SeqStudio™  HID Genetic Analyzer in the forensic lab
Dr. Carla Bini, Department of Medical and Surgical Science, University of Bologna, Italy
The effect of consanguineous marriages in solving DNA cases                                                   
Dr. Nora Al Snan, Ministry of Interior, Bahrain
Capturing spermatozoa for STR analysis of sexual assault cases using antisperm antibodies
Dina Alsalafi, Sharjah Police, UAE
Applications of the Applied Biosystems™ RapidHIT™ ID sytem. Current results and application examples.
Dr.Stephan Köhneman, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Darmstadt, Germany
An overview of GEDNAP proficiency testing scheme                                                          
Dr. Carsten Hohoff, Institut für Forensische Genetik GmbH, Germany
Closing Remarks & the next steps for the Arabic Speaking Working Group                           
Dr. Rashed Alghafri, Director of Research and Development Department at General Department of Forensic Sciences and Criminology, Dubai Police
14:15-17:00 13:15-16:00 Ask an Expert Chat, opens 13.15 BST
Explore the other HIDS virtual halls
17:00 16:00 Start of Session 2 (Americas)

Agenda: Americas

Timing
(PDT - San Francisco)
Session 2 June 24th (Americas)
Start time: San Francisco 8 AM / Mexico 10 AM/ New York 11 AM / Sao Paulo 12 PM 
7:00-8:00 Doors Open for Delegates to Access HIDS virtual 1 hour before the start
8:00-8:35 Real Life Stories: why is forensic DNA critical for criminal justice? - 35 min
Every minute that a crime remains unsolved is time for someone else to become a victim. We'll hear from the people responsible from solving crime and learn how they are working together to speed up this process.

Vanessa Lynch, Founder and Executive Director, The DNA Project, South Africa - Victim Advocate
Klaas Vervloet, Superintendent, Korps Nationale Politie, The Netherlands - Investigator
Mark Smith, Supervising Forensic Scientist, Arizona Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory, US  - Forensic Lab Supervisor

 

8:35-9:00 Break: opportunity to visit the other HIDS virtual content  - 20 min
9:00-9:50 Panel Discussion: how can we maximize the impact of forensic DNA? - 50 min
Moderator:
Jack Ballanyne, PhD
Professor, University of Central Florida
Victim Advocate:
Jayann Sepich, Founder, DNA Saves
Investigator:
Fred Harran, Director of Public Saftey, Bensalem Police Department
Forensic Expert:
Anna Dadhania, Forensic Scientist, Orange County District Attorney’s Office's (OCDA) Science and Technology Unit
Legal Expert:
Ann Marie Schubert, District Attorney, Sacramento District Attorney's Office
9:50-10:15 Short Break  - 25 min
10:15-11:05 Announcement of the 4th DNA Hit of the Year - 50 min session
Gordon Thomas Honeywell Government Affairs (GTH) will announce the selected case in the 4th annual DNA Hit of the Year. We'll hear stories of how forensic DNA evidence was used to find answers, identify suspects, and help make the world a safer place. During each of the live sessions, the selected case will be presented in detail.

Tim Schellberg, President, Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs, US

11:05-11:30 Break: opportunity to visit the other HIDS virtual content  - 25 min
11:30-12:30 Simultaneous Regional Expert Presentations
 How is DNA used by Law Enforcement Agencies and Crime Labs to solve crime? - 60 min (parallel sessions)
English Session
Chairman: Shereen Darwish, Thermo Fisher Scientific, US
Spanish/Portuguese session
Chairman: Manuel Escalera (Spanish) and Rafael Astolphi (Portuguese), Thermo Fisher Scientific
Rapid DNA Use in Helicopter Crash Disaster Victim Identification
Stephanie Regan
Criminalist II , Crime Scene and Laboratory Supervisor, Kauai Police Department 
Confronta de Perfiles Genéticos a partir de evidencias de superficie-huellas dactilares
QB Erika Ruiz García
Fiscalía General de Justicia del Estado de Sonora, México
Maintaining Productive Momentum in a Rapidly Evolving DNA Lab
Dave Jackson, DNA Technical Leader and Supervising Criminalist, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office
Desafíos en la Identificación Genética de Personas. La carrera contra el tiempo
Dr. Benito Ramos González
Laboratorio de Genética Forense, Instituto de Criminalística y Servicios Periciales, Procuraduría General de Justicia, Nuevo León, Mexico
Benchmarking on the 3500 Data Collections Software v4.0.1 and SeqStudio Data Collections Software v1.2
Jaime Brachold, Sr. Technical Applications Scientist, Thermo Fisher Scientific
 
12:30-16:00 Ask an Expert Chat, opens 12.15 PDT
Explore the other HIDS virtual halls
18:00 Start of Session 3 (APJ-China)

Agenda: APJ-CN

Timing
(CST - Beijing)
Session 3 June 25th (Asia-Pacific-China)
Start Time: Beijing-Singapore 9 AM / Tokyo 10 AM / Melbourne11 AM
8:00-9:00 Doors Open for Delegates to Access HIDS virtual 1 hour before the start
9:00-9:35 Real Life Stories: why is forensic DNA critical for criminal justice? - 35 min
Every minute that a crime remains unsolved is time for someone else to become a victim. We'll hear from the people responsible from solving crime and learn how they are working together to speed up this process.

Vanessa Lynch, Founder and Executive Director, The DNA Project, South Africa - Victim Advocate
Klaas Vervloet, Superintendent, Korps Nationale Politie, The Netherlands - Investigator
Mark Smith, Supervising Forensic Scientist, Arizona Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory, US  - Forensic Lab Supervisor

9:35-10:00 Break: opportunity to visit the other HIDS virtual content  - 25 min
10:00-10:50 Panel Discussion: how can we maximize the impact of forensic DNA? - 50 min
Moderator:
Bruce Budowle
Executive Director, Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas, US
Lorna Santos
Lieutenant Colonel, DNA laboratory of Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory, Philippines

Portia Loh
Director, Forensics Centre of Expertise,  Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX), Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore

Simon Lim
Head of the Lab, Home Team Investigation Laboratory, Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore

Jeanette Wallin
Criminalist Supervisor, California Department of Justice, Jan Bashinski DNA Laboratory
Legal Expert:
Tim Schellberg
President, Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs, US
10:50-11:15 Short Break  - 25 min
11:15-12:05 Announcement of the 4th DNA Hit of the Year - 50 min session
Gordon Thomas Honeywell Government Affairs (GTH) will announce the selected case in the 4th annual DNA Hit of the Year. We'll hear stories of how forensic DNA evidence was used to find answers, identify suspects, and help make the world a safer place. During each of the live sessions, the selected case will be presented in detail.

Tim Schellberg, President, Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs, US

12:05-12:30 Break: opportunity to visit the other HIDS virtual content  - 25 min
12:30-13:30 Simultaneous Regional Expert Presentations
 How is DNA used by Law Enforcement Agencies and Crime Labs to solve crime? - 60 min (parallel sessions)
English Session
Chairman: Adrian Linacre, Flinders University, Australia
Mandarin Session:
Chairman: 

Considerations for the succesful application of Rapid DNA technology to in-field disaster victim identification

Jodie Ward, Assoc Prof, Centre for Forensic Science, University of Technology Sydney

Jeremy Watherston, NSW Health Pathology, Forensic and Analytical Science Service

Alison Sears, NSW Police Force

Exploring small RNA markers for body fluid identification using NGS
Zheng WANG, Associate Researcher, Forensic Institute of Sichuan University
Doing more with less
Ramani Anantharaman, Health Sciences Authority, Singapore
Development of network application of forensic DNA technology
Emma WANG, Market Development Manager, Thermo Fisher Scientific HID
Massively Parallel Sequencing as an Investigative Tool
Luke Ryan, Queensland Health, Forensic  and Scientific Services
The application of portable spectroscopy in the field inspection of new psychoactive substances
Lijuan TIAN, Application Engineer, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSI
13:30-16:00 Ask an Expert Chat, opens 13.15 CST
Explore the other HIDS virtual halls
16:00 Closing of HIDS virtual 2020 live sessions
See you at HIDS 2021

About HIDS

The Human Identification Solutions Conference (HIDS) is an annual forensic genetics scientific conference hosted by Thermo Fisher Scientific since 2015. This yearly event is tailored for forensic scientists, practitioners, and criminal investigators in the criminal justice community from all over the world. HIDS is a forum for this community to meet, network and share best practices, while learning about the latest developments and trends on forensic genetics technology and its ethical aspects, DNA databases, legislation and the application of DNA in criminal investigations, to help make the world safer.

This year, we expect more than 40 speakers, encompassing all the key segments implicated in the use of DNA in criminal justice (victims, investigators, scientists and legal experts) and also all application areas ranging from traditional forensic workflows to newly emerging technologies and applications of DNA, including those used to pursue investigative leads.

 

Review our past HIDS editions:

HIDS Kobe 2019 – Japan

HIDS Rome 2018 – Italy

HIDS Vienna 2017 - Austria

HIDS Barcelona 2016 - Spain

 

More details of past HIDS at thermofisher.com/hids