Dr. Jack Ballantyne
Professor, Chemistry
Associate Director (Research),
National Center for Forensic Science
e-mail: jack.ballantyne@ucf.edu
Biography:
Jack Ballantyne is a Professor of Chemistry and the Associate Director of the National Center for Forensic Science. He possesses a B.Sc. (with Honors) in Biochemistry from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, a M.Sc. in Forensic Science from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland and a PhD in Genetics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, NY. His current duties include teaching and conducting research in forensic molecular genetics.
Prior to entering academia, he was a casework forensic scientist in Scotland, Hong Kong and New York where he proffered expert testimony in the criminal courts of these jurisdictions. He was the full time DNA technical leader in Suffolk County, New York and then served as a part-time consultant DNA technical leader for the States of Mississippi and Delaware, the City of Dallas and Sedgwick County, Kansas. Inter alia, he served as the Chair of the New York State DNA Sub-committee and is a regular visiting guest at the FBI’s Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM)
His research group uses techniques and technologies of biochemistry, molecular biology and genomics to help forensic scientists retrieve more information from biological traces transferred during the commission of a crime. They take a problem-oriented practical problem approach to translational research. Currently his group’s main themes are (1) ACTIVITY, what happened? A crime scene DNA profile is recovered but what activity led to that finding? In other words, can we help provide context to the DNA profile. An example of this would whether it is possible to distinguish between innocuous consensual social intercourse versus criminal sexual intercourse. Biomarkers that distinguish saliva, skin, and vaginal secretions can be useful to distinguish these two possibilities. They have discovered such biomarkers, and they are RNA versus DNA based. In fact, they are intrigued by the potential applications of RNA in forensics and have helped establish the burgeoning field of RNA forensics. (2) SEXUAL ASSAULT INVESTIGATIONS. They are continuously working on extending the post coital time interval from which genetic identifying information from the semen donor can be obtained and recovering more probative from sexual assault evidence. Their previous efforts resulted in a national policy change in extending the time of recovery of evidence from rape victims. (3) TRACE DNA ANALYSIS, specifically using single cell genomic analysis. Mixtures of biological material from two or more persons are often encountered in forensic samples and the resulting mixed DNA profiles are often difficult to interpret and de-convolute. The ability to recover and genetically analyze individual cells from the different contributors by physical manipulation promises to be an important addition to forensic scientists’ toolbox.
Dr. Erin Hanson
Assistant Professor, Chemistry
Assistant Professor, National Center for Forensic Science
Secondary Joint Appointment, Violence Against Women Faculty Cluster
e-mail: erin.hanson@ucf.edu
Biography:
Erin Hanson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and National Center for Forensic Science (Biological Evidence Section) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) and has a secondary joint appointment with the Violence Against Women faculty cluster https://www.ucf.edu/research/violence-against-women/. She possesses a B.S. in Forensic Science, Biochemistry Track, a M.S. in Industrial Chemistry – Forensic Science Track, and a PhD in Biomedical Science from the University of Central Florida. She also has a graduate certificate in Forensic Genetic Genealogy from the University of New Haven. She currently teaches undergraduate Forensic Biochemistry courses (CHS3533, CHS3533L & CHS4534). Dr. Hanson’s research is in the area of forensic molecular genetics and includes a variety of research projects involving topics such as: 1) body fluid identification by RNA expression profiling, 2) improved recovery of male DNA in late reported and challenging sexual assault evidence, 3) rapid DNA analysis, 4) characterization and analysis of trace biological evidence (“touch DNA”), 5) single cell analysis and 6) forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG).
Dr. Hanson is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the International Society for Forensic Genetics (ISFG), the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and the FoRNAP Forensic RNA Profiling group. She is a co-organizer, with the Institute of Legal Medicine, Zurich, Switzerland, of the European DNA Profiling Group (EDNAP) sponsored collaborative exercises on the use of RNA expression profiling for body fluid identification. She is also a participant in the UCF WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) and is an active volunteer with the DNA Doe Project and the Victim Service Center of Central Florida.
When Dr. Hanson was an undergraduate forensic science student, a professor shared with the class a quote that has stuck with her since that time and has really become the foundation of her research group: “Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as silent witness against him. Not even his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches, the semen he deposits or collects – all of these bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong. It cannot perjure itself; it cannot be wholly absent; only its interpretation can err. Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its values.” (Harris vs. United States, 331 U.S. 145 1947). The goal of her research group is to find it, study and understand it so that nothing diminishes the value of forensic evidence.