A special session focusing on the latest workflow innovations to address DNA mixture separation and interpretation. 

Mixed casework samples continue to pose one of the greatest challenges in forensic DNA analysis. Join this lunch symposium to learn about new advances to address this challenge across the workflow – from sample prep & differential extraction to probabilistic genotyping. 

This includes an overview of end-to-end workflow innovation designed to maximize data recovery from mixtures and challenging samples, featuring:

• The unveiling of a new benchtop sample prep system for forensic laboratories that fully automates lysis and DNA purification — for both casework and sexual assault samples. 
• Testing & evaluation of the new sample prep system with forensic casework samples, including fully automated differential extraction of sexual assault samples, presented by Jack Ballantyne and Erin Hanson from the National Center for Forensic Science (NCFS) at the University of Central Florida.
• Going from complexity to clarity for mixture interpretation with GeneMapper ID-X & PG Software: explore a transparent, deterministic probabilistic genotyping approach for contributor assessment, deconvolution, and likelihood ratio analysis in forensic DNA workflows. Presented by Chantal Roth, Senior Bioinformatics Software Engineer at Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Presenters

• Jack Ballantyne, Ph.D.
  Professor of Chemistry at the University of Central Florida (UCF)
  Director, National Center for Forensic Science (NCFS)
• Erin Hanson, Ph.D.
  Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and the Biological Evidence Section 
  National Center for Forensic Science (NCFS), University of Central Florida (UCF)
• Chantal Roth, PhD
  Senior Bioinformatics Software Engineer
  Thermo Fisher Scientific