Greetings ASCLD Colleagues and Friends,
As many of you know, last month at the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM) meeting, BJA staff announced administrative changes to the DNA Capacity Enhancement for Backlog Reduction (CEBR) Program. These changes are planned for the FY2023 solicitation. BJA hosted an open webinar on Thursday, August 11, 2022, but if you missed it, fear not. The webinar will be available soon for you to view- so stay tuned.
A few months ago, the Indianapolis-Marion County Forensic Services Agency issued a salary survey and the results were compiled. We have them available HERE. This survey reminded me of how important it is for each of us to evaluate our structure and positions to ensure we have sufficient support for the services we provide. Please reach out to Richard Amberger for any questions rwamberger@indy.gov. Thank you, Richard, for compiling this!
As you saw this past week from the email, the Fall 2022 ASCLD Leadership Academy is open. Recall, we have 12 weekly, online webinars from August to November and it ends with that intensive, on-site Capstone in Phoenix, Arizona on December 1-2nd.
The webinars begin on August 22nd, but since the registration window is condensed, ASCLD will work with folks (final payment is due by October 1st). I know that when I attended Leadership Academy as a supervisor it provided me with so much information. It was a wonderful training and I highly recommend it.
For more information and to register, please visit HERE
We received a reminder this week from ASCLD Director Maynard about LEAP, especially now that summer is winding down and fall is around the corner. The ASCLD Forensic Research Committee (FRC) would like to invite you to start your fall academic semester on the right foot and consider becoming a LEAP Partner. The goal of the Laboratories and Educators Alliance Program (LEAP) is to facilitate collaborative research between academia and forensic science laboratories. This joint effort between the American Society of Crime Lab Directors (ASCLD) and the Council of Forensic Science Educators (COFSE) identifies forensic science needs and provides a platform for laboratories, researchers, and students to seek projects aligning with their mutual research capabilities. It is ASCLD’s hope that this program fosters and grows the relationships between academic programs and operational forensic laboratories in order to provide solid foundations for research, validations and advancements in the field of Forensic Science. These collaborations provide a valuable opportunity for students to gain experience as they pursue their dreams of being forensic scientists.
‘Tis a rainy/overcast weekend here in Madison, WI. We are planning on hosting some friends and their kids for a wonderful Sunday meal and to have a few laughs before hockey season starts in a few weeks. I am always grateful for the friendships we have made since moving here in 2009.
While I was perusing what we celebrate during this month, I was overwhelmed by August’s myriad of unique and fun observances for almost every day of the month. I admit I am partial to National Lemon Merengue Pie Day! As a leader, consider celebrating one of these fun days at your lab- you certainly won’t be short for ideas.
I hope you all have had a great weekend, are motivated and have a productive week!
FORWARD!
Sincerely,
Jen
Jennifer D. Naugle
ASCLD President
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ASCLD monthly board meeting
The next Board of Directors meeting date will be on Friday, August 19th at 1pm CST.
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Weekly News and Resources |
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Registration is now open for the Fall 2022 Leadership Academy
The ASCLD Leadership Academy to be held in Fall 2022. Twelve weekly, online webinars will be offered from August to December and will cover a wide range of essential leadership topics for forensic science supervisors and managers. The Fall Academy will finish with two intensive days of on-site, hands-on instruction in Phoenix, Arizona.
The 2022 Fall Academy will again focus on providing quality instruction to new supervisors in the forensic science field and supervisors who have previously had limited opportunities for structured forensic management education and training. Between affordable registration costs and high-quality instructors, ASCLD is confident that laboratories will see a valuable return on investment in a time when training budgets are lean across the US.
Click HERE for link to registration
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The Forensic Technology Center of Excellence is hosting a webinar
Hair Root Staining – What Can Hematoxylin Do for Your Laboratory?
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The Research Forensic Library is officially launched and provides access to thousands of articles and reports in the scientific literature, a critical step in the forward momentum required of forensic science and its varied applications.
The Library is part of a cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). You can find the full release on our website to republish and share:
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with information on Lightning Talks, the FRC Collaboration Hub, the
Laboratories and Educators Alliance Program (LEAP), new LEAP Research
Partners, recent submissions to the Evaluation and Validation Repository,
and FRC Award Winners!
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ASCLD FRC Validation and Evaluation Repository – Confirmation and Quantitation of Antiepileptic and Acidic Drugs by LC/MS/MS
The ASCLD Forensic Research Committee (FRC) is proud to announce a new submission to the Validation and Evaluation Repository. As you may already know, the purpose of this FRC initiative is to create a central repository of forensic validations and evaluations. ASCLD hopes that this repository will foster information sharing and promote collaboration with the forensic science community.
The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office / Miami Valley Regional Crime Laboratory recently submitted a summary validation report highlighting their internal validation for a new protein crash extraction and LC/MS/MS method for confirming and quantitating 14 antiepileptic/acidic drugs in blood, serum, urine and tissue homogenate. The method was validated using 7 blood calibrators and low, medium, and high controls in blood, serum, urine and tissue homogenate. The validation parameters are all included in the validation summary submitted.
Please consider submitting information about your lab’s validations or evaluations to the repository. Information could include basic information such as validation/evaluation title, lab name, and point of contact information (which enables other forensic scientists to contact you with questions) or additional information such as a short validation or evaluation summary or even a full validation or evaluation report. By sharing this information, you are supporting other laboratories that wish to expand their forensic capabilities!
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The Project FORESIGHT benchmark report for FY2021 is now available HERE
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The ASCLD Forensic Research Committee (FRC) is pleased to announce a new submission within the Collaboration Hub. As you may know, the purpose of the Collaboration Hub is to create a directory to connect researchers with ongoing projects to practitioners who are willing to participate in the studies or support the research. It is ASCLD’s hope that this program will further communication and cooperation between forensic researchers and practitioners.
Recently, a new project was added to the Collaboration Hub that aims to explore factors that may play a role in the decision-making of triaging items collected from crime scenes. The Principal Investigator for this study is Dr. Ifat Levy from Yale University with collaborators from the University of College London. The researchers are seeking volunteers to participate in an online study where participants will be asked to evaluate a forensic casework brief and photographs of items collected from a crime scene. Under a hypothetical scenario in which the participant is the expert assigned to this case, the participant will make a series of decisions about the case. The study will take approximately 30-40 minutes to complete.
If you are interested in supporting this project and contributing to forensic science research, please check out the ASCLD FRC Collaboration Hub.
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Videos from the Annual Symposium in Reno are now available in the on the ASCLD website |
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Forensic science service providers are invited to participate in OSAC’s 2022 Registry Implementation Survey.
The Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Science wants to better understand how the standards on the OSAC Registry are being used, the challenges around standards implementation, and what support is needed to improve it. Your input will help to assess the current state of implementation of 95 standards that have been posted on the OSAC Registry through June 2022. This survey is now open and will close August 12, 2022. Take survey HERE
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We cordially invite forensic DNA experts to attend the 29th International Congress of the International Society for Forensic Genetics in Washington DC, August 29th through September 2nd. The ISFG Congress is the largest professional society dedicated to advancement of
research and information for forensic DNA analysts, researchers, and students. With over 400 scientific posters, breakfast seminars, workshops, and other special events - this meeting will draw upon scientists from all of the world. The biennial ISFG Congress gathers these professionals who present the most current information, research, and updates in the field of forensic genetics.
#isfg2022 #forensics #forensicscience #ISFG
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Please send all CLM submissions to our new electronic form!
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Please continue to tag your photos on social media with the hashtag #ASCLDfun |
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Opt Out.
ASCLD sells your email information to vendors for marketing and promotional material purposes. You may ‘opt-out’ of receiving vendor information not directly related to ASCLD by emailing executivedirector@ascld.org. If you do not opt out then your acceptance of this Agreement will constitute your affirmative consent to receiving marketing and promotional material from ASCLD.
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Crime Lab Minute Sponsors
For More Information, Click the LOGO below:
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There are many standards open for comment on the ASB website. Be sure to check them out and provide your valuable input!
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Safety Topics for your Lab |
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Health and Safety in the Laboratory series by Jane Northup PhD, RI State Crime Laboratory
Click on links below for articles
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ANAB Trainings
With the ability to reach wider audiences, we are expanding offerings of current courses in Spanish.
The following courses will be available live online in Spanish:
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Forensic Technical Assessor
- Forensic ISO/IEC 17025 Internal Auditor
- Risk-based Thinking for Forensic Service Providers
We are also excited to introduce our courses:
Uncertainty, Sampling and Data Analysis: Understanding Statistical Calculations. This course provides an introduction to statistical concepts and techniques used for the collection, organization, analysis, and presentation of various types of data. The course touches on both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, including how to compute measures of central tendency and dispersion, and how to assess the relationship between two variables. More..
Verification and Validation for Laboratories and Inspection Bodies. This course provides an introduction to the validation and verification of analytical methods and the common elements of a validation or verification plan. In addition, a general approach to performing a validation or verification will be reviewed along with ISO/IEC 17025 requirements for validation and verification of methods. More…
Webinars:
We continue our monthly Webinars and stay tuned for information about upcoming Feature Sessions.
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Donations to ASCLD can now be made online! This is a great way to honor the memory of a forensic colleague, to commemorate a life event for that person who has everything, or to otherwise assist in supporting the tireless efforts of the ASCLD organization in the pursuit of excellence in forensic science management. The donation page can be accessed by clicking HERE or by visiting the ASCLD website and clicking on "Donate to ASCLD" under the "Member Site" tab (this donation page is accessible even to non-members). Please consider donating and do share this information with anyone you think might be interested.
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The American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors
65 Glen Road, Suite 123
Garner, NC 27529
Phone: 919.773.2044
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