Webinar: Dr. Nicole Novroski, “Forensic genetic genealogy in Canada: the good, the unknown, and the what’s next”

Dr. Nicole Novroski (Associate Director & Associate Professor at the Center for Human Identification at UNT Health Science Centre, Fort Worth)

Forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) has taken the forensic genetics and policing worlds by storm. Consequently, our scientific and legal communities are pivoting as quickly as possible, making use of all available tools to solve both historic and active violent crime and unidentified human remains cases. While FGG has proven tremendously successful, there is still much to learn about the best approach(es) forward, and how we, as a community of scientists and investigators, can maximize our existing laboratory operations and personnel, budgets, and access to public data to address the increasing demand of forensic genetic genealogy services in public forensic laboratories.

This webinar will discuss initial best practice considerations and decisions that laboratories and investigators need to consider prior to in-house FGG work, the benefits and limitations of three unique yet invaluable scientific approaches (targeted SNPs, microarrays, and whole genome sequencing) to generating a DNA data file for genealogical searching, and describe the validation, accreditation, and implementation strategies for bringing FGG casework into the public laboratory.