Daniele Podini, associate professor of forensic molecular biology and biological sciences, received a $413,504 grant from the National Institute of Justice for research on hair shaft DNA.
Hair is a common piece of evidence found at crime scenes, but it has limited forensic value with the currently used methods. The goal of the study is to overcome the problems previously encountered with poor quality and quantity of hair DNA and introduce the element of added accuracy when genotyping with the DNA sequence. Podini has been on the faculty of the Department of Forensic Sciences since 2004. His research background is mostly in applied molecular biology, both in the forensic and the human genetics field.