Laboratory for Forensic Technology Development & Integration
The Mission of NTVIC’s Single-cell working group is to: (1) identify research gaps and new techniques and associated risks that will allow single-cell analysis to meet the practical needs of crime laboratories; (2) develop best practices for the recovery and interpretation of single-cell samples; and (3) formulate plans to integrate, implement, and validate single-cell analysis within the mainstream forensic DNA workflow.
Read more about NTVIC: https://sites.google.com/view/ntvic/home
Research funded Part time Laboratory Assistant to work at the Laboratory for Forensic Technology Development & Integration at Rutgers University Camden;
Job Description: The incumbent will support efforts to generate, interpret, validate and comprehend DNA signal generated by single-cell processes. The work may be used towards M.S. thesis, undergrad internship or cop-op with permission of the Laboratory’s Principal Investigator. Compensation is $16/hour. Flexible commitment starting at 10 hours/week. The initial placement is for the Spring 2025 semester with possibility of renewal.
Qualifications: a minimum BS degree or enrollment in a BS program of study. Courses in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Statistics, Probability, or Genetics, or similar are desired.
To Apply: Send CV with cover letter, and copy of most recent degree-bearing unofficial transcript to c.grgicak@rutgers.edu by Oct 25th, 2024.
Alongside collaborators Desmond Lun (Rutgers-Camden, computer science) and Ken R. Duffy (Mathematics, Northeastern University), Dr. Grgicak was honored with ASCLD (American Society of Crime Lab Directors) Forensic Research Committee’s Innovation Award, recognizing outstanding contributions that introduce new technologies, protocols, or tools impacting operational forensic science laboratories. We are grateful to ASCLD for this honor. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7203391348513669120/
Congratulations to Qhawe Bhembe on being selected as one of the eight Forensic Science Foundation Student Travel Grant recipients for 2024! This award includes $1,500 grant funding and complementary AAFS annual meeting registration. At the conference Qhawe will present his work on forensics in the single-cell age.
Catherine M. Grgicak (Chemistry) and Desmond S. Lun (Computer Science) were named 2023 Edison Patent Awardees, the state’s highest recognition for inventors and innovators, by the Research and Development Council of New Jersey.
Drs. Lun and Grgicak, along with co-inventors Harish Swaminathan and Muriel Medard, are being honored for their 2019 patent, “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING AN UNKNOWN CHARACTERISTIC OF A SAMPLE” in the Forensic Science category.
Congratulations goes to Ami Reader whose research paper titled “Advancements in STR Analysis for Human Identification: Next Generation Sequencing and Single-Cell Cluster Summed Consensus Profiles” won the paper competition at Rutgers University Camden’s Graduate Research and Creative Works Symposium 2023.
A recent publication by RUCamden LFTDI students Madison Mulcahy and Nidhi Sheth shows the power of single-cell genetics for forensic evaluations. https://www.fsigenetics.com/.
See the entire news story by clicking on the following link, https://research.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-office-research-signs-exclusive-license-softgenetics-llc-market-innovative-dna
LFTDI investigators, Drs Catherine M. Grgicak (Chemistry) and Desmond S. Lun (Computer Science) were awarded Rutgers Camden Vice Chancellor for Research funds for project titled: “Coupling probabilistic genotyping with forensically relevant NGS pipelines”, where they will continue developing forensically relevant single-cell strategies for the forensic domain.