WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The
Office of Justice Programs' National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
today announced that it has awarded more than $29 million in research and development funding
to over 60 recipients who proposed work designed to strengthen
forensic science and advance criminal justice policy and
practice.
"These awards support NIJ's mission to provide objective,
independent, evidence-based knowledge that gives policymakers and
practitioners tools to identify suspects, solve crimes, and bring
justice to victims and communities," said NIJ Director Nancy Rodriquez. "We want the findings from
basic science to improve measurement, accuracy, and methods so that
forensic science can be as reliable and cost-effective as
possible."
The awards listed in the table below are just a sample of those
announced today. They demonstrate the diversity of NIJ's
forensic science research and development portfolio and its
commitment to solving through scientific research the practical
challenges facing forensic scientists and law enforcement.
These projects will apply scientific methods to expand or deepen
our understanding in several areas of forensic science, including
improving methods to estimate the age, sex and ancestry of skeletal
remains; studying the bacteria on the human body to gain more
biological evidence than can be gleaned from human DNA alone; and
improving the detection of drug exposure and activity as well as
identifying new and "designer" drugs. Two of the projects
address rape kits: one seeks to improve the kinds of evidence to be
obtained from the kits; the other looks to streamline the analysis
of sexual assault evidence, including DNA analysis. Another grantee
will examine ways to improve scientific methodologies in arson
investigations, while another seeks to broaden forensic analysis of
firearms discharge residue by including organic as well as
inorganic compounds in the investigations.
|
State
|
Grantee
|
Amount
|
|
California
|
Office of the
Director, Sacramento County, CA,
Improving the
sexual assault workflow – efficient sample selection and data
interpretation
|
$148,282
|
|
Colorado
|
Denver Police
Department, City and County of Denver, CO
Optimized,
Semi-Automated Differential DNA Extraction
|
$51,669
|
|
Florida
|
The Florida
International University Board of Trustees
Novel Blood
Protein Modification Assay for Retrospective Detection of Drug
Exposure
|
$195,710
|
|
Idaho
|
Idaho State
University
Development of
Modern Subadult Standards: Improved Age and Sex Estimation in U.S.
Forensic Practice
|
$510,409
|
|
Michigan
|
Michigan State
University
A
Macromorphoscopic Databank: Establishing the Statistical Analysis
of Macromorphoscopic Data in Forensic Anthropology
|
$423,959
|
|
Pennsylvania
|
Center for Forensic
Science Research and Education
Monitoring Changes
in the Novel Psychoactive Substance Market through Enhanced
Identification of Emerging Drugs and their Metabolites in
Biological Samples
|
$378,153
|
|
Pennsylvania
|
Mercyhurst
University
An Interactive
Morphological Database for Estimating Sex in Modern
Adults
|
$126,871
|
|
Texas
|
University of North
Texas Health Science Center
Human Microbiome
Species and Genes for Human Identification
|
$589,701
|
|
Virginia
|
Virginia
Commonwealth University
Front End
Separation of Compromised Blood Mixtures for Single Source DNA
Profiling
|
$295,236
|
|
Washington
|
Washington State
University
Temperature
Sensors Embedded in Paint for Fire Debris Analysis and Arson Scene
Investigations
|
$517,243
|
|
West
Virginia
|
West Virginia
University
Viable,
Affordable, and Meaningful Integration of Organic and Inorganic
Analysis of Firearms Discharge Residue
|
$212,875
|
More information on the awards announced today is available at:
http://www.nij.gov/funding/awards/pages/awards-list.aspx?tags=Forensic%20Research%20and%20Development&fiscalyear=2015
The solicitation is available at
http://nij.gov/funding/awards/Pages/awards-list.aspx?fiscalyear=2015
About the Office of Justice Programs (OJP)
OJP, headed
by Assistant Attorney General Karol V.
Mason, provides federal leadership in developing the
nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice
and assist victims. OJP has six components: the Bureau of
Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National
Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime and the
Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending,
Registering and Tracking. To learn more about OJP, visit
www.ojp.gov.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/justice-department-awards-more-than-29-million-to-forensic-science-research-and-development-300155051.html
SOURCE Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs