This report summarizes the proceedings and contains the presentations of the 2019 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Forensic Science Research and Development (R&D) Symposium, whose goal was to promote collaboration and facilitate knowledge transfer of NIJ-funded R&D projects in forensic science.
The NIJ Forensic Science R&D Program funds both basic and applied R&D projects that will 1) increase the body of knowledge to guide and inform forensic science policy and practice or 2) result in the production of useful materials, devices, systems, or methods with the potential for forensic application. The full day of the Symposium included 16 presenters and their researcher partners representing 16 NIJ forensic R&D awards. The two morning sessions addressed Impression and Pattern Evidence/Trace Evidence and Forensic Biology/DNA. The afternoon sessions covered Controlled Substances/Toxicology and Forensic Anthropology/Forensic Pathology. The presentations for each of these sessions are included in this report.