Driving Forensic Innovation in the 21st Century: Crossing the Valley of Death

Simona Francese is Professor of Forensic and Bioanalytical Mass Spectrometry at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU), UK. She holds a 1st Class Honours degree in Chemistry obtained from the University of Salerno, Italy in 2000, and a PhD in Chemical Sciences awarded in 2004 by the same University. In her current role, she is Director of the Sheffield Multi-Modal Imaging Centre (SMIC) sitting across SHU’s Health and Wellbeing and Research and Innovation Colleges and Head of the Centre for Mass Spectrometry Imaging (CMSI) within the SHU’s Biomedical Sciences Research Centre.

She is an expert in the development of MALDI MS Imaging applications and has pioneered its development for the analysis of latent fingermarks and blood to profile offenders. More recently she has engaged in research at the interface between forensics and clinical diagnostics using blood and sweat in fingertip smears to detect cancer and other pathologies.

Her research has been implemented in police casework in UK and Europe and has been partly funded by the Home Office, West Yorkshire Police and The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, UK and she is now collaborating with the UK National Health System. She engages in public dissemination at all levels and one exemplary endeavour was the delivery of a TED talk in Vancouver in 2018 on molecular fingerprinting.

Dr Roberto King is an innovator, technologist and subject-matter expert within forensic science. He was responsible for the product innovation and development portfolio at foster+freeman, UK, where he served as Vice President of Product, and previously as the company’s Chief Technology Officer. Roberto gained a 1st Class Honours degree in Chemistry and Sports Science from Loughborough University in 2005 and completed his PhD in Chemistry four years later at the same institution. He is a versatile inorganic chemist with expertise in the application of chemistry within the forensic arena. His background involves the development of novel fingerprint enhancing agents for use on troublesome substrates, as well as investigation into unique methodologies for evidence recovery from document-based evidence. His current research interests involve fingermarks, body fluids, questioned document examination, trace evidence and contact transfer. He has a keen interest in exploring long-standing forensic problems using fresh and lateral approaches that encompass all avenues of chemistry, physics and engineering. He is well versed in many areas of fingerprint forensics, document examination and trace evidence analysis.

Roberto has presented in excess of 200 lectures at scientific events around the world, including both keynote and plenary sessions. He has published more than 30 research papers, three book chapters, and appeared on numerous television and news broadcasts in relation to his work and expertise within the field. Roberto sits on two external Advisory Boards and has led numerous collaborative research endeavours as Principal Investigator, including both PhD and KTP partnerships. His endeavours within the discipline have, thus far, resulted in the publication of 10 patents and multiple new product innovations.