User:Christin Hertz/International Society for Forensic Genetics

The International Society for Forensic Genetics - ISFG is an international non-profit scientific society founded in 1968.

Background

The International Society for Forensic Genetics - ISFG – was founded in 1968 in Mainz, Germany, with the name ‘Gesellschaft für forensische Blutgruppenkunde’ (Society for Forensic Haemogenetics). It is a non-profit society based in Germany. The original aim of the society was to promote science of genetic markers in human blood for use in forensic genetics. In 1989, the Society was made an international society (‘International Society for Forensic Haemogenetics’). In 1991, the name of the Society was changed into ‘International Society for Forensic Genetics’. Following a further revision of the statutes, the aim of the ISFG has been redefined in 2011 "to promote scientific knowledge in the field of genetic markers as applied to forensic science". For more information, please visit http://www.isfg.org.

Membership and executive commitee

Membership

In June 2013, the ISFG had more than 1,200 individual members from more than 50 countries. The members are typically working with forensic genetics in academic (universities, etc.), criminal justice and police organizations as well as private companies. The members’ expertises include molecular biology and population genetics, blood group serology, biostatistics, criminal law, medical ethics, etc. Information on membership application is found on http://www.isfg.org/Membership.

The 2013 executive board of the ISFG

The board of the ISFG has five members: President: Mechthild Prinz, PhD, New York City; Vice-president: Prof. Dr. Niels Morling, Copenhagen; Secretary: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang R. Mayr, Vienna; Treasurer: Leonor Gusmao, PhD, Porto; Representative of all working groups: Prof. Walther Parsons,Innsbruck.

The ISFG presidents

2012-now	Dr. Mechthild Prinz, New York City
2008-2011	Prof. Dr. N. Morling, Copenhagen
2004-2007	Prof. Dr. P.M. Schneider, Cologne
2000-2003	Prof. Dr. A. Carracedo, Santiago de Compostela
1996-1999	Prof. Dr. B. Olaisen, Oslo
1992-1995	Prof. Dr. W. Bär, Zürich
1988-1991	Prof. Dr. B. Brinkmann, Münster
1986-1987	Prof. Dr. R. Bütler, Bern
1984-1985	Prof. Dr. W. Spielmann, Frankfurt/Main
1982-1983	Prof. Dr. C. P. Engelfriet, Amsterdam
1977-1981	Prof. Dr. H. H. Hoppe, Hamburg
1974-1976	Dr. K. Heindl, Nürnberg
1970-1973	Prof. Dr. H. Leithoff, Mainz
1968-1970	Prof. Dr. Dr. W. Zimmermann, Homburg/Saar

Honorary members

All activities of the ISFG are unpaid and non-profit. Many members have made very valuable contributions to the field of forensic genetics. The general assemblies have appointed a number of honorary members (Prof. Dr. E. Essen-Möller, Alsbäck/Lysekil, Sweden; Prof. Dr. P. Dahr, Bensberg, Köln; Prof. Dr. E. Krah, Heidelberg; Prof. Dr. M. Krüpe, Fulda; Prof. Dr. Dr. W. Zimmermann, Homburg/Saar; Prof. Dr. J.-J. van Loghem, Amsterdam; Prof. Dr. F. Levine, Raritan, N. J., USA; Dr. R. R. Race, London; Dr. R. Sanger, London; Prof. Dr. O. Prokop, Berlin; Prof. Dr. H. Leithoff, Mainz; Prof. Dr. K. Hummel, Freiburg; Dr. B. Dodd, London; Dr. E. van Loghem, Amsterdam; Dr. M. Pereira, London; Prof. Dr. E. Schwarzfischer, München; Prof. Dr. C. P. Engelfriet, Amsterdam; Prof. Dr. K. Henningsen, Copenhagen; Dr. A. G. Gathof, Würzburg; Prof. Dr. H. H. Hoppe, Hamburg; Prof. Dr. W. Spielmann, Frankfurt/Main; Prof. Dr. D. A. Hopkinson, London; Prof. Dr. H. Matsumoto, Takatsuki/Osaka; Prof. Dr. A. Arndt-Hanser, Mainz; Prof. Dr. R. Bütler, Zollikofen; [Prof. Sir A.J. Jeffreys, Leicester]; Prof. Dr. A. Fiori, Rome; Prof. Dr. E. Villanueva, Granada; Prof. Dr. P.J. Lincoln, London; Prof. Dr. Ch. Rittner, Mainz; Prof. Dr. B. Brinkmann, Münster; Prof. Dr. B. Olaisen, Oslo).

The biannual ISFG congresses

The ISFG organises international congresses biannually. In the period 1985-2005, the conference proceedings were published as books (http://www.isfg.org/Publications/Congress+Proceedings). Since 2007, the proceedings have been published electronically. They are freely available through Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series.

The language-based working parties

The ISFG has the following language-based working groups: Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish-Portuguese. The working groups typically treat items of regional or national interest. The English Speaking Working Group (ESWG) offers an annual proficiency testing exercise. The Relationship Testing Workshop is open to all members of the ESWG. Each year, blood samples, a questionnaire and a paper challenge are sent to the participating laboratories (http://www.isfg.org, http://www.rtw-eswg.forensic.ku.dk). The Spanish and Portuguese Speaking Working Group of the ISFG (GHEP-ISFG) also organises collaborative exercises (http://www.gep-isfg.org/ISFG/English/portada.php).

The DNA Commissions

The board of the ISFG together with invited scientists have established various working groups called ‘DNA Commissions of the ISFG’ that have discussed important forensic genetic topics and formulated recommendations (cf. below) that have helped to establishing scientific standards for new forensic genetic typing methods. Similar work has been done within the field of paternity and relationship testing (cf. below). A list of recommendations are found on http://www.isfg.org/Publications/DNA+Commission and http://www.isfg.org/Publications/Paternity+Testing+Commission.

The European DNA Profiling Group

The European DNA Profiling Group - EDNAP - was established in 1988 by forensic genetic scientists from European countries. The initial purpose of EDNAP was to harmonize DNA technologies for crime case investigations so that DNA results could be exchanged across the borders in Europe. In 1991, EDNAP was included among the working groups of the ISFG. EDNAP consists of approximately 20 European laboratories from academic, police and private institutions. The EDNAP group collaborates closely with the DNA Working Group of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes - ENFSI. EDNAP regularly organises collaborative scientific exercises in order to explore the possibility of standardization of new forensic genetic methods. The results of these exercises are published and made available on the ISFG website (http://www.isfg.org/EDNAP/Publications).

References

• Carracedo A., Bär W., Lincoln P., Mayr W., Morling N., Olaisen B., Schneider P., Budowle B., Brinkmann B., Gill P., Holland M., Tully G., Wilson M. (2000), 'DNA Commission of the International Society for Forensic Genetics: guidelines for mitochondrial DNA typing.', Forensic Sci Int. 110(2), 79-85
• Gill P., Brenner C., Brinkmann B., Budowle B., Carracedo A., Jobling MA., De K., Kayser M., Krawczak M., Mayr WR., Morling N., Olaisen B., Pascali V., Prinz M., Roewer L., Schneider PM., Sajantila A., Tyler-smith C. (2001), 'DNA Commission of the International Society of Forensic Genetics: Recommendations on forensic analysis using Y-chromosome STRs', Forensic Sci Int. 124, 5-10
• Morling N., Allen RW., Carracedo A., Geada H., Guidet F., Hallenberg C., Martin W., Mayr WR., Olaisen B., Pascali VL., Schneider PM. (2002), 'Paternity Testing Commission of the International Society of Forensic Genetics: recommendations on genetic investigations in paternity cases.' Forensic Sci Int. 129(3), 148-157
• Gill P., Brenner CH., Buckleton JS., Carracedo A., Krawczak M., Mayr WR., Morling N., Prinz M., Schneider PM., Weir BS. (2006), 'DNA commission of the International Society of Forensic Genetics: Recommendations on the interpretation of mixtures', Forensic Sci Int. 160, 90-101
• Gusmao L., Butler JM., Carracedo A., Gill P., Kayser M., Mayr WR., Morling N., Prinz M., Roewer L., Tyler-smith C., Schneider PM. (2006), 'DNA Commission of the International Society of Forensic Genetics. DNA Commission of the International Society of Forensic Genetics (ISFG): an update of the recommendations on the use of Y-STRs in forensic analysis.', Forensic Sci Int. 157, 187-97
• Gjertson DW., Brenner CH., Baur MP., Carracedo A., Guidet F., Luque JA., Lessig R., Mayr WR., Pascali VL., Prinz M., Schneider PM., Morling N. (2007), 'ISFG: Recommendations on biostatistics in paternity testing', Forensic Sci Int Genet. 1 (3), 223-231
• Prinz M., Carracedo A., Mayr WR., Morling N., Parsons TJ., Sajantila A., Scheithauer R., Schmitter H., Schneider PM. (2007), ' DNA Commission of the International Society for Forensic Genetics (ISFG): Recommendations regarding the role of forensic genetics for disaster victim identification (DVI)', Forensic Sci Int Genet. 1 (1), 3-12
• Linacre A., Gusmão L., Hecht W., Hellmann AP., Mayr WR., Parson W., Prinz M., Schneider PM., Morling N. (2011), 'ISFG: Recommendations regarding the use of non-human (animal) DNA in forensic genetic investigations', Forensic Sci Int Genet. 5, 559-60
• Gill P., Gusmão L., Haned H., Mayr WR., Morling N., Parson W., Prieto L., Prinz M., Schneider H., Schneider PM., Weir BS. (2012), 'DNA commission of the International Society of Forensic Genetics: Recommendations on the evaluation of STR typing results that may include drop-out and/or drop-in using probabilistic methods', Forensic Sci Int Genet. 6 (6), 679-688
• Progress in Forensic Genetics 9. 19th Congress of the International Society for Forensic Genetics Münster, Germany, August 28 - September 1, 2001. Edited by: B. Brinkmann and A. Carracedo. Elsevier, Amsterdam Lausanne New York Oxford, 2003.
• Progress in Forensic Genetics 10. 20th Congress of the International Society for Forensic Genetics Arcachon, France, 2003. Edited by: Ch. Doutremepuiche and N. Morling. Elsevier, Amsterdam Lausanne New York Oxford, 2004.
• Progress in Forensic Genetics 11. 21st Congress of the International Society for Forensic Genetics Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 2005. Edited by: A. Amorim, F. Corte-Real and N. Morling. Elsevier, Amsterdam Lausanne New York Oxford, 2006.
• Progress in Forensic Genetics 12. 22nd Congress of the International Society for Forensic Genetics Copenhagen, Denmark, 2007. Edited by: N. Morling. Forensic Science International Genetics Supplement Series, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2008. Available at http://www.fsigeneticssup.com/
• Progress in Forensic Genetics 13. 23rd Congress of the International Society for Forensic Genetics, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2009, Edited by: N. Morling. Forensic Science International Genetics Supplement Series, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2009. Available at http://www.fsigeneticssup.com/
• Progress in Forensic Genetics 14. 24th Congress of the International Society for Forensic Genetics, Vienna, Austria, 2011, Edited by: N. Morling. Forensic Science International Genetics Supplement Series, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2011. Available at http://www.fsigeneticssup.com/.

External links

• www.isfg.org
• www.gep-isfg.org/ISFG/English/portada.php
• www.rtw-eswg.forensic.ku.dk