Planning Grant: I/UCRC for I/UCRC for Instrumentation Development for Security and Resilience: Collaborative Research and Community Outreach within Forensic Science

Northeastern University, Boston MA

Investigators

Abstract

I/UCRC for Instrumentation Development for Security and Resilience The Northeastern Forensic Research Center (NFORCE) focuses on the development and advancement of sample preparation, separation science and analytical detection in a variety of areas of forensic science and homeland security. A primary goal is to engage in analytical research, which will impact the turnaround time from case submission to reporting analytical results to investigators and attorneys. Case backlogs, often numbering in the thousands, affect the criminal justice system nationwide. The investigators intend to develop methods which will provide a high level of confirmatory testing in a fraction of the time when compared to traditional approaches. Scientists are interested in speeding up the analysis of a wide variety of samples within analytical chemistry but not specifically for the forensic sciences and homeland security. The projects undertaken within NFORCE would potentially impact areas of drug discovery/development, the petroleum industry and airport security in addition to forensic science and homeland security. NFORCE intends to focus on advances in separation science and mass spectrometric detection for drugs of abuse, ignitable liquids and energetic materials with the primary goal of decreasing the total analysis time in an effort to reduce the case backlogs nationwide. Methods such as differential mobility spectrometry (DMS) and direct analysis in real time (DART) are examples of analytical approaches, which avoid the necessity for chromatographic separation prior to the detection of targeted analytes. The investigators propose to accomplish these goals by developing collaborative research programs between academic and industrial laboratories for the development, optimization and validation of rapid and robust instrumental methods of analysis. Validated, high throughput, analytical methods will be made available to participating crime laboratories (city, state, federal or private). Dissemination will be accomplished through peer-reviewed publications and presented at local and national forensic science conferences. The combination of scientific quality, historical perspective and knowledge of the practitioners will advance knowledge within forensic analytical chemistry. The selected research activities will be strategized and decided upon collectively in the best interests of the I/UCRC partnership. This planning grant is jointly supported by NSF and the National Institute of Justice.