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AFDAA
MEETING MINUTES
January
12-13, 2006
DAY
1
Chair
Joe Warren opened the meeting with the news that former Chair George
Schiro's father had just passed away, but would give his presentation
before leaving for the funeral. The catered breakfast was generously
provided by Applied Biosystems. Pat Cooke of the University of North
Texas Health Science Center was unable to attend the meeting, so Art
Eisenberg and Brandt Cassidy offered to speak in his stead.
Art
Eisenberg of the University of North Texas Health Science Center
presented information on the President's DNA Initiative funding to
increase the use of DNA technology in the criminal justice system.
The Missing Person's laboratory located at UNTHSC has produced a
number of cold hits matching unidentified remains with close relative
reference samples.
Brandt
Cassidy of DNA Solutions, Inc. summarized the types of cases his lab
examines including poaching, crimes against endangered wildlife
species and cases with both animal and human DNA samples.
George
Schiro of the Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory presented the
summary of the forensic investigation of the South Louisiana serial
killer case. Connecting cases that occurred in multiple jurisdictions
proved to be difficult, but resulted in the arrest and conviction of
Derrick Todd Lee.
AFDAA
BUSINESS MEETING
The
business meeting was called to order by Chair Joe Warren at 11:45.
The minutes of the August meeting were presented by Aliece Watts. A
motion to accept the minutes as presented was made by George Schiro
with Brandt Cassidy seconding the motion. The minutes were approved
by voice vote. Introductions of those present were made. Vice-Chair
Brady Mills presented thefollowing applications for membership:
Christy
Brink - Texas Department of Public Safety, Garland
Melissa
Haas - Texas Department of Public Safety, Garland
Erica
Graham - Bexar County Forensic Science Center
Joseph
Cogit - University of Nebraska
George
Schiro moved to accept the applicants with Catherine Caballero
seconding the motion. The motion was passed by voice vote. Catherine
Caballero reported there is $6,730.62 in the treasury. Expenses
include website maintenance and meeting certificates. The Association
dues are being increased to $20 per year beginning in 2007 in
anticipation of expenses for guest speakers. Members who wish to pay
in advance may use the current $10 rate. In old business, Aliece
Watts reported that the history of the Association was almost
completed. Concerning new business, Joe Warren expressed concern
about the difficulty of getting members to present items of interest
at meetings. He has begun an "e-newsletter" to solicit more
participation. The group began as a forum for sharing technical
information and member participation is essential to keep the spirit
of the organization. Joe proposed a change to a tiered level of
membership. Those who are current with dues would be considered a
Member. If a member presents 2 talks or posters, they would be
promoted to Fellow and their dues would be reduced to $10 per year. A
member who serves as an officer of the Association and presents two
talks would be considered a Diplomat with a lifetime membership.
George Schiro and Wil Young will form an ad hoc committee to look
into amending the by-laws.
Chair
Joe Warren suggested that we make efforts to expand the Association
by inviting prominent keynote speakers and holding the summer meeting
at a larger site. The only other alternative is to cap the number of
members who can attend the meetings. Suggestions for enhancements for
the Association include a newsletter, poster sessions, or workshops
over topics such as ABC certification or statistics. Applied
Biosystems was thanked for providing breakfast for the meeting.
George Schiro moved to close the meeting with Pam Smith seconding the motion.
The
AFDAA meeting resumed after lunch with Karl Morton of the Texas DPS
CODIS Lab spoke about some anomalous PCR profiles observed in the
convicted offender samples. David Young of the Texas DPS Lab in
Lubbock presented an EXCEL worksheet he developed that streamlines
data entry for DNA automation. Dan Fahnestock of the Sedgwick County
Regional Forensic Science Center in Wichita, KS, described the
investigation of the BTK serial murderer.
DAY
2
The
second day of the meeting began with breakfast sponsored by Promega
Corp. The "WellAware System" for error free pipetting was
presented by James Frost, III of BioTX, Inc. Laura Post gave an
update on Applied Biosystems products and services. New information
from Promega Corporation was presented by Yasser Daoudi. An in-depth
study of real time PCR was the topic of Phil Williamson of the
University of North Texas Health Science Center. Karen Daurie of DNA
Labs International described the "DNA Informant"
e-newsletter that is a compilation of DNA articles from various
sources. The meeting adjourned at 11:40.
Minutes
respectively submitted by Aliece Watts, Secretary |
