Forensic Science Seminar Series

Past Guest Speakers

Forensic Science Seminar Series (Spring 2023) All Seminars will be held in CKB 341

February 8th @ 2:30 pm: “Fortune Hunters, Dead Wives: Investigating Murder in US History” Alison Lefkovitz, PhD is the chair of the Federated History Dept and the director of the Law, Technology & Culture BA program at NJIT/Rutgers-Newark. She is the author of Strange Bedfellows: Marriage in the Age of Women's Liberation (Penn Press, 2018). Her work has also been featured in the Journal of the History of Sexuality, the Law & History Review, the Washington Post, and the Newark Star-Ledger.

February 22nd @ 2:30 pm: “Seized Drugs: A Guide For Analysis” Kristi Bartok, MS graduated from John Jay College with an MS in forensic science. She spent about 2.5 years as a Criminalist at the NYPD Forensics Lab in their controlled substance analysis section. She has been with the Union County Prosecutor’s Office Forensic Lab since 2019, where she works as a forensic chemist in the controlled dangerous substances section.

March 1st @ 2:30 pm: “Aspects in Forensic Anthropology.” Anna Delaney, MA began her career with the NJ State Police Office of Forensic Sciences in 2004. Over the years, Anna has worked in the Mitochondrial DNA Lab, CODIS DNA Lab, and has supervised the Forensic Anthropology Unit since 2017. Anna specializes in human osteology, odontology, non-human comparisons, skeletal trauma analysis, excavations and exhumations. She provides training to Law Enforcement Agencies throughout New Jersey and is a guest lecturer at several Universities. She is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida’s Distance Learning Program. Anna also populates the NamUs database with information on New Jersey’s unidentified cases, modifies NCIC records for missing and unidentified and assists the NJ State Police Missing Persons Unit with retrieval of medical and dental information.

March 8th @2:30pm: “Research in Medico-Legal Entomology: The Role of Insects in Forensics” Gloria Raise is an international transfer student. She is in her third year of studies, and is majoring in forensic science with a focus on chemistry. For the past two years she has engaged in research in forensic entomology and forensic entomotoxicology. Her work mostly focuses on the identification of forensically important insects, but also on the succession of bacteria, fungi and insects during the process of decomposition, and on the effects that an over-the-counter drug and heavy metals have on the development of blow flies. She has recently won an award by an internationally recognized association for her engagement in forensic science.

March 29th @2:30pm: “Gunshot Wounds” Dr. Lorenzo Gitto, MD is a specialist in Forensic Pathology and Legal Medicine (Italian credentials) and board certified Anatomic Pathologist (United States credentials) who currently works at the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office in Chicago, Illinois. During his career, he authored and co-authored many forensic science and anatomic pathology publications and book chapters. Dr. Gitto is a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) and member of the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME).

April 19th @2:30pm: “Diary of an astronaut: Examination of the remains of Col. Ilan Ramon’s crew notebook, discovered after the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia” Sharon Brown, MS was born in London and immigrated to Israel after high school. She did a year of National Service and then studied chemistry at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, completing her Bachelors and Masters degree. She worked at the Division of Identification and Forensic Science at the Israel police for 31 years, including 28 years at the questioned documents lab and 3 years as the head of the forensic R&D unit. She retired two years ago with the rank of chief superintendent.

Contact Prof. David Fisher (dfisher@njit.edu) for more information.