ABSTRACT
In 1985, Alec Jeffreys’ discovery that individual variation in microsatellite repeat sequences in DNA could be utilised to both distinguish between people and show relationships had a profound impact on the delivery of forensic science services globally. Subsequent and continuing innovations in molecular biology have further shaped how science intersects with the justice system.
In this talk, I will take you on a personal journey from crime scene to court room and show how my forensic work at the interface of research and professional practise has contributed to the transformation of forensic science, and forensic biology in particular, in New Zealand and internationally. I hope to show how working between and within Industry and Academia has given me opportunities to grasp – and a fair few challenges. I will reflect on how the importance of family, teamwork, role models and mentors, students, quality assurance, international connectedness and running have shaped this unexpected journey. And in thinking about the future, now all I have to do is decide what to do with the time given to me.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
SallyAnn grew up beside the River Thames in Oxford, arriving in New Zealand in 1985 after completing her BSc and PhD in the Biochemistry Department of The University of Liverpool. Although a plant RNA virologist by trade, she switched to Forensic Science after her post-doc in Richard Gardner’s group in what was then Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Auckland. She is now a Senior Science Leader in the Forensic Biology Group in the newly formed New Zealand Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science and Director of the Forensic Science Program in the School of Chemical Sciences here at Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland.
Initially both a crime scene examiner and forensic biologist, SallyAnn has focused on forensic genetics, specializing in body fluid identification, DNA and RNA analysis and evidence interpretation. She was an Honorary Lecturer on the Forensic Science programme from 1996 and has supervised more than 70 student researchers including MSc and PhD students mostly from the University of Auckland. In 2021 she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit and a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi for her contribution to Forensic Science
