Silent Witness
Forensic DNA Evidence in Criminal Investigations and Humanitarian Disasters
Edited by Henry Erlich, Eric Stover, Thomas J. White, and Foreward by Scott Turow
Author Information
Edited by Henry Erlich, Senior Scientist, Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Eric Stover, Faculty Director and Adjunct Professor of Law and Public Health, Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Thomas J. White, Advisory Board Member, Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, and Foreward by Scott Turow
Henry Erlich is Senior Scientist at the Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute. He was previously Vice President of Discovery Research at Roche Molecular Systems and Director of Human Genetics at Cetus Corporation. He is a pioneer in the development and application of PCR in forensic DNA analysis and performed the first DNA-based forensic analysis in the United State in 1986 and the first DNA-based exoneration in 1988. Erlich also pioneered the development of DNA-based HLA typing and its application to the study of the genetics of autoimmune diseases. He is the author of over 450 scientific articles and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the "DNA Profiles in Courage Award" from the National Institute of Justice in 2001.
Eric Stover is Faculty Director and Adjunct Professor of Law and Public Health at the Human Rights Center, School of Law, University of California, Berkeley. Since the 1980s, he has led forensic missions to investigate the fate of the disappeared in Argentina, Guatemala, Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico, Iraq, the former Yugoslavia, and Rwanda. In 1984, Stover testified about the forensic search for the disappeared in the trial of Argentina's former ruling junta He is the author and co-editor of several books on the forensic sciences and human rights and has co-produced several documentaries, including the 2017 PBS three-part series "Dead Reckoning: War, Crime, and Justice from World War II to the War on Terror."
Thomas J. White is an advisor to the Human Rights Center, School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, and former 2012-2013 Regents Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley. He previously held the positions of Vice President of Research at Cetus Corporation, Senior Vice President of Research & Development at Roche Molecular Systems, and Chief Scientific Officer at Celera Corporation. He is co-editor of four books on DNA analysis, two published by Academic Press and two by the American Association for Microbiology Press, and is co-author on 100 articles in peer-reviewed scientific and medical journals.
Contributors:
Frederick R. Bieber is a medical geneticist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a member of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard University.
Justin Brooks is a professor of law at California Western School of Law and director of the California Innocence Project.
Bruce Budowle is a professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center and director of the Center for Human Identification.
Cassandra Calloway is an assistant scientist at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, where she has led a research program in forensic science and mitochondrial genetics over the last 17 years.
Michael Coble is associate professor of microbiology, immunology and genetics at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.
Mariana Herrera Pinero is the director of the Banco Nacional de Datos Geneticos in the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation in Argentina.
Sara H. Katsanis is an instructor in science and technology at Duke University.
Andreas Kleiser is director for policy and cooperation at the International Commission of Missing Persons.
Andrea Lampros is associate director of the Human Rights Center, School of Law, University of California, Berkeley.
Steven Lee is a professor and director of the Forensic Science Programs in the Department of Justice Studies at San Jose State University.
Montserrat Martinez Gomez is an investigator with the Asociacion Pro-Busqueda
de Ninas y Ninos Desaparecidos in El Salvador.
Desiree Moshayedi is a member of the Human Rights Investigation Lab of the Human Rights Center, School of Law, University of California, Berkeley.
Amy Mundorff is a biological anthropologist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, who specializes in forensic anthropology and disaster identification Management.
Cristian Orrego Benavente was a research fellow in forensic genetics at the Human Rights Center, School of Law, University of California, Berkeley. He died at his home in San Salvador on December 11, 2018.
Thomas J. Parsons is director of science and technology at the International Commission of Missing Persons.
Victor B. Penchaszadeh
Andrea Roth is a professor of law and faculty director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at the School of Law, University of California, Berkeley.
Antti Sajantila is professor of forensic genetics at the University of Helsinki.
Katherine M. Spradley is an associate professor of anthropology at Texas State University.
Dawnie Steadman is a professor of anthropology and director of the Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Melina Tupa is a freelance filmmaker and producer.
Scott Turow is a lawyer and novelist who has written three nonfiction and eleven fiction books, including Testimony, Presumed Innocent, and Personal Injuries. He has won numerous literary awards, most notably the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writer's Association.
Patricia Vasquez Marias is a geneticist at the Asociacion Pro-Busqueda de Ninas y Ninos Desaparecidos and professor of molecular biology at the Universidad Dr. Jose Matias Delgado in El Salvador.
Sarah Wagner is an associate professor of anthropology at the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.
