The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) — the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) — is the lead federal funder of research and development in the forensic sciences. Investment in R&D can lead to faster or more discriminatory methods to identify, capture, charge, and convict the true perpetrators of crime, which increases public safety and ensures that the innocent are not wrongly convicted. NIJ’s forensic science R&D portfolio spans a broad range, from fundamental research with the potential for forensic application, to the development of prototype devices, to the validation of novel instruments and methods. Forensic science is a collection of applied disciplines that draws from all branches of science. Nevertheless, forensic scientists most often tend to be concerned with the detection, collection, separation, and analysis of chemical and biological samples. Because of the unique circumstances of forensic evidence, there is an ongoing need for these analyses to be done on ever smaller, degraded or mixed samples. Balancing this is the need to ensure that the analytical methods applied to these challenging samples are rigorously validated and defensible in a courtroom context. These needs drive NIJ’s continuing R&D investments in chemistry for forensic application. Since 2009, the year of publication of an influential National Academy of Sciences report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, NIJ has funded over 550 forensic science R&D grants, for a total of nearly $250M. A large portion of this portfolio, especially in controlled substances, forensic toxicology, and trace evidence analysis has been directly served by analytical chemistry research. NIJ anticipates continued interest in advancing the practice of forensic science through chemical research. In this effort, NIJ strives to engage the chemistry community to bring novel perspectives to solving forensic problems.

Forensic science R&D: Chemistry in the service of justice

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.