CARFS tackles emerging forensic science problems by bringing together forensic science leaders in state-of-the-art laboratories and industrial partners to develop collaborative solutions. CARFS is the ONLY forensic science Industry-University Cooperative Research Center.
Established in 2017 and funded through 2028, CARFS has already secured nearly $2M in funds, supporting 31 faculty and more than 75 graduate and undergrad students who produced 65 projects from 18 forensic science disciplines, and produced 32 publications, 61 presentations, 109 posters, and 3 invention disclosures. Download our Phase I Summary->
Established Strengths
Chemistry
Biology
Toxicology
Medicine
Targeted Enhancements
Digital Evidence
Nuclear
Environmental
Dynamic Research Roadmap
Our functional structure connects industry needs to funded research, and advanced knowledge to practical solutions, through the innovation ecosystem, fed by industry and government feedback. Download our full Dynamic Research Roadmap->
Technology Integration: Industry and government requirements drive functional enhancements.
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Technology Base: Greater capabilities demand technology development.
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Knowledge Base: Technology advances from new research.
Technology Upscaling: Expanded portfolio benefits all members.
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Enabling Technologies: Technology supports increased capabilities.
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Fundamental Insights: Knowledge informs technology development.
Publications
- 2018
Gautier, Adam M.; Andel, Todd R.; Benton, Ryan. “On-Device Detection via Anomalous Environmental Factors”. Proceedings of the 8th Software Security, Protection, and Reverse Engineering Workshop (SSPREW-8), San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA, Article 5, 2018.
Link: 10.1145/3289239.3289246
- 2019
Lorenzo, Fernando; McDonald, Jeffrey T; Andel, Todd R; Glisson, William B; and Russ, Samuel. Evaluating Side Channel Resilience in iPhone 5c Unlock Scenarios. Proceedings of the IEEE SoutheastCon 2019, Huntsville, AL, 2019.
Link: 10.1109/SoutheastCon42311.2019.9020529
Johnsten, Tom; Green, Wyatt, Crook, L.; Chan, Ho Yin; Benton, Ryan G.; Bourrie, David M. “Discovery of action rules for continuously valued data”. 2019 IEEE First International Conference on Cognitive Machine Intelligence (CogMI), 2019.
Link: 10.1109/CogMI48466.2019.00026
Wang, Ling; Deriu, Chiara; Wu, Wensong; Mebel, Alexander M.; McCord, Bruce. "Surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy, Raman, and density functional theoretical analyses of fentanyl and six analogs". Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, v.50, 2019.
Link: 10.1002/jrs.5656
- 2020
Aijala, Jennett Chenevert; Wu, Wensong; DeCaprio, Anthony P. “Application of statistical design of experiments to assess pre-treatment parameters in forensic hair analysis for amphetamine" Forensic Chemistry, v.20, 2020.
Link: 10.1016/j.forc.2020.100265
Aijala, Jennett Chenevert; Wu, Wensong; DeCaprio, Anthony P. "Assessing Hair Decontamination Protocols for Diazepam, Heroin, Cocaine and Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol by Statistical Design of Experiments". Journal of Analytical Toxicology, v.45, 2020.
Link: 10.1093/jat/bkaa110
Green, Wyatt; Johnsten, Tom; Benton, Ryan. G. “TADS: Transformation of Anomalies in Data Streams. In 2020 IEEE International Conference on Big Data (Big Data)”. IEEE International Conference on Big Data, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 2020.
Link: 10.1109/BigData50022.2020.9377765
Torres, Michelle; Valdes, Nicole; Almirall, Jose. "Comparison of portable and benchtop GC–MS coupled to capillary microextraction of volatiles (CMV) for the extraction and analysis of ignitable liquid residues". Forensic chemistry, v.19, 2020.
Link: 10.1016/j.forc.2020.100240
Jung Sukhwan; Kandadi, Rachana R.; Datta Rituparna; Benton, Ryan; Segev Aviv. “Identification of Technology-Relevant Entities Based on Trend Curves”. Proceedings of International Conference on Information Technology Convergence and Services, Vancouver, Canada, 2020.
Link: 10.5121/csit.2020.100501
Jung Sukhwan; Kandadi, Rachana R.; Datta Rituparna; Benton, Ryan; Segev Aviv. “Identification of Technology-Relevant Entities Based on Trend Curves and Semantic Similarities”. International Journal of Web & Semantic Technology (IJWesT), v. 11(3), 2020.
Link: 10.2139/ssrn.3873849
Winokur, Agnes D; Kaufman, Lindsay M.; Almirall, Jose R. "Differentiation and identification of fentanyl analogues using GC-IRD". Forensic Chemistry, v.20, 2020.
Link: 10.1016/j.forc.2020.100255
Foots, Courtney; Pal, Palash; Datta, Rituparna; Segev Aviv. “Classification of Computer Hardware and Performance Prediction Using Statistical Learning and Neural Networks”. Proceedings of International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Vancouver, Canada, 2020.
Link: 10.5121/csit.2020.100517
Foots, Courtney; Pal, Palash; Datta, Rituparna; Segev Aviv. “CPU Hardware Classification and Performance Prediction Using Neural Networks and Statistical Learning”. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence & Applications (IJAIA), v. 11(4), 2020.
Link: 10.5121/ijaia.2020.11401
Sneyd, D., Schreiber Compo, N., Rivard, J., Pena, M., Stoiloff, S. & Hernandez, G. (2020). Quality of laypersons‘ assessment of forensically relevant stimuli. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 65(5), 1507-1516.
Link: doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.14495 - 2021
Wang, Ling; Vendrell-Dones, Mario O.; Deriu, Chiara; Doğruer, Sevde; de B. Harrington, Peter; McCord, Bruce. "Multivariate Analysis Aided Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (MVA-SERS) Multiplex Quantitative Detection of Trace Fentanyl in Illicit Drug Mixtures Using a Handheld Raman Spectrometer". Applied Spectroscopy, v.75, 2021.
Link: 10.1177/00037028211032930
Wells, Jeffrey D.; MacInnis, Amber E.; Dsouza, Maurell A.; Abdin, Zain Ul; Mughawi, Sara Al; Khloofi, Mohammad Al; Sajwani, Mariam; Maidoor, Maryam Al; Saeed, Ashwaq; Ahli, Hamdan; Shamsi, Rawdha Al; Mheiri, Reem Al. "Forensic entomology when the evidence is “no insect.” Best carrion fly species for predicting maximum postmortem interval in the United Arab Emirates". Forensic Science International, v.328, 2021.
Link: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2021.110999
Rodriguez, Jacqueline L.; Almirall, José R. "Continuous vapor sampling of volatile organic compounds associated with explosives using capillary microextraction of volatiles (CMV) coupled to a portable GC–MS". Forensic Chemistry, v.26, 2021.
Link: 10.1016/j.forc.2021.100380
Acosta, Alexander; Almirall, Jose. “Differentiation between hemp-type and marijuana-type cannabis using the Fast Blue BB colorimetric test”. Forensic Chemistry, v26, 2021.
Link: 10.1016/j.forc.2021.100376
Zapico, Sara; Gauthier, Quentin; Antevska, Aleksandra; McCord, Bruce. “Identifying Methylation Patterns in Dental Pulp Aging: Application to Age-at-Death Estimation in Forensic Anthropology”. International journal of Molecular Sciences, v.22, 3717, 2021.
Link: 10.3390/ijms22073717
- 2022
Torres, Michelle N.; Almirall, José R. "Evaluation of capillary microextraction of volatiles (CMV) coupled to a person-portable gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GC–MS) for the analysis of gasoline residues" Forensic Chemistry, v.27, 2022
Link: 10.1016/j.forc.2021.100397
Ferguson, Kimiko; Tupik, Sherri L.; Haddad, Hunter; Perr, Jeannette; Gilbert, Michael; Newman, Reta; Almirall, José. "Utility of gas chromatography infrared spectroscopy (GC-IR) for the differentiation of positional isomers of fentanyl related substances". Forensic Chemistry, v.29, 2022.
Link: 10.1016/j.forc.2022.100425
Deriu, Chiara; Bracho, Asier; McCord, Bruce. "Tailored Colloidal Nanostars for Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy: Optimization of Formulation Components and Study of the Stabilizer–Nanoparticle Interactions". The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, v.126, 2022.
Link: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c08145
Acosta, Alexander; Li, Li; Weaver, Mike; Capote, Ryan; Perr, Jeannette; Almirall, Jose. “Validation of a combined Fast blue BB and 4-Aminophenol colorimetric test for indication of Hemp-type and Marijuana-type cannabis”. Forensic Chemistry, v 31, 2022.
Link: 10.1016/j.forc.2022.100448
Bhattarai, Abhished; Veksler, Maryna; Kurt, Ahmet; Sahin, H; Akkaya, Kemal. “Crypto Wallet Artifact Detection on Android Devices using Advanced Machine Learning Techniques” in the Proceedings of EAI International Conference on Digital Forensics & Cyber Crime (ICDF2C 2022), Boston, MA, Nov. 2022.
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Tarone, Aaron; Mann, Allysson M.; Zhang, Yan; Zascavage, Roxanne R.; Mitchell, Elizabeth A.; Morales, Edgar; Rusch, Travis W.; Allen, Michael S. “The Devil is in the Details: Variable impacts of season, BMI, sampling site temperature, and presence of insects on the post-mortem microbiome”. Frontiers in Microbiology, 2022.
Link: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1064904
Canoura, Juan; Alkhamis, Obtin; Liu, Yingzhu; Willis, Connor; and Xiao, Yi. “High-throughput quantitative binding analysis of DNA aptamers using exonucleases”. Nucleic Acids Research, 2022.
- 2023
Valdes, Nicole; Almirall, Jose. Sampling and recovery of ignitable liquid residues (ILRs) from fire debris using capillary microextraction of volatiles (CMV) for on-site analysis. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2023.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.15203
Snedeker, Jennifer; Hughes, Sheree; Houston, Rachel. Optimization of InnoXtract™ extraction and purification system for DNA extraction from skeletal samples. International Journal of Legal Medicine, 2023.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-023-02980-9
Ferguson, Kimiko; Perr, Jeannette; Tupik, Sherri; Gilbert, Michael; Newman, Reta; Winokur, Agnes; Vallejo, Ivette; Hokanson, Stephen; Pothier, Matthiew; Knapp, Brook; Icard, Misty; Kramer, Kevin; and Almirall, Jose*. An Interlaboratory Study to Evaluate the Utility of Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Gas Chromatography Infrared Spectroscopy (GC-IR) Spectral Libraries in the Forensic Analysis of Fentanyl Related Substances (FRS). Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2023.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.15306
Jordan, Deidra; Kominoski, John S.; Servais, Shelby; and Mills, DeEtta. Salinity Impacts the Functional mcrA and dsrA Gene Abundances in Everglades Marshes. Microorganisms, 2023.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11051180
Gorziza, Roberta; Valdes, Nicole; Tinoco, Marilyn; Almirall, Jose. Optimization and validation of the Fast Blue BB (FBBB) screening test for the detection of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) in oral fluid, Forensic Chemistry, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forc.2023.100514
1. dos Santos, Maira Kerpel; Acosta, Alexander; Capote, Ryan; Tabassam, Bakhtawar; Ley, James; Quirke, Michael; Almirall, Jose. Chemical identification, and optimization of the 4-aminophenol colorimetric test for the differentiation between hemp-type and marijuana-type cannabis plant samples. Journal of Forensic Sciences. 2023.
Patents
- 2021
Materials and Methods for Field Testing of Cannabis Samples. U.S. Patent No. 11131634. Acosta, A.; Almirall, J.
Venturi Vacuum Device for Biological Sample Collections. U.S. Patent No. 10,908,052. Mills, D.; Mendel, J.
- 2022
Materials and Methods for Age-at-Death Estimation. U.S. Patent No. 11,312,989. McCord, B. R.; Zapico, S. C.