William Goodwin - Academic Staff

Will has been working in forensic genetics since 1994. He joined UCLan in 2002 and has been involved in establishing and teaching on the Forensic Science and DNA Profiling MSc as well as teaching on the undergraduate courses. He has also been actively researching various areas of forensic genetics such as population genetics, ancient DNA, optimizing collection, storage and extraction of DNA, and methodology related to the identification of human remains. Will is a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross’ (ICRC’s) Forensic Advisory Board and has worked for the ICRC in various contexts, including Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Indonesia, Philippines, the Balkans, Ukraine, Egypt, El Salvador, Brazil and Argentina. He is also a technical assessor for the United kingdom Accreditation Service, and has been involved in assessing laboratories in the UK and Middle East to the ISO17025 standard for over 10 years.

Will helped to set up and run the specialist MSc in DNA Profiling that has been offered since 2006, he was the course leader for several years before helping to establish and act as course leader for the MSc in Forensic Science. In addition to his teaching he is an active researcher and has supervised over 20 doctoral students.

Before Will joined UCLan he helped to establish the DNA section at the Human Identification at the University of Glasgow and has continued to develop his speciality in this field while at UCLan. He has been involved in conducting casework in international contexts ranging from the Balkans, South Asia and Latin America. Since joining UCLan the active casework has evolved into an advisory role with international and national organisations. In addition to research publications Will has co-authored the textbook ‘An Introduction to Forensic Genetics’ that is recommended reading on several undergraduate and post-graduate courses. He has also published chapters in collections, such as Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences (2013), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology (2014), and Encyclopedia of Life Sciences 3 (2013) and in 2016 edited ‘Forensic DNA Typing Protocols’.

Qualifications

Areas of Interest / Expertise

External Affiliations / Memberships

Will’s research has focussed on two broad areas within forensic genetics: maximising the recovery of DNA from forensic samples through improved collection, storage and extraction techniques and the application of different forensic markers to forensic genetics including population genetics. The research has focussed on kinship testing but is also relevant in many cases to crime scene work.

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Research Group Memberships

Research Projects

Selected PhD projects include: Evaluation of DNA Polymorphisms for Forensic Applications in the Populations of Ghana Using Capillary Electrophoresis and Massively Parallel Sequencing, 2020
Development of Molecular Tools for Evaluating DNA Degradation, 2020
Application of Identity and Ancestry Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms to Forensic Casework in Qatar, 2020
The Optimisation of DNA Recovery and Analysis from Challenging Bone Samples, 2018
Methods of Improving Challenging DNA Profiles and Molecular Preservation of Soft Tissue Samples, 2018
Evaluation of Insertion Deletion Polymorphisms (INDELs) Applied to Forensic Casework in Malaysia, 2017
Application of Autosomal INDELs as a Forensic Tool in Qatar, 2016
The Effects of Environmental Insults on Presumptive Tests, Confirmatory Tests and DNA, 2016
Application of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) to Forensic Casework in Malaysia, 2016

Conferences & Events

International Society of Forensic Genetics, Prague, 2019
International Society of Forensic Genetics, Seoul, 2017
Oxford Global Forensic Genetics, London, 2017
11th Annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Society for Molecular Immunohistology, Taipei, 2016
International Association of Forensic Sciences, Seoul, 2014
Islamic Countries Forensic Medicine Organisation, Semarang Indonesia, 2013– International Association of Legal Medicine, Istanbul, 2012
The American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Atlanta, 2012
International Association of Legal Medicine, Funchal, 2011
The American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Seattle, 2010
International Association of Legal Medicine, Lisbon, 28th-30th May 2009
The 1st International Congress on Health Genomics and Biotechnology, Tehran, 2007
Indo Pacific Congress on Legal Medicine and Forensic Science (9th INPALMS), Colombo, 2007
Malaysian National Congress on Genetics (7th), Kota Bharu 2007
Public Lecture hosted by the British Council, Kuala Lumpur, 2007
Mediterranean Academy of Forensic Sciences, Malta 2006
English Speaking Working Group on Forensic Genetics, Helsinki 2006.
International Association of Forensic Sciences, Hong Kong, 2005
Pittcon 2004, Symposium on Ancient Biomolecules, Chicago, 2004
Gibraltar Human Evolution Conference, Gibraltar, 2001
Promega 11th Int. Symposium on Human Identification, Biloxi, USA, 2000
5th International DNA Profiling Conference, Port Elizabeth, 1999.

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Dr William Goodwin