English Speaking Working Group
Topics: Board | Meetings | Relationship Testing Workshop | Publications
In memory of Peter M. Schneider (1955-2022)
It is with deep regret and sorrow we have been notified of the death of Peter Schneider. Peter was a prominent and highly regarded member of the forensic genetics' community over several decades. At the top of his profession. he was knowledgeable, dedicated, enthusiastic, positive and he generously gave his time freely to all. To the end he stayed open-minded and curious, linking across disciplines, and informing us all of new developments through social media. His observations on developments in forensic genetics and its associated social and ethical implications, he provided us with excellent and continuing advice for the future. Peter was a talented person, a dedicated scientist, and a good friend. He will be sincerely missed.Summary of the 2023 Scientific meeting, 15th - 16th May
The meeting was hosted by Denise Syndercombe-Court and colleagues at King’s Forensics at King's College of London. There were around 70 participants and 18 presentations covering various topics related to DNA analysis, genetics and kinship (such as biostatistics, SNP marker panels for kinship testing, investigative genetic genealogy, case reports, etc).Summary of the ESWG 2022 member meeting
In connection to the ISFG conference in Washington, USA (September, 2022) the ESWG member meeting was held. The board was re-elected for another two-years period (Andreas Tillmar (Chairman), Denise Syndercombe Court (Secretary) and Bo Thisted Simonsen (Treasurer)). It was decide to have the 2023 ESWG Scientific meeting in London, and ESWG (in collaboration with the Norwegian and Swedish relationship testing labs) will continue to offer a Relationship testing focused proficiency test in 2023.Relationship Testing Workshop
For a long period of time, proficiency testing has yearly been organized within the ESWG with a special focus on relationship testing (wet testing and paper challenges). The results of the 2022 proficiency test have been made available as an online video presentation that can be viewed here: https://familias.name/ESWG/kling_eswg2022_pt_test.mp4 The video summarizes the results as well as provide a walkthrough of the paper challenge.Membership of the ESWG
Membership of the English Speaking Working Group (ESWG) is open to all English speaking members of the ISFG and may be obtained by application to the secretary of the group. There will be no membership fee in addition to that payable to the ISFG.Aims of the English Speaking Working Group are
- the exchange of experience, quality control and stimulation of cooperation between the members;
- making available scientific knowledge and findings in the field of interest;
- organisation of scientific meetings – but such meetings will be held only after consultation with the ISFG.
History of the ESWG
Board
Chairman
Andreas Tillmar
National Board of Forensic Medicine
Dept.of Forensic Genetics
Artilleriegatan 12
58758 Linköping
Sweden
Phone +46 104834143
Fax +46 104834199
andreas.tillmar@rmv.se
Dept.of Forensic Genetics
Artilleriegatan 12
58758 Linköping
Sweden
Fax +46 104834199
Secretary
Dr. Denise Syndercombe Court
Department of Forensic and Analytical Science
King's College London
Franklin-Wilkins Building
150 Stamford Street
Waterloo
SE1 9NH London
United Kingdom
Phone +44 20 7848 4155
Fax +44 20 7848 4129
denise.syndercombe-court@kcl.ac.uk
King's College London
Franklin-Wilkins Building
150 Stamford Street
Waterloo
SE1 9NH London
United Kingdom
Fax +44 20 7848 4129
Treasurer
Dr. Bo Thisted Simonsen
Section of Forensic Genetics
Frederik V's Vej 11
2100 Copenhagen
Denmark
Phone +45 35326110
Fax +45 35326270
bo.simonsen@sund.ku.dk
Frederik V's Vej 11
2100 Copenhagen
Denmark
Fax +45 35326270
Publications of the Group
- Syndercombe Court D, Lincoln P. A review of the 1991: 1994 Paternity Testing Workshops of the English-Speaking Working Group. In: Carracedo A, Brinkmann, Bär W (eds) Advances in Forensic Haemogenetics 6. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp. 683-5.
- Bjerre A, Syndercombe Court D, Lincoln P, Morling N. A report of the 1995 and 1996 Paternity Testing Workshops of the English Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Haemogenetics. Forensic Sci Int 1997; 90: 41-55.
- Hallenberg C, Morling N. A report of the 1997, 1998 and 1999 Paternity Testing Workshops of the English Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics. Forensic Sci Int 2001; 116: 23-33.
- Hallenberg C, Morling N. A report of the 2000 and 2001 Paternity Testing Workshops of the English Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics. Forensic Sci Int 2002; 129: 43-50.
- Thomsen AR, Hallenberg C, Simonsen BT, Langkjær RB, Morling N. A report of the 2002-2008 Paternity Testing Workshops of the English Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics. FSI: Genetics 2009,3: 214-21.
- Poulsen L, Friis SL, Hallenberg C, Simonsen BT, Morling N. A report of the 2009–2011 Paternity and Relationship Testing Workshops of the English Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics. Forensic Science International: Genetics 2014; 9: e1-2.