Italian Speaking Working Group

In memory of Peter M. Schneider (1955-2022)

Our deepest condolences to the ISFG board; we are very sorry for the loss of Peter Schneider and will always cherish the memories we shared with him. The scientific depth of Peter as forensic geneticist t is undeniable, together with the enthusiasm always lavished in research and training, even in the last period despite the serious illness he was a carrier. An example for all of us and especially for young researchers. The GeFI group will always be grateful for the extreme willingness shown in participating in our congresses, most recently at the webinar last February in memory of Prof. Fiori from Rome (formerly ISFG member and founder of the Gefi Group), in discussing our projects for research and in welcoming our young researchers to his Institute. We will miss him very much. The Ge.F.I. ("Genetisti Forensi Italiani"; formerly "Gruppo Ematologici Forensi Italiani") was created in 1964 and it consists of approximately 100 scientists, mostly of the forensic area. The requirements for being enrolled in the GeFI are, in this order:

• to be a practitioner in the field
• to be accepted by the ISFG

Since 2006, the group has worked on collaborative exercises on a number of topics, including Y-STRs, X-STRs, Y-SNPs, and mini STRs. Recommendations on personal identification analysis by forensic laboratories were recently prepared by a group of experts from the Ge.F.I working group, belonging to ten laboratories from Italian universities, Forensic Science Laboratories of the Carabinieri Force (Raggruppamento Carabinieri Investigazioni Scientifiche – Ra.C.I.S.), the Police Force and members of the Italian Society of Human Genetics (Società Italiana di Genetica Umana – SIGU). GeFI guidelines are available for downloading. Please visit the new Ge.F.I. website for all further information, including the new system for proficiency testing.

2018 Meeting:

The 27th (XXVII) Ge.F.I. meeting was held in Catanzaro, September 5-7, 2018. The meeting website has all the relevant information. In addition, the first ISFG Summer School has been organized in Catanzaro on September 3-4, 2018 with a selection of 1/2-day, 1-day and 2-day courses in forensic genetics; please see http://www.summerschool18.com/

President

Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer

Past-President