Dr. John M. Butler To Discuss Forensic DNA “BEYOND ‘CSI’” In March 24 Louis Levine – Gabriella de Beer Lecture At CCNY

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place in the Great Hall of Shepard Hall, located at Convent   Avenue and W. 139^th Street in Manhattan.  A reception will follow the lecture.  To RSVP, call 212-650-7192 or e-mail cly@citycollegefund.org.

Dr. Butler is the author of the internationally acclaimed textbook “Forensic DNA Typing” as well as 100 scientific articles and invited book chapters.  His Ph.D. research, which was conducted in the FBI Laboratory, involved pioneering the techniques now used in modern forensic DNA testing.  Having worked in both government and industry over the past 15 years, he designed and maintains STRBase, an Internet database on short tandem repeat DNA markers.  

He also serves as an invited guest to the FBI’s Scientific Working Group on DNA Methods and chairs its mixture interpretation subcommittee.  As a member of the of the World Trade Center Kinship and Data Analysis Panel, he helped the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office identify remains of victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. 

In addition, Dr. Butler serves on the Department of Defense Quality Assurance Oversight Committee for DNA Analysis and advises numerous national and international forensic DNA efforts.He is also a member of the International Society of Forensic Genetics; and is Associate Editor of the prestigious journal “Forensic Science International: Genetics.”

The Louis Levine – Gabriella Beer Lecture in Genetics was established by Gabriella De Beer in memory of her husband, Professor Louis Levine, who taught in the Department of Biology and The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education.  A graduate of City College, he earned his Ph.D. in population genetics under the late great evolutionary geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky at Columbia University.  Professor Levine’s research focused on population studies of Drosophila and the behavior of mice.The event is administered through The City College Fund.

For more than 160 years, The City College of New York has provided low-cost, high-quality education for New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines.Over 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; The School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture (SAUDLA); The School of Education; The Grove School of Engineering, and The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education.For additional information, visit www.ccny.cuny.edu.