NIST Webinar will Discuss the Scientific Foundation Review on Bitemark Analysis

The entrance sign at NIST's Gaithersburg campus. Credit: J. Stoughton/NIST

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will host a webinar to discuss its latest Scientific Foundation Review on bitemark analysis. The webinar will be held Oct. 27 from 1–3 p.m. EDT.

NIST Scientific Foundation Reviews document and evaluate the scientific basis for forensic science methods and practices. These reviews focus on the published scientific literature and other relevant sources of data that can provide information on questions of reliability. To date, NIST has begun foundation reviews on DNA mixture interpretation, digital evidence, bitemark analysis, and firearms examination.

The upcoming webinar will review the contents and findings in a draft report, Bitemark Analysis: A NIST Scientific Foundation Review,  and provide an opportunity for attendees to ask questions. The draft report will be open for public comment through Dec. 12, 2022. The authors will consider all comments submitted before publishing a final version of the report. For more information

The Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence (CSAFE) hosted a workshop in 2019 where forensic dentists, researchers, statisticians, lawyers and other experts addressed scientific questions around bitemark analysis. A summary of the workshop was written by Alicia Carriquiry, CSAFE director, and Hal Stern, CSAFE co-director. It provided information for the NIST review and has been published as a supplement to it.

To register for the webinar, visit https://www.nist.gov/news-events/events/2022/10/webinar-bitemark-analysis-nist-scientific-foundation-review.

For more information about NIST scientific foundation reviews, go to https://www.nist.gov/forensic-science/interdisciplinary-topics/scientific-foundation-reviews.