Craniofacial identification involves the depiction and analysis of unidentified bodies through post-mortem depiction, facial reconstruction, craniofacial superimposition and skull reassembly. Forensic art also involves witness interviews to produce facial sketches/composites, age progression images and facial image comparison.

We are involved in craniofacial research relating to CCTV identification, post-mortem decomposition, ancestry determination, craniofacial reconstruction, transsexual changes, preserved bodies and facial animation. We are also interested in medical visualisation research relating to virtual dissection, medical education and anatomical variation.

The FAST and efficient international disaster Victim IDentification (FASTID) Project was launched with FP7 EU funding in collaboration with Interpol, Plassdata, Crabbe Consulting, Fraunhofer Institute and BundesKriminalamt.  It will establish an international system to manage inquiries concerning missing persons and unidentified bodies in the event of disasters as well as day-to-day policing and will result in the creation of a global Missing Persons and Unidentified Bodies (MPUB) database.  Our involvement is with craniofacial identification and the processes necessary to identify mass fatalities using human remains and passport-style ante-mortem images of missing people.

Our research group collaborates frequently with Museums and the media, especially relating to craniofacial depiction of people from the past. Examples of this would be depictions of:

• J.S. Bach in collaboration with the Bachhaus: Guardian BBC
• Viking Woman with the Jorvik Centre: Courier
• Clonycavan man, a bog body, with the National Museum of Ireland: University of Dundee
• History Cold Case with BBC2 and Shine: BBC

Some of our work is presented in Axis, our online journal for postgraduate and undergraduate student research in the fields of anatomy, forensic anthropology, forensic and medical art, and human identification.

We also have research collaborations with the Catholic University of Leuven; The Anthropological Research Facility at University of Tennessee; Department of Psychology at the University of Texas, El Paso; the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI); the Dental Science Research Institute, Chonnam National University, Korea and on the FASTID project (http://www.interpol.int/public/fastid/default.asp) with Interpol, Plassdata, Crabbe Consulting, Fraunhofer Institute and BundesKriminalamt.

The Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification is the only place in the world with a postgraduate qualification in Forensic Art and the only place where craniofacial identification is taught as a specialisation. Tutors are qualified and experienced forensic practitioners.
Dundee was the first UK university to run a postgraduate qualification in Medical Art and has lead the field in relation to medical visualisation. Tutors are qualified, registered and practising medical artists.
In addition, CAHID offers human dissection study with a high level of realism in colour, texture and movement and this enables optimal depiction and understanding of anatomical structures.
 
The new MSc in Forensic Facial Identification commences this year, and this will enable students from a science background to work alongside the art students and bring a different perspective to an increasingly important field.

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