FastID researcher

Research

I’m currently working on the FAST and efficient international disaster victim Identification (FASTID)-project, a European Union funded, 3-year collaboration of six partners from the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Denmark. The FASTID-project partners are INTERPOL, Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), University of Dundee, Fraunhofer Institute, PLASSDATA and Crabbe Consulting Ltd. The University of Dundee is primarily tasked with developing aides to optimize the collection of identification data and developing a more uniform system of recording these data between all INTERPOL 188 member countries. It is hoped that the aides will lead to an internationally acceptable format for accurate, repeatable and translatable data recording in the event of a disaster and for day-to-day policing with regards to missing persons and unidentified bodies. More information on the project can be found at http://www.interpol.int/Projects/FASTID .
Another aspect we are investigating as part of this research is the creation of a body modification database which may be used to aid in the identification process in disasters and investigations into missing persons and unidentified bodies. Body modifications such as piercings, tattoos, scarifications, implants or more extreme forms of body alterations are often individualistic to a person. Some of them are more unique than others. We aim to categorize the variety of body modifications and investigate how common or uncommon they are in different locations on the body. More information can be found at http://www.bodymodresearch.com