International Society for Forensic Genetics
International Society for Forensic Genetics
The working groups are an important forum for the exchange of information, and are quite helpful for dealing with special problems at national levels. Furthermore, they have developed into platforms for quality control and proficiency testing exercises.
Join one of the working groups to work in your preferred language. ISFG membership is required to participate in a language working group
Die deutschsprachige Arbeitsgruppe steht in enger Kooperation mit der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Abstammungsbegutachtung e.V. (DGAB), und veranstaltet gemeinsame jährliche Tagungen zum Themenbereich der Abstammungs- und Verwandtschafts-Untersuchung sowie der forensischen Genetik.
The ESWG was founded after the ISFH meeting 23-27 September 1979 in London
The French Speaking Working Group (FSWG) of the ISFG consists of more than 20 laboratories from Belgium, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Morocco, Switzerland and Quebec (Canada). The group meets once a year to present and discuss the results of the collaborative exercise, to provide continuous education to the members and to share information on interesting cases and issues of concern.
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: a) to be a practitioner in the field b) to be accepted by the ISFG TSince 2006, the group has worked on collaborative exercises on a number of topics, including Y-STRs, X-STRs, Y-SNPs, and mini STRs.
The GHEP-ISFG was created as a working group in the frame of the ISFG due to the common languages (Spanish and Portuguese) of its members. It became an association with non-profit aim in 1995, and it is registered in the Spanish National Registry of Associations with the number 162.045.
Aims of the Chinese Speaking Working Group are: a) exchange of experiences, working on quality control, and stimulation of cooperation between the members, sharing scientific knowledge and findings in the field of interest, b) development of educational opportunities in forensic genetics in China.
The purpose of the KSWG is (1) to be a conduit of communication between Korean speaking individuals who are interested in forensic genetics, and (2) to contribute to the forensic community by working on projects which need multi-institute participation including a QA/QC program, and (3) to facilitate academic improvement of members through cooperation, and (4) to be a channel for international exchange in the forensic genetics community.
The Polish Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics was officially established on 24th November 2017 at a meeting held in the Institute of Forensic Research in Krakow. The aims and plans of the working group are to concentrate on propagation of standards, quality assurance, sharing best practices and more effective collaboration of Polish forensic DNA laboratories at national and international levels.
At the General Assembly meeting of the International Society of Forensic Genetics on September 12, 2019, the establishment of an Arabic-speaking working group was approved. This was based on a request submitted by Dr. Rashid Al Ghafri of the General Department of Forensic Science and Criminology at Dubai Police in the United Arab Emirates, on behalf of the Arab members of the Society. The group aims to enable inter-Arab cooperation to advance in this field in line with global trends.
The Japanese working group of the ISFG is currently inactive. Please contact the Japanese Society for DNA Polymorphism Research (JSDPR)for forensic DNA issues in Japan. The JSDPR was first established in 1991 with the solemn objective of “contributing to the progress and advancement of human, plant and animal DNA polymorphism research.” The JSDPR holds its annual congress in November and publishes its own periodical the DNA Takei (DNA polymorphism).
The Canine DNA Profiling (CaDNAP) group is striving for harmonization of canine DNA analysis. The group developed (Eichmann et al. 2004; Hellmann et al. 2006) and validated a canine-specific STR panel according to forensic standards defined by the ISFG (Berger et al. 2014). Additionally, a mitochondrial DNA analysis for canids was developed (Eichmann and Parson 2007). Both of these methods are now being successfully applied to support law enforcement dealing with casework involving canids. To ensure the validity of results obtained with these two methods, CaDNAP offers proficiency testing.
EDNAP (European DNA Profiling Group) started life in October 1988 in London when a group of forensic scientists from various European countries came together to find a way of harmonizing the DNA technology for crime investigation. With the thought in mind that an integrated Europe with open borders could well see the escalation of cross-border crimes, there would be a need for forensic scientists to exchange data and compare results of DNA analysis. At the 14th Congress of the ISFG (International Society for Forensic Genetics) in Mainz (1991), EDNAP was accepted as a working group. It was intended that each European country should be represented by one laboratory with sufficient scientific expertise in forensic DNA technology. As a small group, EDNAP is able to make decisions solely based on scientific considerations and in the spirit of helping each other.