By representing minority and underrepresented groups in forensic research and emphasizing the critical role of science and technology in the field, the presentations outlined in this article illuminate the industry’s commitment to improving forensics and toxicology.
Project helps improve identification of Native American remains and resolve missing persons cases By Mary Beth King July 12, 2021
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) visited the Office of Medical Investigator (OMI) at The University of New Mexico recently to see the work being done by forensic anthropologist Heather Edgar and her team to improve the identification of Native American remains and resolve missing persons cases.
Edgar worked with many at UNM to create the New Mexico Decedent Image Database (NMDID), which includes thousands of whole-body CT scans. Each scan contains about 10,000 images of a single body. The scans are valuable in many research areas, including developing methods to help make positive identifications of unknown deceased people. Anthropologists compare unknown individuals to data about known individuals, narrowing the pool of missing persons for comparison using estimates of sex, age, and other characteristics. But in some cases, such as for Nativ