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Three UCD Forensic Science grad students win prestigious national grant award
Khang Vuong
UC Davis graduate student Khang Vuong plans to use a microscope, not a police badge, to help solve criminal cases.
Investigating today's crimes deals with much more than police work. New technologies have cracked the field of crime investigation wide open, spawning many career opportunities for students with an interest in applied science.
Three graduate students from the UC Davis Master of Science in Forensic Science program were recently awarded federal research grants from the National Institute of Justice and distributed by the Forensic Sciences Foundation. These agencies recently teamed up to fund student research grants in an effort to "shape the next generation of forensic scientists." The three UC Davis students were among only nine students in the entire nation who received these grants this year.
Khang Vuong, a second-year graduate student, received $4,850 to help fund her research project which explores the nuclear DNA analysis of human hair. "Hairs, especially shed hairs, are one of the most commonly encountered evidences at crime scenes," Vuong explains. Her research aims to improve the discriminating power of hair evidence in criminal investigations.
Denise (Yong-Ning) Oh
Vuong takes the image of a "busy college student" to a new level. In addition to full-time graduate study, she works as a teaching assistant for an upper-division microbiology course on campus and has an internship at the California Criminalistics Institute in Sacramento. "I'm also a Vietnamese interpreter for VN CARES, a UC Davis free student-run clinic" she says. Vuong plans to travel to Honduras and Vietnam next summer to provide free medical care to people in rural areas who have little or no medical access.
Denise (Yong-Ning) Oh, another graduate student in the forensic science program, received a $3,500 grant. "My research is to build a DNA database in Kenya, similar to the one the FBI uses here," says Oh. Once implemented, this database would improve DNA identification needed to solve crimes, establish paternity, aid immigration efforts and other purposes.
"The grant money will pay for the cards I will use to collect DNA (saliva) samples from volunteers. These cards are ideal because they're easy to use (donor spits on the card) and will keep the DNA intact for analyzing," Oh explains.
After graduation, Oh, an international student from Malaysia, plans to pursue a career as a crime lab DNA analyst. She says her favorite part of the master's degree program has been interacting with "real world" forensic scientists.
Katerina Doneva also appreciates being taught by forensic science professionals who have many years of experience in their respective disciplines. "The training and advice provided by them is invaluable and irreplaceable," she says.
Doneva also received a $3,500 grant. Her research involves genotyping blood, hair and saliva samples from 100 donors and comparing these profiles to detect abnormalities. Crime solving using DNA relies on the assumption that each bodily tissue (like blood, hair and saliva) of an individual will have the same DNA profile. But this assumption is not always correct—resulting in inaccurate interpretation of DNA evidence, Doneva explains.
Katerina Doneva
"My research examines somatic mosaicism [a genetic condition] which causes mismatched DNA profiles between the bodily tissues of an individual," Doneva says. Her profiling of donated DNA samples will allow her to examine how often mismatching may occur in human DNA.
Doneva, who hopes to work as a DNA criminalist after graduation, admits that pursuing an education in forensic science is tough and competitive.
"During your undergraduate years, focus on developing your creative problem-solving skills, especially in your lab courses," she advises to prospective grad students. "Even better, get involved in a research project."
The UC Davis Master of Science in Forensic Science is accredited by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and currently has approximately 85 students enrolled. The program takes two to three years to complete, and most of its graduates begin working in the forensic science field right away, says Fred Tulleners, director of the master's degree program.
"This is a fairly rigorous, science-based master degree," Tulleners adds. "Its curriculum and thesis research components are very comprehensive and designed to prepare students for a variety of careers in the fields of forensic science and criminalistics."
For science-minded students who are curious about forensics, the Forensic Science Student Organization at UC Davis offers both undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to attend free monthly lectures by forensic scientists working in various disciplines. "Attending these lectures is a great way to network and learn about the daily responsibilities and obstacles of real-world professionals," Doneva adds.
Using forensic science to help solve crimes isn't easy, but the job opportunities can be very rewarding. So, if you want to pursue a career like those on hit TV shows CSI and Bones, you'd better start hitting those science books.
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The Master of Science in Forensic Science is a UC Davis program administered by UC Davis Extension, the continuing and professional education arm of the university. UC Davis Extension is an internationally recognized leader in educational outreach for individuals, organizations and communities serving lifelong learners. The organization receives nearly 60,000 annual enrollments in classroom and online university-level courses and serves students from all 50 states and nearly 90 countries.
Written by Kristin Mick, Editor, UC Davis Extension. Email kmick@ucde.ucdavis.edu.