2021 Virtual Investigator Forum
Human ID and Forensics

Virtual Investigator Forum 2021

The Virtual Investigator Forum 2021, held from June 30 – July 2, 2021, was a huge success!

Attendees of the Investigator Forum discussed the latest breakthroughs and achievements in human identity science and technology, the advancement in automated sample prep, the EZ2 Connect Fx and improved solutions for casework, next-generation sequencing and so much more. The community also shared their research during the poster session.

Poster session

Attendees of the Forum showcased their research work in the poster session, where their colleagues showed their support by voting in the online poll for their favorite poster. The winning presenter was selected for a poster prize. As a bonus, participants got a chance to win an exclusive T-shirt during the raffle.

 

Day 1, June 30, 2021 NGS for human identification
2:00 p.m. CEST (8:00 a.m. EDT) Investigator Forum kickoff: Rules of the road
Inga Gérard MSc, Senior Global Marketing Manager – Human ID & Forensics, QIAGEN
Make sure to join us for this important introduction where we'll teach you
how to navigate the virtual event hall and get the most out of your Forum experience.
2:10 p.m. CEST (8:10 a.m. EDT) New Horizons in Next Generation Sequencing
Keith Elliot, Director of Global Product Management – Human ID & Forensics, QIAGEN
2:25 p.m. CEST (8:25 a.m. EDT) QIAseq HID: a new sequencing chemistry for forensics
Erica Sawyer PhD, Multiplex Assay Technical Development Scientist, QIAGEN
2:40 p.m. CEST (8:40 a.m. EDT) Evaluation of microhaplotypes in forensic kinship analysis
from a Swedish population perspective

Adam Staadig, PhD student, National Board of Forensic Medicine in Linköping, Sweden
3:10 p.m. CEST (9:10 a.m. EDT) Break
3:25 p.m. CEST (9:25 a.m. EDT) Workshop: Operationalizing NGS by Verogen
Join Verogen in this workshop as they use real-world examples to demonstrate
how you can unify and streamline your NGS workflows for more impactful outcomes.
Nicola Oldroyd Clark, Regional Director EMEA and Director Outbound Marketing,
Verogen and Daniel Hellwig, Laboratory Director, Intermountain Forensics
4:25 p.m. CEST (10:25 a.m. EDT)  Break
4:40 p.m. CEST (10:40 a.m. EDT) Poster session
Located in the poster area
5:10 p.m. CEST (11:10 a.m. EDT) Reducing noise and stutter in short tandem repeat loci
with unique molecular identifiers

August E. Woerner PhD, Assistant Professor at University
of North Texas Health Science Center, USA
5:35 p.m. CEST (11:35 a.m. EDT) Wrap-up of day 1
Inga Gérard MSc, Senior Global Marketing Manager – Human ID & Forensics, QIAGEN
Day 2, July 1, 2021 Solutions in automation
2:00 p.m. CEST (8:00 a.m. EDT) Welcome and house keeping
Inga Gérard MSc, Senior Global Marketing Manager – Human ID & Forensics,
QIAGEN
2:10 p.m. CEST (8:10 a.m. EDT) Meet your new favorite sample prep instrument:
Scientists' experiences with the EZ2 Connect Fx

Mark Guilliano PhD, Director of HID Americas, QIAGEN
Invited guest speakers from the field
3:10 p.m. CEST (9:10 a.m. EDT) Break
3:25 p.m. CEST (9:25 a.m. EDT) Official unveiling: See the EZ2 Connect Fx in action
Vanessa Duchamp PhD, Professional CSM Human ID & Forensics, QIAGEN
3:40 p.m. CEST (9:40 a.m. EDT) Break
3:55 p.m. CEST (9:55 a.m. EDT) The adVANTAGEs of high-throughput forensic casework automation
Kristin Sasinouski MS, Director, Technical Operations at Bode Technology, USA
4:25 p.m. CEST (10:25 a.m. EDT) Digital PCR made fast and easy, QIAGEN´s Nanoplate dPCR system
Michael Bussmann PhD, Associate Director of Global Product Management – dPCR, QIAGEN
5:25 p.m. CEST (11:25 a.m. EDT) Wrap-up day 2
Inga Gérard MSc, Senior Global Marketing Manager – Human ID & Forensics, QIAGEN
Day 3, July 2, 2021 Applied forensics
2:00 p.m. CEST (8:00 a.m. EDT) Welcome and house keeping
Inga Gérard MSc, Senior Global Marketing Manager – Human ID & Forensics, QIAGEN
2:10 p.m. CEST (8:10 a.m. EDT) Dive into the Police of the Czech Republic's QIAGEN workflow
Pavel Tomek PhD, Forensic DNA Analyst, Police of the Czech Republic
Ondrej Krsicka, Market Development Manager, QIAGEN
2:20 p.m. CEST (8:20 a.m. EDT) An introduction to Real Time PCR and Quantiplex Pro
Vanessa Duchamp, Professional CSM Human ID & Forensics, QIAGEN
2:40 p.m. CEST (8:40 a.m. EDT) Comparison and optimization of two qPCR DNA quantification assays
to improve STR analysis workflow efficiency

Major Sylvain Hubac PhD
Forensic Science Laboratory of the French Gendarmerie (IRCGN), France
3:10 p.m. CEST (9:10 a.m. EDT) Break
3:25 p.m. CEST (9:25 a.m. EDT) Argus Y-28 QS - data from product development and field test
Anke Prochnow PhD, Associate Director of Global Product Management
– Human ID & Forensics, QIAGEN
3:55 p.m. CEST (9:55 a.m. EDT) Y bother? – The new Investigator Argus Y-28 QS Kit
Lisa Dierig, PhD student, Institute of Legal Medicine Univesity,
University Hospital Ulm, Germany
4:25 p.m. CEST (10:25 a.m. EDT) Validation of 24-plex, 26-plex and Argus Y-28 QS kits
José Luis Jimenez Gomez, Manager of Forensic Genetics,
Laboratory of Forensic Genetics
of the general attorney of justice of Zacatecas State
4:55 p.m. CEST (10:55 a.m. EDT) Break
5:10 p.m. CEST (11:10 a.m. EDT) Poster winner announcement
5:25 p.m. CEST (11:25 a.m. EDT) Bonecrusher: Utilizing the Tissuelyser II for easier
and more effective bone pre-processing

Daniel Hellwig, Laboratory Director, Intermountain Forensics
5:55 p.m. CEST (11:55 a.m. EDT) Sample Collection – New Developments And Products
Christian Pustelny PhD, Global Senior Product Manager
– Human ID & Forensics, QIAGEN
6:25 p.m. CEST (12:25 a.m. EDT) Final wrap-up and outlook
Inga Gérard MSc, Senior Global Marketing Manager
– Human ID & Forensics, QIAGEN
Those who couldn’t attend the live Investigator Forum from June 30 – July 2 due to the time zone conflict were still able to hear the talks on July 6 – 8. The entire event program was rerun for registrants in Asia-Pacific countries. Despite the time difference, participants experienced live interactions with QIAGEN experts and won exciting prizes!
Certificate of attendance

Attendees of the Investigator Forum had the opportunity to receive continuing education certificates if they attended eight or more hours of talks, presentations and/or demonstrations.