Dr. Fabio Oldoni, assistant professor of Forensic Science, recently had two research articles published in Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series. 

The first piece, titled “Investigation of 74 microhaplotypes for Kinship Testing in U.S. Populations,” investigated the performance of a sequence-based 74plex microhaplotype assay along with conventional STR markers in kinship analysis. 

Microhaplotypes are novel forensic biomarkers, which can supplement the analysis of gold standard short tandem repeat (STR) markers. These markers have recently gained significant attention within the global forensic DNA community for their advantages over conventional STRs. The effectiveness of these markers was tested in kinship analysis in major U.S. population groups. Dr. Oldoni and his colleagues proved the effectiveness of these 74 microhaplotype markers in differentiating parent-child, full sibling and half-sibling pairs. This study supports further the use of microhaplotype profiling as a versatile biomarker tool for kinship testing in addition to human identification, mixture deconvolution, and ancestry prediction.

The second piece, titled “The GeFI (Italians Forensic Geneticists) Code of Conduct,” investigated the basis for the development of the “Code of Conduct of a Forensic Geneticist” of the Italian Speaking Working Group GeFI. Dr. Oldoni and his fellow researchers summarized the Code of Conduct applied to forensic geneticists from the GeFI group as well as for those who share in the mission, vision, and values of GeFI. The Code of Conduct is designed to promote full integrity among forensic DNA practitioners and increase public community confidence in the quality of forensic genetics. 

“The code of conduct of the forensic geneticist developed by the GeFI group includes general principles concerning the professional activity of the forensic geneticist and in particular, the relationship with other forensic geneticists, duties of forensic geneticists testifying in court, importance of informed consent, respect for privacy, etc.,” Dr. Oldoni and colleagues wrote in the research paper. “The principles of the deontological codes applicable to all professionals within the forensic genetics profession.”

Dr. Oldoni began teaching at Arcadia in fall 2020. He has previously been awarded a postdoctoral grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation to conduct his postdoctoral research in massively parallel sequencing of microhaplotypes for forensic applications at The George Washington University. 

He has published research in the forensic areas of bioassay development and next generation sequencing. Dr. Oldoni has also acted as peer-reviewer of several forensic-oriented journals since 2018, and he is currently a member of the International Society for Forensic Genetics (ISFG), American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Italian Speaking working group of ISFG, and Council of Forensic Science Educators.