Forensic Science
- Research group overview
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King's College London has had an active, dedicated forensic science research programme since 1985. Throughout this period, we have worked closely with forensic science practitioners to ensure that our research is focused on addressing their fundamental questions and most important needs.
We at King's believe that in order to maximise the contribution and value delivered to the Criminal Justice System (CJS) by our forensic science research, we strive to integrate within the practicing forensic science community. As part of this, we continue to hold a formal research programme with the Metropolitan Police Forensic Services Directorate which has run successfully for over 6 years. The primary aim of this collaboration is to address how advances in forensic science can impact on operational policing in London.
Within King's, cross-fertilisation of ideas has led to working collaborations with the Environmental Research Group and the Drug Control Centre, the latter of which is about to undertake the drug doping analysis for the World Olympic Games in London 2012.
Prospective students on our PhD programmes will benefit from:
Being part of a dynamic, interactive and supportive research team; depth of understanding of forensic science and scientific approaches to solving crime; leading the discovery and publication of new approaches in forensic science; collaboration with industrial and internationally renowned experts in their field; formal postgraduate training opportunities in research methods, experimental design, education and publishing;
Current research projects include:
1. Probing firearm discharge residue with suppressed capillary ion chromatographic technologies
2. Assessing the impact of combined sewer overflow sources on the occurrence of pharmaceutically related contaminants in the Thames River
3. 'Light it Up': the use of Antibody-functionalised super-paramagnetic nanoparticles for the detection of trace evidence
4. Studying the nature of 'touch DNA'
5. Detection of Autologous Blood Transfusion
Dr Barron's leads the SAFER Group at King's College London (Strategic Advancement of Forensic & Environmental Research). His research interests focus on the advancement of separation science, including online/offline sample preparation technologies, high/ultra high-performance liquid chromatography, ion chromatography, capillary electrophoresis and capillary electro-chromatography. He also has a keen interest in understanding the occurrence, fate and effects of emerging pollutants in the environment.
Current projects include:
Energetic Materials:
(a) The development of capillary ion chromatographic methods for the characterisation, distribution and detection of ammunition residues in latent human fingerprints
(b) Portable analytical technologies for field measurement of explosives
Materials:
(a) The development of novel polymer monolithic stationary phases in capillary formats
(b) 'Light it Up' - the development of nanoscale chemical sensors for body fluid identification
Environmental Chemistry:
(a) Assessing the impact of combined sewer overflow sources on the occurrence of pharmaceutically related contaminants in the Thames River (funded under the EPSRC CASE scheme in partnership with the Environmental Sustainability KTN and Thermo-Fisher Scientific)
(b) Predictive Ecotoxicology: Artificial Neural Networks for the Prediction of Xenobiotic Bioaccumulation in Invertebrates (funded under BBSRC-CASE scheme in partnership with Astra Zeneca)
Dr Barron is also the Editor in Chief of Science & Justice, Journal of the Forensic Science Society since 2011.
