engagement
our engagement.
Forensic Human Identification Co. specialists are recognised international thought leaders and subject matter experts in forensic human identification (HID). They actively educate, engage and empower key stakeholders to apply evidence-based forensic HID capabilities in unresolved cases. The following select resources highlight how they are enhancing, showcasing and championing the impact of contemporary forensic HID technology.
articles.
The Disappeared Project hopes DNA will bring missing First Nations people home. ABC, Aug 2026
Global partnership to establish independent national database and DNA program for disappeared First Nations people. National Indigenous Times, Aug 2026
An alleged child rapist was arrested and your DNA might have helped. The Sydney Morning Herald, Feb 2026
Police showed ‘no sense of urgency’ in search for missing First Nations man, family says. ABC, Aug 2025
Australia’s first independent forensics lab targeting cold cases and mystery human remains. ABC, Mar 2025
Will forensic science or a tip-off from Australia solve the murder mystery of the North Sea Man? ABC, Jul 2024
Police are using genetic genealogy to solve some of Australia’s coldest cases. ABC, Oct 2023
Can your DNA help decode Australia’s 750 unidentified human remains? The Age, Aug 2022
No trace of Nathan: the desperate family waiting for news of a missing brother. The Guardian, Aug 2022
The DNA program hoping to solve Australia’s most baffling cold cases. ABC, Jun 2022
Australia wields a new DNA tool to crack missing person mysteries. The New York Times, May 2022
Testing of human remains raises hopes of identifying missing persons. The Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 2021
Extracting the DNA mystery held in old bones to identify Australia’s long-term missing. The Canberra Times, Nov 2021
Missing persons: A global challenge. The ISHI Report, May 2021
How forensic science solved an outback mystery. ABC, Dec 2020
Bones can talk: DNA expert urges national ID centre. The Australian, Jan 2019
Forensic scientist Jodie Ward on solving missing persons cold cases. Australian Financial Review, Apr 2018
Australian soldiers lost at war could be identified by scientists using DNA technology. ABC, Apr 2017
videos.
DNA: Friend or Foe? Living Black, May 2026
The North Sea man’s identity has been a mystery for 30 years. ABC, Jul 2024
How police are using genetic genealogy to solve Australia’s coldest cases. ABC, Oct 2023
The DNA program hoping to solve Australia’s most baffling cold cases. 7.30, Jun 2022
podcasts.
The DNA matchmaker for the missing: Dr Jodie Ward. The Missing Matter, Nov 2025
Can Marion Barter’s disappearance be solved by forensic advances. Australian True Crime, Mar 2025
Matchmaker to the missing. iHeart Far South Coast, Aug 2024
Our missing girls. iHeart Far South Coast, Aug 2024
How the police can use your DNA. Crime Insiders, Nov 2023
What’s missing – Associate Professor Jodie Ward. Casefile Presents, Sep 2020
public talks.
The revelations of DNA. BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival, Nov 2023
Putting a name and face to Australia’s unidentified bones. TEDxBlighStreet, Oct 2018
digital publications.
There are 750 unidentified human remains in Australia. Could your DNA help solve one of these cold cases? The Conversation, Oct 2023
How do we identify human remains? The Conversation, Aug 2019
Australia has 2,000 missing persons and 500 unidentified human remains – a dedicated lab could find matches. The Conversation, Jan 2018
reports.
Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes. Expert evidence provided by Dr Jodie Ward Nov 2023, Report published Dec 2023
Inquest into the suspected deaths of missing persons Ursula Barwick, Lionel Daveson, Gary Jones and Christof Meier. Expert evidence provided by Dr Jodie Ward Mar 2021, Report published Nov 2021
Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship Report: To investigate specialist DNA techniques for the identification of compromised human remains. Fellowship undertaken by Dr Jodie Ward Jun-Jul 2016, Report published Oct 2016
scientific publications.
Di Scala, C., K. Grisedale, J. Ward. & D. McNevin. 2026. Comparison of algorithms for kinship inference using the ForenSeq® Kintelligence Kit. Genes, 17(3): 357-381, https://doi.org/10.3390/genes17030357
Watson, J., K. Grisedale, J. Ward. & D. McNevin. 2025. DNA intelligence using sex-chromosome, phenotype-informative and ancestry-informative markers in an Australian population. Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 58(1): 91-108, https://doi.org/10.1080/00450618.2025.2491376
Watson, J., K. Grisedale, D. McNevin & J. Ward. 2025. Evaluation of the ForenSeq® Kintelligence Kit and the FORensic Capture Enrichment Panel for unidentified and missing persons casework. International Journal of Legal Medicine, 139(5): 2047-2062, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-025-03492-4
Watson, J., K. Grisedale, L. Coakley, D. McNevin & J. Ward. 2025. Extended kinship inference Part 2: Evaluation of the impact of information loss on likelihood ratios and haplotype matching. Forensic Genomics, 5(1): 32-49, https://doi.org/10.1089/forensic.2025.0002
Watson, J., K. Grisedale, L. Coakley, D. McNevin & J. Ward. 2025. Extended kinship inference Part 1: Evaluation of short tandem repeats and single nucleotide polymorphisms using likelihood ratios and haplotype matching. Forensic Genomics, 5(1): 13-31, https://doi.org/10.1089/forensic.2025.0001
Watson, J., K. Cho, K. Grisedale, J. Ward & D. McNevin. 2025. Characterisation of identity-informative genetic markers in the Australian population with European ancestry. Forensic Science International: Genetics, 74: 103169, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103169
McNevin, D., J. Watson, K. Grisedale, A. Dahal, C. Goodwin & J. Ward. 2025. Comparison of commercial targeted amplicon sequencing assays for human remains identification. International Journal of Legal Medicine, 139(1): 49-60, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-024-03335-8
Ward, J. 2024. The operationalisation of a multifaceted, multijurisdictional, multiagency and multidisciplinary capability for unidentified and missing persons investigations in Australia. Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 56 (Issue Sup1), https://doi.org/10.1080/00450618.2024.2324737
Watson, J., D. McNevin & J. Ward. 2024. Genetic kinship testing techniques for human remains identification and missing persons investigations. Forensic Genomics, 4(1): 4-23, https://doi.org/10.1089/forensic.2023.0018
Ward, J., L. Coakley, K. Grisedale, S. Seddon, M. Spiden, J. Watson & D. McNevin. 2024. Operationalisation of the National DNA Program for Unidentified and Missing Persons’ forensic investigative genetic genealogy capability for human remains identification in Australia. Forensic Genomics, 4(1): 32-40, https://doi.org/10.1089/forensic.2023.0019
Watson, J., D. McNevin, K. Grisedale, M. Spiden, S. Seddon & J. Ward. 2024. Operationalisation of the ForenSeq® Kintelligence Kit for Australian unidentified and missing persons casework. Forensic Science International: Genetics, 68: 102972, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigen.2023.102972
Dahal, A., M. Chikani, D. McNevin & J. Ward. 2023. An interdisciplinary approach to human remains identification and missing persons investigations. WIREs Forensic Science, 5(4): e1484, https://doi.org/10.1002/wfs2.1484
Ward, J. & J. Watherston. 2023. Quantitative and qualitative assessment of DNA recovered from human skeletal remains. In: Ambers, A. (ed.), Forensic genetic approaches for identification of human skeletal remains: challenges, best practices, and emerging technologies. First edition. Elsevier Academic Press, San Diego, USA, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815766-4.00007-8
Watherston, J. & J. Ward. 2023. Autosomal short tandem repeat profiling of human skeletal remains. In: Ambers, A. (ed.), Forensic genetic approaches for identification of human skeletal remains: challenges, best practices, and emerging technologies. First edition. Elsevier Academic Press, San Diego, USA, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815766-4.00008-X
Ward, J., J. Watherston, I. Kahline, T. P. McMahon & S. M. Edson. 2023. Genotyping and sequencing of DNA recovered from human skeletal remains using capillary electrophoresis. In: Ambers, A. (ed.), Forensic genetic approaches for identification of human skeletal remains: challenges, best practices, and emerging technologies. First edition. Elsevier Academic Press, San Diego, USA, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815766-4.00014-5
Ward, J. 2022. A multifaceted, multijurisdictional, multiagency, and multidisciplinary approach to investigating unidentified and missing persons cases in Australia. Forensic Science International: Genetics (Supp. Series), 8: 53-55, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigss.2022.09.020
Wayland, S. & J. Ward. 2022. Dreading yet hoping: traumatic loss impacted by reference DNA sample collection for families of missing people. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13: 866269, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.866269
Watherston, J., J. Watson, D. Bruce, M. Ueland, D. McNevin & J. Ward. 2022. An in-field evaluation of rapid DNA instruments for disaster victim identification. International Journal of Legal Medicine, 136(2): 493-499, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-021-02748-z
Watherston, J., J. Watson, D. Bruce, J. Ward & D. McNevin. 2021. Efficient DNA profiling protocols for disaster victim identification. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 1(3): 148-170, https://doi.org/10.3390/forensicsci1030014
Watherston, J., D. Bruce, J. Ward, M. E. Gahan & D. McNevin. 2019. Automating direct-to-PCR for disaster victim identification. Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 51: S39-S43, https://doi.org/10.1080/00450618.2019.1569145
Ward, J. 2018. The past, present and future state of missing persons investigations in Australia. Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 50(6): 708-722, https://doi.org/10.1080/00450618.2018.1466535
Watherston, J., D. McNevin, M. Gahan, D. Bruce & J. Ward. 2018. Current and emerging tools for the recovery of genetic information from post mortem samples: New directions for disaster victim identification. Forensic Science International: Genetics, 37: 270-282, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigen.2018.08.016
Ward, J. 2017. Best practice recommendations for the establishment of a national DNA identification program for missing persons: A global perspective. Forensic Science International: Genetics (Supp. Series), 6: e43-45, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigss.2017.09.009