Rachel Eblen Kieser is a Ph.D. candidate in Molecular Genetics at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Her work addresses the challenge of analyzing highly damaged and degraded DNA recovered as forensic evidence. "Many attempts to overcome the limitations of highly fragmented DNA have proven to be unsuccessful. Due to the funding received through the NIJ GRF award, I have been able to explore novel approaches and discover promising solutions to impact the field of forensic genetics," Rachel says. "The NIJ GRF award has allowed me to solely focus on my doctoral work, thus enabling me to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate novel research and produce high-quality work, without the devastating financial burden often experienced in graduate education."